Morgans wrote:
"Ron Natalie" wrote


The advantage a turn coordinator has is that the gyro within doesn't
need to be free in space. It's axis barely changes, which means
it's much easier to direct drive with an electric motor. It only
needs to register a slight precession force.


Interesting. I didn't realize that was the reason. I still have to ask.
Why are the damn things so much more expensive than their vacuum powered
brethren? An electric motor just should not cost that much more!

It's not a plain brushed electric motor - the brushes won't
stand for long in a gyro and you do not want the brush dust
inside the gyro.

The traditional way is to use a variable reluctance AC motor
and an inverter to drive it.

I've been told that there are also brushless DC motors
in the later models.

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Tauno Voipio
tauno voipio (at) iki fi