Hobbs

Ok, I am *almost* embarrased to ask this question, but here goes. Do
Hobbs meters ever "go bad"? No, this isn't a joke!

I recently took a flight from KLOU-KWWD-KLOU. It was IFR and I wrote
down my off and land times, which coorespond with the FlightTracking
times within a couple of minutes.

The hobbs time was 10.7. The flight time was 9.6. Not whining here,
but it was a little hard to believe that I had over an hour of taxi/
start time on this!

Just wondering..

--Man would that be some kind of AD-- LOL!

Larry R wrote:
Ok, I am *almost* embarrased to ask this question, but here goes. Do
Hobbs meters ever "go bad"?

Sure, it's a mechanical device.

On two occasions over the last few years, my Hobbs has failed to move.

For this reason, I always note my tach time and time off. The extra
start numbers will help just in case I don't notice for a while that the
Hobbs isn't running, and I need to have a fuel consumption figure.

In article ,
B A R R Y wrote:

Larry R wrote:
Ok, I am *almost* embarrased to ask this question, but here goes. Do
Hobbs meters ever "go bad"?

Sure, it's a mechanical device.

On two occasions over the last few years, my Hobbs has failed to move.

For this reason, I always note my tach time and time off. The extra
start numbers will help just in case I don't notice for a while that the
Hobbs isn't running, and I need to have a fuel consumption figure.

Sometimes, unscrupulous owners will wire the Hobbs to the master switch,
so you get charges whenever the MS is ON.

I have hated Hobbs ever since I discovered them 40+ years ago, since you
pay full rate for taxi and hold times.

An air switch is available, but hardly anybody uses them.

Larry R wrote:
Ok, I am *almost* embarrased to ask this question, but here goes. Do
Hobbs meters ever "go bad"?

B A R R Y wrote:
Sure, it's a mechanical device.
On two occasions over the last few years, my Hobbs has failed to move.
For this reason, I always note my tach time and time off. The extra
start numbers will help just in case I don't notice for a while that the
Hobbs isn't running, and I need to have a fuel consumption figure.


I am a renter, so I have made a 5x8 index card to record the following
for each flight:
Date
Aircraft N-number
Departure Airport
Destination Airport
Left Main Fuel Tank Start/Stop
Right Main Fuel Tank Start/Stop
Left Tip Fuel Tank Start/Stop
Right Tip Fuel Tank Start/Stop
Hobbs Start/Stop
Tach Start/Stop
Clock Start/Stop
Clock Wheels Off/Wheels On

Larry R wrote:
Ok, I am *almost* embarrased to ask this question, but here goes. Do
Hobbs meters ever "go bad"? No, this isn't a joke!

Everything eventually "goes bad", just some things sooner than others.

A Hobbs meter is a mechanical counter with gears, bearings, a motor,
etc. so yeah, it can go bad.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

On 7/2/2007 3:31:14 PM, Orval Fairbairn wrote:

Sometimes, unscrupulous owners will wire the Hobbs to the master switch,
so you get charges whenever the MS is ON.


Isn't that true for the Hobbs installed by the aircraft manufacturer in newer
aircraft? I was taught that all the newer model C172s' Hobbs are wired to the
master, which results in about a 20% greater difference between their
readings and the tach.

--
Peter

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:53:49 -0000, Larry R
wrote:

Ok, I am *almost* embarrased to ask this question, but here goes. Do
Hobbs meters ever "go bad"? No, this isn't a joke!

I recently took a flight from KLOU-KWWD-KLOU. It was IFR and I wrote
down my off and land times, which coorespond with the FlightTracking
times within a couple of minutes.

The hobbs time was 10.7. The flight time was 9.6. Not whining here,
but it was a little hard to believe that I had over an hour of taxi/
start time on this!

In my experience, usually they just stop. What kind of aircraft is
this?

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 16:35:20 -0400, "Peter R."
wrote:

On 7/2/2007 3:31:14 PM, Orval Fairbairn wrote:

Sometimes, unscrupulous owners will wire the Hobbs to the master switch,
so you get charges whenever the MS is ON.


Isn't that true for the Hobbs installed by the aircraft manufacturer in newer
aircraft? I was taught that all the newer model C172s' Hobbs are wired to the
master, which results in about a 20% greater difference between their
readings and the tach.

The new 172,182,206 are all activated by oil pressure not the master
switch.

On 7/2/2007 4:42:14 PM, Peter Clark wrote:

The new 172,182,206 are all activated by oil pressure not the master
switch.

Ah, OK, then I was taught incorrectly. But then again, it has been at least
five years since I actually cared about a Hobbs meter.

--
Peter

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 17:06:55 -0400, "Peter R."
wrote:

On 7/2/2007 4:42:14 PM, Peter Clark wrote:

The new 172,182,206 are all activated by oil pressure not the master
switch.

Ah, OK, then I was taught incorrectly. But then again, it has been at least
five years since I actually cared about a Hobbs meter.

No problem. It is rather hard to keep track of all the different
hobbs hookups.....