R
Rutus
Just got back from a trip to Minnesota and Montana in my -6, and noticed that the DG seems to precess quite a bit. On a trip where I was basically flying a steady, cross country course with very little maneuvering or significant course changes, I would constantly be having to reset the DG by about 5 degrees every 20 minutes or so, and always in the same direction (DG was reading low compared to whiskey compass).
The DG is a standard RC Allen vacuum powered model, which I bought new but which then sat on the shelf about 1.5-2 years before first flight in late 2004. At the time, I saw their "1 year from date of purchase" warranty and wondered if that was an indicator of poor quality and longevity. Now I am wondering that again.
So, when is precession significant enought to warrant repair or replacement, and is there some horrible failure mode that could occur. other than it just getting gradually worse? And, is there a better option that the RC Allen? I fly VFR only and have GPS, so the DG is really not flight-critical, but on the other hand having an instrument that reads incorrectly is in some ways worse than none at all.
The DG is a standard RC Allen vacuum powered model, which I bought new but which then sat on the shelf about 1.5-2 years before first flight in late 2004. At the time, I saw their "1 year from date of purchase" warranty and wondered if that was an indicator of poor quality and longevity. Now I am wondering that again.
So, when is precession significant enought to warrant repair or replacement, and is there some horrible failure mode that could occur. other than it just getting gradually worse? And, is there a better option that the RC Allen? I fly VFR only and have GPS, so the DG is really not flight-critical, but on the other hand having an instrument that reads incorrectly is in some ways worse than none at all.