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bnt83

bnt83

Final Approach
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Brian
Ok, the compass card is present :rofl:

It literally crumbled and fell off handling the mount while I was removing the mount and compass.




Been doing some refurb work

 
Recovering the top of the panel was pretty easy. The old stuff was always an eyesore because it was loose in several places, especially in the valley by the glove box.






 
bnt83 said:
Ok, the compass card is present :rofl:

It literally crumbled and fell off handling the mount while I was removing the mount and compass.
Click to expand...

You can make a pretty good looking card (black background, white cutouts, black numbers) using a word processor and the "background" command. It takes a bit of doing and remembering that what you type comes out white instead of black, but it is eminently doable with a little fiddling.

Jim
 
Does anyone, anywhere, maintain a compass card?

I've owned 4 airplanes, and rented many others. I've yet to be in one with a compass card that was filled out in any recent decade. Heck, my current ride doesn't even have a whisky compass.

So far, the magnetometer we installed in the tail seems to be working flawlessly. If it ever fails, we will have to default to one of the six other independent navigation systems onboard, any one of which is a thousand times more accurate.
 
Jay Honeck said:
If it ever fails, we will have to default to one of the six other independent navigation systems onboard, any one of which is a thousand times more accurate.
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Somehow, as gadget oriented as you are, I suspect there is a sextant stashed in the rear seat area as independent navigation system #7.
 
Try find a compass rose at an airport that doesn't look like a 30 year post apocalyptic road marking.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Somehow, as gadget oriented as you are, I suspect there is a sextant stashed in the rear seat area as independent navigation system #7.
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You know, I've often thought that the clear canopy would make star sightings simple.

Two problems:

1. We don't fly at night.
2. Neither of us know how to work a sextant.

:)
 
Pretty much anywhere there is a real heavy part 145 repair station will have a compass rose. I believe every airplane at my work goes around it. If not all of them, a lot of them do.


In reality the compass should be check for accuracy anytime the panel is dinked with (avionics installations), but it seems to slip through the cracks when it comes to small private GA airplanes.

The picture above looks like the original one when the airplane was brand new, and yes it has been to several 145 "GA" avionics shops since then.
 
Silvaire said:
Try find a compass rose at an airport that doesn't look like a 30 year post apocalyptic road marking.
Click to expand...

All you need is one known heading and one of these:

IMG_1103_zpsbuo8r1hg.jpg
 
I'm debating on replacing the compass (stamped July 1967) with a brand new one same p/n ($180). Reason is I couldn't get the compass out of the mount without cutting the wires off because the lamp holder (4) is stuck in compass. Not only that but the face (6) isn't notched (looks like botched manufacturing) so the wires would prevent me from easily removing it even if the lamp holder wasn't stuck.

I shouldn't have to remove the headliner then disconnect the wires to remove the compass. The lamp holder should unscrew easily and the wires slip out of the notch.

 
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I just convinced myself to replace the whole thing. I have no clue how old the diaphragm/gasket is and I really don't want it leaking on my pretty interior.

I still need to refinish the mount tho.
 
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weirdjim said:
You can make a pretty good looking card (black background, white cutouts, black numbers) using a word processor and the "background" command. It takes a bit of doing and remembering that what you type comes out white instead of black, but it is eminently doable with a little fiddling.

Jim
Click to expand...

What I like to do is take a picture of the object and physically measure it and note the dimensions. Then crop the photo to just the OD of the part. Then I import that into PowerPoint and set the dimensions to what I physically measured. From there its pretty simple to come up with texts, arrows and shapes that will fit on the part.




 
bnt83 said:
I'm debating on replacing the compass (stamped July 1967) with a brand new one same p/n ($180). Reason is I couldn't get the compass out of the mount without cutting the wires off because the lamp holder (4) is stuck in compass. Not only that but the face (6) isn't notched (looks like botched manufacturing) so the wires would prevent me from easily removing it even if the lamp holder wasn't stuck.

I shouldn't have to remove the headliner then disconnect the wires to remove the compass. The lamp holder should unscrew easily and the wires slip out of the notch.
Click to expand...

That is an incandescent bulb in there (#330 as I recall) and over the years the heat from the lamp builds up to where the stuff inside melts and seals the holder in place. Seems like a pretty trivial task to modify the bugger into the 20th century with an LED bulb.

Putting an 062 series tiny nylon Molex connecter pair on the new compass before you install it will let you take the whole shebang out of the airplane without any disassembly at all. Nylon will dye with RIT fabric dye any color you want, to match the interior. It will take day(s) at room temperature or a couple of hours at 150°F or so in a crockpot to thoroughly dye.


Jim
 
weirdjim said:
That is an incandescent bulb in there (#330 as I recall) and over the years the heat from the lamp builds up to where the stuff inside melts and seals the holder in place. Seems like a pretty trivial task to modify the bugger into the 20th century with an LED bulb.

Putting an 062 series tiny nylon Molex connecter pair on the new compass before you install it will let you take the whole shebang out of the airplane without any disassembly at all. Nylon will dye with RIT fabric dye any color you want, to match the interior. It will take day(s) at room temperature or a couple of hours at 150°F or so in a crockpot to thoroughly dye.


