annual interruptus

Well, Fat Albert still sits on jacks at Steve's shop... Not much
happening... The vaunted new engine hoses have yet to arrive despite
being paid for in advance...

The #1 radio was sent out to the radio shop - the King KI-214 VOR
heading had suddenly gone off about 12 degrees - though the ILS was
working right... He started out mumbling about some tuning capacitors
that change value, but what he found was a dirty pot in the KI-214...
He was able to spray it with cleaner and get it working again... He
left it on the test bench over night and it held alignment... But,
says he can't get certified replacement pots any more so if it goes
out again the 214 is junk... Having spent part of my life in
industrial electronics I have no doubt I can install a pot of the
proper value and taper... The problem is it won't be certified if I do
and the radio shop will refuse to align it with an uncertified pot...
sigh

The #3 radio was tuning erratically... We decided to look at it
ourselves before sending it out... Found the kilocycle tune knob was
turning on the shaft at times... Managed to take the fancy, schmancy
knob with it's ultra tech wedge screw mechanism apart and repair it...
So, that is good to go now...
: Note to manufacturer: Ya know, a simple set screw has worked for 80
+ years, why get complicated?

So, on to week #3... "I wanna go flying!" sob, sob

denny