B

breister

Well Known Member
Ok, I know this has been covered but I wasn't smart enough to bookmark it and am clearly misfiring today because my attempts to locate the right threads through searches aren't finding the right things.

Two issues:

First what does he have to DO - Clearly inform my avionics guy what he does, and probably more importantly does NOT, need to do to satisfy the regs for my bi-annual pitot-static check including a Dynon EFIS; Dynon heated AOA pitot tube (which has a controlled leak at the back to allow water to drain); a non-TSO Chinese backup altimeter and a functional Encoder with no data plate we can't identify. Probably need something authoritative to convince him I don't have to replace the altimeter or the encoder.

Second, what does he have to WRITE - and again perhaps more importantly what he DOESN'T have to write to protect him from having said that "this aircraft is the same as a Certified airplane" etc. etc.

Thanks all!

Bill
 
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Static Check

On my initial static check the technician did not want to certify my EFIS (GRT SPORT) because I had a standard steam guage altimiter as well. Turns out the Altimeter (new) crapped out at 14,000 feet. The SPORT held true to 20,000 feet. He tagged my steam guage for max 14,000. Even though it was my back up he did not want to cert. the Sport. I think he was not familiar with this home build stuff. He was very impressed though.
 
Georgia Avionics

Charles, and his crew at Georgia Avionics in Winder, GA. is RV knowledgeable and knows Dynon/GRT/etc. EFIS equipment.
 
If your airplane is VFR the test altimeter the encoder and your altimeters must agree within, I believe ,100ft when the kollsman window is set to standard conditions 29.92" hg. The transponder is checked for power output, frequency stability and a couple of other parameters which are measured by the test equipment.

For an IFR certtification the altimeters and encoder are tested for leaks and altitude correspondence up to the maxium altitude of the altimeters. The error limits vary depending on the altitude. The transponder is checked for power output, frequency stability and the other parameters measured by the test equipment.

In both cases the transponder reply must match the altimeter reading, for VFR the field elevation corrected by the kollsman and for IFR from field elevation to the maximum altitude.

The test requirements are the same for certificated and experimental airplanes.

The SN's of the transponder, encoder and the altimeters in the log book and on the shop workorder.

The cost of a VFR certification should be considerably less than the IFR cert. as it takes much less time to perform.
 
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Follow-up.

To all Experimental owner/operators in the Atlanta metro.

I wish to give excellent KUDOS to the folks at Georgia Aviation in Winder, GA (North East from Atlanta). My thanks to the several folks who pointed me in their direction.

They have been extraordinarily friendly, helpful, and informative concerning the ins and outs of experimentals and the FAA. One of their folks even went the extra mile and pointed out to me that an old LORAN antenna could be used as a secondary COMM antenna just by removing a coupler box and adding a small aluminum ground plane. Sweet!

Some other avionics shops apparently have reasons why they simply do not wish to deal with non-certified aircraft. If you should happen across one of these, I recommend that we all respect their legitimate (at least from their perspective) business concerns rather than being confrontational (I won't name one, I simply bit my tongue and thanked them for their time, telling them I understood their concerns). As time goes by I'm sure many or even most will "come around." Some of these folks are no doubt concerned that the FAA might take away their livelihood - we should continue to work hard to get the FAA to acknowledge specifically what is and is not allowable in an experimental aircraft.
 
VFR cert completed

I just had my VFR transponder checked on my "other" experimental plane (Fisher Flying Products Dakota Hawk). Cost for a VFR cert was ~$65. The shop simply placed a transponder antenna within a few feet of my transponder antenna, turned on my transponder, ran through every digit on all four dials (0-7, 0-7, 0-7, 0-7), then compared field alt on my altimeter to transmitted altitude. Very simple and fast!

Two years ago, they must have mis-understood what I wanted, because I got the full IFR cert. It was pretty funny watching them try to figure out how to attach their test equipment to my static source. I vent my encoder directly to the cabin - don't even have a tube or anything to hook up to! Anyways, they finally figured out how to get static to my encoder, ran all the way up to 20k' and signed me off. Since my Dakota Hawk seldom flys higher than about 1500', seemed like a waste of time, but now I can say that I'm partially IFR certified.:D
 
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