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#1
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The battery Contactor on MOST GA airplanes is
'powered' ( grounded) by ONE wire! You GAMBLE your life and you Pax's life in IFR conditions by way of: One Battery, One battery Contactor, ONE primary Battery buss wire, One contactor control wire, a few Ring terminal lugs, One Master Switch. When the Battery contactor circuit opens / fails you WILL loose the alternator because the battery acts as a capacitor to smooth out DC power fluctuations, spikes, and AC ripple : the alternator field current will go wild and the overvoltage regulator will cut out. With out field current you have no Alternator! In IFR You have HAD IT! NO DC power! Wonder how many 'good' pilots have been killed in IFR with a total power outage?? no Radio distress call because of no electrical power!........ no radios, no lights, no auto pilot, no transponder, no turn and bank indicator ( Partial panel capability lost) ......... everyone wonders what happened???? Seconds to live, ....... because of ONE........ get it!!! ONE common point failure of an essential IFR system! |
#2
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wrote in message
... In IFR You have HAD IT! NO DC power! Holy Crap!! You mean there's RISK in GA? I guess I'll give up flying and become a USENET troll. |
#3
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#4
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#5
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Wonder how many 'good' pilots have been killed in IFR with a total
power outage?? Have you? If so, tell us! -- Thomas Borchert (EDDH) |
#6
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On Mar 27, 1:30*am, wrote:
The battery Contactor on *MOST *GA *airplanes *is 'powered' ( grounded) * by ONE wire! This is true. When the Battery *contactor circuit opens / fails *you WILL *loose the alternator *because the battery acts as a capacitor to *smooth out DC *power fluctuations, spikes, *and * AC ripple : *the alternator field current *will go wild and the overvoltage regulator will cut out. * With out field current you have no Alternator! That depends on how the alternator controller works, and what kind of alternator you have. For example, many of the later Raytheon/Beech airplanes use a self- exciting alternator. You can literally start the engine, turn off the master, and you maintain power to the bus from alternator only. Of course if you turn off the field, you can't get the alternator back without battery power. Seen this on the Duchess. Then there are the generators. They don't need the battery at all, assuming a decent load on the system and a decent controller. The Zeftronics systems are like that - lose battery or contactor, and you maintain generator power. The stock Piper and Cessna systems - not so nice... If you're going to fly IFR, choose your system wisely - and understand how it works. *In IFR You have HAD IT! * * NO DC power! Really? Why? Most planes flying IFR these days have a handheld GPS for backup nav, and have primary (attitude and heading) gyros driven by vacuum/pressure pumps, which are engine driven. Of course since the engines have magneto ignition, they'll keep spinning - and driving the gyros. The all-electric airplanes have backup power systems, as well they should, and do not rely on a single bus. Seconds to live, *....... because of ONE........ get it!!! ONE common point failure of an essential IFR *system! Um, no - not seconds to live. Even without the handheld GPS for navigation, you have primary gyros, compass, altimeter, engine power, and your flashlight (if it's night) - and can probably fly to an area of VFR or, last ditch, make a letdown over water or flat land. You probably have hours to live and try to resolve the problem. A handheld GPS and batteries make a cheap backup and allow you to shoot most VOR (and all NDB) approaches to better accuracy than the underlying approach, making the electrical failure no big deal. Now if you lose the engine as well... But now we're talking two simultaneous unrelated point failures. For that matter, why not start with the engine? That's where you really have the problem, assuming you only have one. And the pistons are all linked to ONE crankshaft, which is housed in ONE case, supplied by ONE oil pump, fed through ONE fuel line, etc. Fail any of those and the engine will stop making power long before you can get it on the ground in IFR conditions. There are risks to flying IFR, but the particular risk you mention is quite manageable and not the death sentence you make it out to be. In other words - you don't know what you are talking about. Michael |
#8
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wrote in message
... The battery Contactor on MOST GA airplanes is 'powered' ( grounded) by ONE wire! You GAMBLE your life and you Pax's life in IFR conditions by way of: ... I feel that it is my duty to warn you against flying with someone like MXSMANIAC - something as simple as tripping over the power cord would result in a TRAGIC end to the "flight"!!!!!!! -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. |
#9
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Holy Single Points of Failure, Batman!!!!!!
My airplane only has one engine with one crankshaft and one propeller!!! And only one rudder too!!!!! ZOMG!!!!! I'm gonna DIE!!! And so are you. And that's guaranteed. 100% of us are all gonna die. (but not necessarily today, and not necessarily in an airplane crash either) (and until my day comes, I'm going to keep on flying as long as I have my health and can afford to buy the fuel) |
#10
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