Jim
Click to expand...

It looks to me like a disconnect would fit in the housing but the wires are about two feet long from the holder, through a tiny pipe, and terminated in the headliner.

I do have a pile of molex stuff on hand. Neat idea about dying the nylon connector housings.
 
Excel has a convenient format to create a compass card too.

We have a surveyed compass rose at KSSQ but given the performance of many compass systems I've seen, an outdoor compass would make a reasonable reference as long as it is kept away from any iron. Of course we are almost directly on the isogonic line here..........
 
Jay Honeck said:
Does anyone, anywhere, maintain a compass card?

I've owned 4 airplanes, and rented many others. I've yet to be in one with a compass card that was filled out in any recent decade. Heck, my current ride doesn't even have a whisky compass.

So far, the magnetometer we installed in the tail seems to be working flawlessly. If it ever fails, we will have to default to one of the six other independent navigation systems onboard, any one of which is a thousand times more accurate.
Click to expand...

Isn't that a TOMATOFLAMES requirement? I'd love to remove mine because I've got a half dozen other directional devices (including a magnetic compass on my keychain)....
 
bnt83 said:
I'm debating on replacing the compass (stamped July 1967) with a brand new one same p/n ($180). Reason is I couldn't get the compass out of the mount without cutting the wires off because the lamp holder (4) is stuck in compass. Not only that but the face (6) isn't notched (looks like botched manufacturing) so the wires would prevent me from easily removing it even if the lamp holder wasn't stuck.

I shouldn't have to remove the headliner then disconnect the wires to remove the compass. The lamp holder should unscrew easily and the wires slip out of the notch.

Click to expand...

On my 1976 150 I changed the entire compass assembly and those wires can be disconnected at the most forward part of the headliner (they are long) there are little plastic buttons that come off allowing the headliner to be pulled down for access without actually removing it ... It was much less than a PITA than I thought
BTW Silverchicken has Cessna compass cards for like a $1
 
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ahkahn said:
TOMATOFLAMES....
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Probably means something to somebody, but WAY too much of an inside joke for me to give a ****. I'm still burning up the innerwebs trying to figure out what the hell Tom Downey was referring to when he suggested that someone look up the amusing story to go along with the "Continental" engine name. (or did he mean the "A-##" designation?) Still :dunno:
 
weirdjim said:
That is an incandescent bulb in there (#330 as I recall) and over the years the heat from the lamp builds up to where the stuff inside melts and seals the holder in place. Seems like a pretty trivial task to modify the bugger into the 20th century with an LED bulb.

Putting an 062 series tiny nylon Molex connecter pair on the new compass before you install it will let you take the whole shebang out of the airplane without any disassembly at all. Nylon will dye with RIT fabric dye any color you want, to match the interior. It will take day(s) at room temperature or a couple of hours at 150°F or so in a crockpot to thoroughly dye.


Jim
Click to expand...

Woah... WOAH! LED bulbs? Dyded wire? You got a 337 for that bub? Your Friendly Aviation Adminstration is just looking out for you... :mad2:
 
DJTorrente said:
Woah... WOAH! LED bulbs? Dyded wire? You got a 337 for that bub? Your Friendly Aviation Adminstration is just looking out for you... :mad2:
Click to expand...

S#/!. The feds have come to accept my particular brand of bu!!$#!t for forty years. They actually sent a three member team of theirs down to talk to me and we parted company amiably and the last thing that the team said was that if they ever found anything that could be traced to an accident they'd be back in force.

I'm still waiting.

Jim
 
I take it the compass hasn't been re swung and deviation card recalibrate do since the factory. :lol: Looks like your doing a bunch of work.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Does anyone, anywhere, maintain a compass card?

I've owned 4 airplanes, and rented many others. I've yet to be in one with a compass card that was filled out in any recent decade. Heck, my current ride doesn't even have a whisky compass.

So far, the magnetometer we installed in the tail seems to be working flawlessly. If it ever fails, we will have to default to one of the six other independent navigation systems onboard, any one of which is a thousand times more accurate.
Click to expand...

The shop I worked at it was part of every annual, I'd taxi over to the rose and swing the compass and make a new card if required. As long as avionics and stuff haven't changed, it's typically still accurate.
 
bnt83 said:
Pretty much anywhere there is a real heavy part 145 repair station will have a compass rose. I believe every airplane at my work goes around it. If not all of them, a lot of them do.


In reality the compass should be check for accuracy anytime the panel is dinked with (avionics installations), but it seems to slip through the cracks when it comes to small private GA airplanes.

The picture above looks like the original one when the airplane was brand new, and yes it has been to several 145 "GA" avionics shops since then.
Click to expand...

:yes:
 
Stevel said:
Probably means something to somebody, but WAY too much of an inside joke for me to give a ****. I'm still burning up the innerwebs trying to figure out what the hell Tom Downey was referring to when he suggested that someone look up the amusing story to go along with the "Continental" engine name. (or did he mean the "A-##" designation?) Still :dunno:
Click to expand...

