single pilot ifr trip tonight

Newps wrote in message news:govqb.129678$Fm2.107682@attbi_s04...
Dan Truesdell wrote:
the few short
forays into the clouds lead me to investigate an electric AI. Although
we were only in the bumpy stuff for a few minutes at a time,

Now that the FAA has finally relented and allowed you to throw away your
turn coordinator and get a second AI I went and talked to my local
avionics shop about the RC Allen electric AI that I see advertised for
about $1800. They said don't bother as 90% of them come back because
they are so horribly built. They told me to get the reliability of a
vacuum AI it's gonna take about $4000.

Why are the electric AI's so poor? I hear this frequently on the
newsgroup.

OTOH, one rarely hears about people complaining of TCs.

Is it the extra dimension of rotation that causes the problem? Or is
just RC Allen's design/mfg?

-Nathan

Try minimizing control inputs to what is necessary to keep your heading in bumpy
air rather than trying to keep the wings absolutely level. It produces an
uncomfortable ride, but the bumps do tend to average out somewhat over time as
long as you are not making big corrections for each bump. I haven't tried the
GPS only thing in really bumpy air. Then again, what is described as moderate
to severe by pilots flying aircraft with lighter wing loadings barely ruffles
the feathers of a loaded Six. It is a great instrument platform!

David Megginson wrote:

Ray Andraka writes:

I've found that I can fly the airplane IMC with just the HSI page on my
Garmin III Pilot as long as I keep the control inputs gentle. Doing this,
my instructor covers all the flight instruments. Update rate is a little
on the slow side, but as long as you keep your turns gentle it is very
doable.

My concern is that in moderate turbulence it's much harder to keep
control inputs gentle. On my last trip in IMC, for example, I hit a
couple of jolts that tipped me past 20 deg bank in a fraction of a
second. I'd like to know how well the GPS HSI page works in that
situation (I acknowledge that the TC is also tricky when the air's
that rough, since it has a slight lag built-in).

Has anyone tried using the HSI page on a handheld GPS in moderate
turbulence? I'd be very interested in hearing the results (especially
if it was on a cloudy day or at night, when there were no light or
shadow clues).

All the best,

David

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759