Gyro Bearings

[woxof]

I found this statement in an article to be interesting. I don't really have any question about it but was hoping it might elicit a few comments from people here and their experiences with gyros in planes that have sat around for a long time.

"Gyros rarely fail without some type of warning which may be indicated by excessive drift or precession, noisy or erratic operation. Inactivity really takes its toll on these instruments as the lubrication that is on the tiny bearings tends to drip or wick away from the actual bearing surfaces when the instrument is at rest for long periods of time."

 

[flyingron]

And then the thing stops rotating entirely and the meat gets all burned on one side and cold on the other. It's what every Greek restaurant fears.

Other documentation on gyro and pump design pretty much disagrees with this. It says the bearing lubrication stays in place as long as the limits aren't exceeded (high g's for example). I'm not sure why oil will "drip or wick" any worse at rest than when spinning. This isn't a sump based system like your engine.

 

[Skyrys62]

Improper bearing lubrication due to improper bearing fabrication could lead to improper bearing navigation.

Arrrrr, and tis the other reason why we keep our whiskey in the compass.