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Alternator Failure While Under the Hood

Good job!
But it sounds like that plane needs a voltage monitor! You need a warning (flashing red light, beeping in the headset) as soon as the alternator goes south, especially when IFR! By the time you notice radios not working it is way too late!
 
Your cfi was not joking about planning a no flaps landing. [ed. I know he wasn't, but he was grinning when he said it. dr] I've seen someone in the same circumstances forget the flaps were electric, and then over run the runway when they did not deploy. Worse, I've heard of cases where the flaps did deploy, on the battery's last gasp; only to have the pilot botch the approach and then have to make a full flaps go around when they wouldn't come back up!
 
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This is a thought-provoking story, and it brought to mind a question that might be relevant to the folks with more electronically-advanced airplanes out there:

Doug, if this had been your own plane, with 2 P-mags, would you have felt the same level of comfort going home with a known faulty alternator? Would your decision have been changed at all? [ed. Sure, I'd have flown my 2-pmag plane home. They turn into regular old slicks when there is no alternator. dr]

How about if you were flying a plane without the steam gauge airspeed and altimeter? [ed. Good question. I don't think it would be legal if I didn't have some basic instruments (source). dr]
 
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krw5927 said:
This is a thought-provoking story, and it brought to mind a question that might be relevant to the folks with more electronically-advanced airplanes out there:

...snip[/COLOR][/I]
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From what I've seen, most folks focus on the panel goodies and forget about the lowly electrical system that powers all this stuff. I've seen mega buck panels, with no backups, powered by the cheapest alternator available. When I suggest upgrading the electrical system most folks seem to think its a waste of money. From my perspective, its a waste of money to upgrade to a glass panel with all the IFR goodies if you don't address the basic need of electrical reliability/redundacy.
 
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Minimum Instrument

krw5927 said:
How about if you were flying a plane without the steam gauge airspeed and altimeter? [ed. Good question. I don't think it would be legal if I didn't have some basic instruments (source). dr]
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CFR Part 91.205 does not apply to experimentals for daytime VFR! There is no minimum instrumentation requirement for experimental daytime VFR Ops! [ed. Thank you! dr]

Skylor
RV-8
 
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