Handclutch
Well Known Member
My aircraft had its annual today along with the annual IFR sign off by the avionics guy. He did a compass swing to calibrate the heading indication in the D180 and also the wet compass. It seemed a fairly imprecise exercise to me but it was the first time I had been involved in a compass swing. There was a lag in the heading indication - not sure if that is normal. When I lined up on 90? for example the indicated heading would change gradually over the next 10 seconds by a few degrees. He didn't seem to be compensating for this but am no expert in the area. On one heading we were over 10? off and he declared the unit unserviceable. He did try a calibration but clearly wasn't familiar with the D180 and I had never done one as the unit was already installed when I bought the aircraft. He wants me to send it back to Dynon. Happy to do that if it's necessary (I'm in Australia, not quite as easy as in the US) but think I will do a full calibration first and seek some further information.
He was also concerned about the ASI reading 20 to 30 knots while stationary. My D180 has always done that. Is it normal? It's never worried me because it is quite accurate in the air right down to the stall. He felt that Dynon would have a fix for it by now.
A further concern was the lack of a usable amp meter. Mine fluctuates wildly which I believe is fairly typical of the D180. Again, he thought Dynon could fix that. My solution for IFR purposes has been to set the low-voltage warning at 13 V. If the generator fails I'm going to know about it straightaway.
Looking for any advice or comment, and thanks in advance.
Jack
He was also concerned about the ASI reading 20 to 30 knots while stationary. My D180 has always done that. Is it normal? It's never worried me because it is quite accurate in the air right down to the stall. He felt that Dynon would have a fix for it by now.
A further concern was the lack of a usable amp meter. Mine fluctuates wildly which I believe is fairly typical of the D180. Again, he thought Dynon could fix that. My solution for IFR purposes has been to set the low-voltage warning at 13 V. If the generator fails I'm going to know about it straightaway.
Looking for any advice or comment, and thanks in advance.
Jack