Banjo33
Line Up and Wait
Had the weirdest thing happen on my last flight. I had been airborne about 2.5 hrs or so and joined the downwind at my home field. After extending the gear, when I pushed the power back up, my son and I heard a “pop” and then what sounded like a continuous high-pitched buzzer sound emanating from the instrument panel. Despite my best attempts, I couldn’t locate the source of the buzzer and didn’t have any other indications, so I continued to our hangar. When I pulled the mixtures to cutoff, the buzzer sounded like it was dieing a horrible death, trailing off to nothing. I immediately suspected a vacuum leak.
Went back today and did a thorough scan, twist, and pull of the vacuum lines behind the panel, but no dice. So I ran to the hardware store and bought some plastic tubing, pulled the plane out, fired up an engine (the buzzer sound started again) and did a slow, comprehensive check behind the panel with one end of the tube behind the panel and the other in my ear like a cheap stethoscope. Still nothing. On a whim, I scanned the face of the instrument panel and lo and behold, it was coming from the face of the standby (gyro) attitude indicator. If I lightly press on the glass, I can alter the sound. I guess the seal for the glass broke?
Anyone seen this happen before? Is there anything I can do to remedy it without having to send the dang thing in for its second overhaul in about 3 years? I have a G5 AI as a primary but had to retain the gyro sby to drive my autopilot. I flew afterward and there’s no abnormalities noted with any instruments nor the autopilot. I imagine having dual vacuums helps with this too.
Went back today and did a thorough scan, twist, and pull of the vacuum lines behind the panel, but no dice. So I ran to the hardware store and bought some plastic tubing, pulled the plane out, fired up an engine (the buzzer sound started again) and did a slow, comprehensive check behind the panel with one end of the tube behind the panel and the other in my ear like a cheap stethoscope. Still nothing. On a whim, I scanned the face of the instrument panel and lo and behold, it was coming from the face of the standby (gyro) attitude indicator. If I lightly press on the glass, I can alter the sound. I guess the seal for the glass broke?
Anyone seen this happen before? Is there anything I can do to remedy it without having to send the dang thing in for its second overhaul in about 3 years? I have a G5 AI as a primary but had to retain the gyro sby to drive my autopilot. I flew afterward and there’s no abnormalities noted with any instruments nor the autopilot. I imagine having dual vacuums helps with this too.
