Vertical Compass

[AggieMike88]

I am considering asking our membership to upgrade our current wet compass with a vertical card.

Any suggestions on manufacturer and model?

Also, is this design subject to the ANDS turning effects we study in the written exams?

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I have one. It does but waaay less.
Leaps and bounds better than the wet one prior

 

[poadeleted20]

You've already got a GNS480 in the plane, and everybody in your group carries some sort of portable GPS. Nobody's ever going to look at the MC in your plane other than to periodically set the DG (or do you have an electric HSI? I forget) unless the DG fails and the satellites quit. Given that the majority of VCC's I've flown with have been seriously inaccurate, and the MC you have is rarely used, I wouldn't replace the MC with a VCC.

 

[timwinters]

I've had two VCCs and they both sucked. They were jumpy and I never could get either adequately calibrated. I went back to a good ol' whiskey compass and never looked back.

If I ever replace my whiskey it'll be with one of these (a sirs):

 

[Gary]

I've had two VCCs and they both sucked. They were jumpy and I never could get either adequately calibrated. I went back to a good ol' whiskey compass and never looked back.

If I ever replace my whiskey it'll be with one of these (a sirs):

Vote #2 for the SIRS. Works wonderfully, easy to read, easy to mount, not exactly cheap but….

Gary

 

[Clark1961]

I've had two VCCs and they both sucked. They were jumpy and I never could get either adequately calibrated. I went back to a good ol' whiskey compass and never looked back.

If I ever replace my whiskey it'll be with one of these (a sirs):

I put a Sirs in the 'kota (or rather had an A&P do it). The numbers on the compass card are so small I don't even bother with a correction. Very fine compass.

Rest of story is that an avionics shop tried to fix the old compass by changing the compensator. No bueno. I was getting ready to pull the trigger on a VCC and an A&P told me he had two new ones in a drawer that I was welcome to try but they never worked for him. A&P was an old IA, the kind you trust. Bought the Sirs and got **** about it for a couple weeks. So what, it's a good compass.

 

[timwinters]

Hijack warning!

For those concerned about the "reverse reading" of standard compasses, I have a mental trick that I use. I hope I can adequately explain this...along with the visual props that I just created...

So, you're flying along to the north and your DG looks like this:

Everything is oriented properly and it is easy to deduce that it would take a left turn to attain a 330 heading.

However, your compass looks like this (sort of):

And it might be easy to think that it'd actually take a right turn to attain that 330 heading.

But, if you simply visualize an arrow, starting at 330, going through the CL of the compass hub, then out the back side of the compass at the windscreen, then life is good again and it's again easy to see that 330 is a left turn...not a right turn.

I've found this to be a very easy mental game to play with my compass and thus it becomes self correcting.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[Dan Thomas]

The vertical card compasses are very sensitive to any vibration. They need the special, really soft mount or they'll never settle down as long as the engine is running.

Dan

 

[Jim_R]

Vertical card compasses seem to be one of the most "YMMV" items in aviation. It seems like half the population swears by 'em, and the other half swears at 'em.

 

[Silvaire]

Hijack warning!

For those concerned about the "reverse reading" of standard compasses, I have a mental trick that I use...

Another "mental trick" is to simply understand that the compass disk does not turn, it remains stationary and it is the airplane that turns around it.

 

[Mistake Not...]

For those concerned about the "reverse reading" of standard compasses, I have a mental trick that I use. I hope I can adequately explain this...along with the visual props that I just created...

Nice. It's one of the reasons I wanted a VCC, but was put off by all the negative reviews I found. The sirs appears to be the way to go if you want a mechanical compass.

 

[Mistake Not...]

You've already got a GNS480 in the plane, and everybody in your group carries some sort of portable GPS. Nobody's ever going to look at the MC in your plane other than to periodically set the DG (or do you have an electric HSI? I forget) unless the DG fails and the satellites quit. Given that the majority of VCC's I've flown with have been seriously inaccurate, and the MC you have is rarely used, I wouldn't replace the MC with a VCC.

Ron, it's actually very interesting to see that. I'm pretty sure that's what I'd _do_, but I'd feel guilty doing it. I'm sure with practice the magnetic compass can be used, but it has quirks and it's hard(er) to read than the virtual compass created in the GPS.

Only problem I see, maybe, is in areas with large magnetic variation (I think most GPS derived headings are True).

 

[AggieMike88]

You've already got a GNS480 in the plane, and everybody in your group carries some sort of portable GPS. Nobody's ever going to look at the MC in your plane other than to periodically set the DG (or do you have an electric HSI? I forget) unless the DG fails and the satellites quit. Given that the majority of VCC's I've flown with have been seriously inaccurate, and the MC you have is rarely used, I wouldn't replace the MC with a VCC.

Thanks Ron. 55WB has a DG.

 

[jaybee]

Just like a clock - turn left numbers decrease, turn right numbers increase.

 

[timwinters]

Another "mental trick" is to simply understand that the compass disk does not turn, it remains stationary and it is the airplane that turns around it.

I like that one too!

 

[JHW]

which one is it, do you want a VCC or do you want to "upgrade" (to anything else, but best of all a whiskey compass)

 

[poadeleted20]

Only problem I see, maybe, is in areas with large magnetic variation (I think most GPS derived headings are True).

No, what you see on a GPS is mag course (DTK)/track (TRK). They compute true initially, but have variation tables to determine mag, and mag is what they display. And they don't do heading, only course and track. But if you're up there trying to fly an approach after losing your DG, track is a lot more useful than heading, anyway.

 

[RotorAndWing]

Funny thing, the Airbus has a compass above the glareshield that fold away in a compartment. To see it you reach up and pull it down.

I looked at it once while doing a cockpit familiarization and never looked at one again.