So there we were, cruising along in good VFR over the heartland of the nation, ready to descend from 8.5K to pattern altitude at Fort Scott, KS ? needed fuel on the way to Minnesota. Like I had done thousands of times, I reached up to the right knob on my #1 Display Unit, and gave it a push to highlight the altitude preselect box ? and nothing happened. And I knew instantly that something didn?t feel right ? that little ?click? just wasn?t there?.it was mre of a squish. Hmmmm?.this is interesting ? no select capability, which means I can?t really set the altimeter quickly either.
What to do, what to do?.Oh yeah! Display Unit #2! Since the units trade information between them what you do on one is transferred to the other. I simply inverted my normal panel, putting the PFD on the bottom and was able to do all the entries that I needed ?a routine reversion to backup mode. (To tell the truth, it took a couple of minutes to think about doing it this way?.failures of this sort are so rare that there is some finite time for comprehension and cogitation!) This is what redundancy does for you, and knowing exactly how the system works when faced with a ?failure?.
Oh yeah ? the problem. Turns out that the set screw that holds the knob on to the shaft had somehow loosened up just enough to let it slide instead of grip when the knob was pushed to activate. All I need to do is find a tiny set of Allen wrenches (I think it?s a fifty thou) here in the Cities to tighten it up before heading home in a few days?.
Paul
What to do, what to do?.Oh yeah! Display Unit #2! Since the units trade information between them what you do on one is transferred to the other. I simply inverted my normal panel, putting the PFD on the bottom and was able to do all the entries that I needed ?a routine reversion to backup mode. (To tell the truth, it took a couple of minutes to think about doing it this way?.failures of this sort are so rare that there is some finite time for comprehension and cogitation!) This is what redundancy does for you, and knowing exactly how the system works when faced with a ?failure?.
Oh yeah ? the problem. Turns out that the set screw that holds the knob on to the shaft had somehow loosened up just enough to let it slide instead of grip when the knob was pushed to activate. All I need to do is find a tiny set of Allen wrenches (I think it?s a fifty thou) here in the Cities to tighten it up before heading home in a few days?.
Paul
