RV-3: Luxury Jewels

[Ironflight]

OK, sometimes you do things not because they are required, but just because they seem right ? even if they are luxuries. Jewels for instance?.what practical purpose do they serve? Sparkly, pretty, but you can?t eat ?em ? and unless you bury them inside a machine as a bearing, or the cutting part of a blade, how useful are they? Then there are these little German jewels that just make the panel ?work? esthetically - and yes, they serve a purpose as well?..



The layout of our RV-3?s panel includes space for four 2 ?? instruments, two per side. The centerpiece of the panel is the dual-screen G3X, but of course, we would like backups for IFR use. The autopilot and an ADI will back up attitude. While pure economics would dictate that we could put a digital combination altimeter/ASI in a single hole, this leaves an odd asymmetry to the picture. For pure esthetics, it is hard to beat a tiny analog ASI with colorful airspeed rings ? but then we need an altimeter to compliment it. Since I can only take the pocketbook so far when it comes to ?art?, the United altimeters used as a backup in spam cans for about $4K are out of the question, which leaves this little jewel (no other word for it) ? the three pointer Winter, good to 20,000?. It?s hard to capture the beauty of this little gem in words. No, it?s not inexpensive ($900 from the sailplane store) taken by itself, but some things you just do because they work?.

(As a practical review, this unit is very well built, obviously done with care ? I haven?t taken it flying yet to see how it compares to the certified altimetes in the Valkyrie ? I see a climb to altitude in the near future as a test run?.I bought this from the Williams Soaring center in California ? they had the best price by about $20, and were geat to deal with on the phone.)

Paul

[hydroguy2]

sometimes you just gotta do what's right. Looks sweet.

[Danny7]

the funny thing is seeing it read 300 ft, around here ground starts around 3500 and goes up most directions.

nice looking little instrument

or 225ish from off center reading

[n5lp]

Originally Posted by Danny7

the funny thing is seeing it read 300 ft, around here ground starts around 3500 and goes up most directions.

nice looking little instrument

or 225ish from off center reading

Actually it is reading about 30 feet, which sounds about right for Paul's place.

[zilik]

Originally Posted by Danny7

the funny thing is seeing it read 300 ft, around here ground starts around 3500 and goes up most directions.

The altimeter in my shop hovers around 8500'. I too thought Paul's looked strange sitting at 30'

[n5lp]

I guess everyone is like me in that their home decor is themed around old broken aircraft instruments?

You will notice that my broken (my fault, grrrr) Winter altimeter is not there. I tried diligently to have it fixed here in the new world, and a couple of shops tried it, but in the end it had to go back to Germany.

It didn't go on display because of the high value and yes, it is a jewel. Isn't it cool that it has finer resolution even though it is a smaller instrument?

[Lars]

In the motorcycle world we call those "farkles" Thanks for posting this; I'm feeling lust settle in, as I am getting to the point in my build where it's time to put the panel together. I think I need to find a way to include one in my budget.

Larry, I like your book selection!

Williams Soaring is just north of me. Convenient.

[RWoodard]

Hi Paul,

I installed the same altimeter in my Midget Mustang. I have all 2-1/4" gauges and wanted a 3-pointer altimeter. I'm very happy with it after 50 hours flight time.



A couple of things...

1. You'll notice that the nutsert threads are metric. I ended up filling them with 3M short strand fiberglass filler and then re-tapping them for good 'ol American threads so I could keep my hardware consistent throughout my panel.

2. To adjust/calibrate the altimeter, there's a screw at the lower left corner of the case that must be removed/backed-off. You then pull the knob out and turn the Kollsman window numbers independent of the pointers. If you remove or back this screw out a bit before you backmount the altimeter in the panel, you'll be able to make small adjustments anytime without having to remove the instrument from the panel.

Congratulations on the purchase!

[gblwy]

Just installed same (but in millimetres) in my RV12, along with a Winter altimeter and a Precision compass, all 2.25 inches. Required items for UK approval, even VFR.

Cheers...Keith