Ugh... TOMATOFLAMES in layman's terms is FAR 91.205, required equipment on the plane for part 91 operations.

So, my question was asking how you can remove a whiskey compass if it is required equipment?
 
ahkahn said:
Ugh... TOMATOFLAMES in layman's terms is FAR 91.205, required equipment on the plane for part 91 operations.

So, my question was asking how you can remove a whiskey compass if it is required equipment?
Click to expand...

I was kinda wondering how Jay's plane got signed off without one.:dunno:
 
Henning said:
I was kinda wondering how Jay's plane got signed off without one.:dunno:
Click to expand...
I have a "magnetic direction indicator" on board, as per 91.205. It's called a magnetometer, and it's a thousand times more accurate than the spinning-in-the-bumps whisky compass it replaced.

Mounted in the tail, it is amazingly accurate and consistent. We have a real compass rose at our airport (freshly repainted, even) and I recently checked to see how it was holding up, after 2 years in the plane. No adjustment was needed.

If that were ever to fail, the TruTrack autopilot has a separate, independent digital heading indicator.

And if those both failed, I would revert to one of the six other independent GPS navigation systems we have on board at all times.

If ALL of those failed, well, it's the End Times, and I'm flying into oblivion anyway... lol
 
Jay Honeck said:
I have a "magnetic direction indicator" on board, as per 91.205. It's called a magnetometer, and it's a thousand times more accurate than the spinning-in-the-bumps whisky compass it replaced.

Mounted in the tail, it is amazingly accurate and consistent. We have a real compass rose at our airport (freshly repainted, even) and I recently checked to see how it was holding up, after 2 years in the plane. No adjustment was needed.

If that were ever to fail, the TruTrack autopilot has a separate, independent digital heading indicator.

And if those both failed, I would revert to one of the six other independent GPS navigation systems we have on board at all times.

If ALL of those failed, well, it's the End Times, and I'm flying into oblivion anyway... lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, but now you have to carry a flask to have your last shot of whisky with you. The whisky is why it is required equipment. Duh!
 
SkyDog58 said:
Yeah, but now you have to carry a flask to have your last shot of whisky with you. The whisky is why it is required equipment. Duh!
Click to expand...

:lol: I got on an old schooner once and the compass was brown. I asked the owner about it, he said that's now 100 year old (some brand I'm not familiar with) Scotch.:lol: Apparently the guy who had it built had the compass filled with it at the commissioning. Now they all use oil so the crew won't drain and disable it.
 
Henning said:
:lol: I got on an old schooner once and the compass was brown. I asked the owner about it, he said that's now 100 year old (some brand I'm not familiar with) Scotch.:lol: Apparently the guy who had it built had the compass filled with it at the commissioning. Now they all use oil so the crew won't drain and disable it.
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I have to call BS on that one. We all know that sailors use rum. Or is that just pirates? :rofl:
 
SkyDog58 said:
I have to call BS on that one. We all know that sailors use rum. Or is that just pirates? :rofl:
Click to expand...

She was a Fife built out of teak in Scotland, I think if they had put rum in someone would have burned the boat.:lol:
 
SkyDog58 said:
I have to call BS on that one. We all know that sailors use rum. Or is that just pirates? :rofl:
Click to expand...
Mmmmm, rum.

We just accidentally received a case of grapefruit juice (mixed in with our usual orange and apple juice) at the hotel. We are now facing the horrible fate of devising some rum concoctions with which to consume said grapefruit juice.

Methinks it will be a good day. :)
 
Jay Honeck said:
Mmmmm, rum.

We just accidentally received a case of grapefruit juice (mixed in with our usual orange and apple juice) at the hotel. We are now facing the horrible fate of devising some rum concoctions with which to consume said grapefruit juice.

Methinks it will be a good day. :)
Click to expand...

I think a trip to the Vodka or Everclear store is in order.:lol:
 
ahkahn said:
Ugh... TOMATOFLAMES in layman's terms is FAR 91.205, required equipment on the plane for part 91 operations.

So, my question was asking how you can remove a whiskey compass if it is required equipment?
Click to expand...

Thanks! Although my ignorance of the mnemonic was genuine at the time, my post was primarily a tongue-in-cheek attempt to get the answer to Tom's little riddle. I googled your riddle as soon as I posted and had ample sources presenting the answer.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Mmmmm, rum.

We just accidentally received a case of grapefruit juice (mixed in with our usual orange and apple juice) at the hotel. We are now facing the horrible fate of devising some rum concoctions with which to consume said grapefruit juice.

Methinks it will be a good day. :)
Click to expand...

Gin and grapefruit juice with salt around the rim (a-la margarita) is what the Navy calls a Salty Dog. Without the salt it is a Greyhound. Vodka may be subbed for the gin but the original is gin.

Jim
 
weirdjim said:
Gin and grapefruit juice with salt around the rim (a-la margarita) is what the Navy calls a Salty Dog. Without the salt it is a Greyhound. Vodka may be subbed for the gin but the original is gin.

Jim
Click to expand...
183 feet (but who is counting?) from the hotel is a bar called "Salty Dog". Not surprisingly, that is their specialty.
:)

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
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