Looking for an altimeter

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jesse

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jesse
Anyone have a working altimeter they'd be willing to part with? The one in my Flybaby is way less than ideal.
 
jesse said:
Anyone have a working altimeter they'd be willing to part with? The one in my Flybaby is way less than ideal.
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I've found AQI to do solid overhauls at good prices.

http://www.flyaqi.com/pressure.htm

After buying some used gyros/pressure gauges, I wouldn't do it again except as for a core for exchange or to have OHed.

P.S. I have a SUNNTO watch that works quite well for an altimeter, not it's not GPS derived alt, it uses pressure and you have to set it just like an aviation altimeter.

There's your first non-answer. :D
 
I'll sell you a balloon for 5 bucks. Put it in your lap. When it is so big that you can't see out over the glare shield, you're around 5000 feet. When it pops and you crap your pants, that's 10,000 feet.
 
bartmc said:
I've found AQI to do solid overhauls at good prices.

http://www.flyaqi.com/pressure.htm

After buying some used gyros/pressure gauges, I wouldn't do it again except as for a core for exchange or to have OHed.

P.S. I have a SUNNTO watch that works quite well for an altimeter, not it's not GPS derived alt, it uses pressure and you have to set it just like an aviation altimeter.

There's your first non-answer. :D
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I've thought about doing that with aqi -- I've picked up parts from them before that seem to work well... They charge $350 for an exchange and I found this altimeter earlier today that seems like it'd work fine:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/inpages/alt20imf-3.php
 
The clipped cub has a crappy altimeter too and I feel your pain. Even though its a low altitude VFR machine, it is not even what I consider a basic altimeter. It does not read like a normal altimeter (it is non-precision and only has one needle which shakes around like crazy, you have to average the shakes to find your altitude) I am worried i'll get accustomed to it and make a mistake reading a normal altimeter doing something critical, like on an approach..
 
Don't know what you want to spend, but since it's experimental what about that new Dynon DI Pocket Panel unit I saw at Oshkosh.
Pretty cool and you can take it with you as back up for other planes.
 
dell30rb said:
The clipped cub has a crappy altimeter too and I feel your pain. Even though its a low altitude VFR machine, it is not even what I consider a basic altimeter. It does not read like a normal altimeter (it is non-precision and only has one needle which shakes around like crazy, you have to average the shakes to find your altitude) I am worried i'll get accustomed to it and make a mistake reading a normal altimeter doing something critical, like on an approach..
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Yeah. This one is a sensitive altimeter with two needles but it is nowhere near accurate and the face is very sun faded and difficult to read. On the last trip I avoided airspace because I didn't trust what it said and the airspace I did have to cross I did with a 4000 ft buffer out of paranoia. Definitely something I need to fix.
 
el con said:
Don't know what you want to spend, but since it's experimental what about that new Dynon DI Pocket Panel unit I saw at Oshkosh.
Pretty cool and you can take it with you as back up for other planes.
Click to expand...

I thought about that but AFAIK it's all provided via GPS data so it's not real pressure based altitude. It'd be a cool addition though.
 
Papa Foxtrot said:
Jesse,

I'm no authority, but I've read traffic on email lists that I follow about issues with Falcon instruments.

All I've got is heresay, but you might want to dig a little deeper...
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I toyed with the falcon instruments, at the time I was doing IR training in actual conditions, in winter, over the Montana Rockies. Ignoring the legalities of putting them in a certified airframe (yes, I believe it's legal, no, not all shops that install them do). I determined that I'd feel better about better quality instruments gone through by a reputable shop. For a VFR only experimental, I'd be tempted to go with the Falcon.
 
Yeah, Falcon sounds like junk, even though it's just a simple VFR experimental I want to *KNOW* that my altimeter is reliable and it just doesn't seem like that is something I can expect from Falcon.
 
Hai at AQI has never let me down...Ive done at least 5 instruments with them very solid shop for the $
 
What are you using for a static source? If the port on the altimeter is just open, pressure pulses from the propeller in the cockpit potentially could be helping it bounce. An orifice on a bit of hose might help.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
What are you using for a static source? If the port on the altimeter is just open, pressure pulses from the propeller in the cockpit potentially could be helping it bounce. An orifice on a bit of hose might help.
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Stock Fly Baby has a pitot/static boom midway out on the left wing that puts the static in undisturbed air. Looked through the online pictures of Jesse's airplane, couldn't tell if he's got the stock setup or not. Seems that if he had a varying static source, he'd see the airspeed pulse in rhythm.

Here's a shot of Jesse's panel, showing the faded altimeter.
Michael_N48ML3_panel_post.jpg


I had an altimeter start disassembling itself in my Fly Baby about ten years ago (I hate it when that happens). I went to the local instrument rebuild shop. They had a unit from a Cessna that they were selling cheap because it would only calibrate properly up to 10,000 feet. Since the only time my Fly Baby would fly that high is if were impaled on the pitot boom of a C-17, I bought the altimeter at a discount. Has seemed reliable, and worked with the transponder check.

Ron Wanttaja
 
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