RA-AUS Cross country endorsement

[facthunter]

That needs either stronger Magnetism or vibration Isolation. Stay in the circuit. It's just an ornament as it is. Nev

[Blueadventures]

15 minutes ago, Kiwi said:

I love B grade movies.

 

 

Only be good for picking your weekly Lotto numbers, maybe.

[facthunter]

When it stops it will  settle on the correct and same numbers unless you Move the Plane. That amount of vibration would damage Most Instruments.. It's not acceptable. Nev

[danny_galaga]

Yeah, damn that's a LOT of movement 😲

 

Can't quite think of the brand of mine, but I decided not to cheap out on it. It's American, quite a reasonable price and is OEM on Beechcraft etc. 

 

Now I've seen how it's NOT supposed to be, I think I'll be fine. Mine definitely dampens nicely 🙂 

 

Edit: Air path is the brand 

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com.au/catalog/inpages/airpath_compass3.php

 

Edited April 14 by danny_galaga

[facthunter]

The Instrument is not the Problem . It's the way It's mounted. Nev

[Kiwi]

19 minutes ago, facthunter said:

The Instrument is not the Problem . It's the way It's mounted. Nev

Do you mean on the Mount it came with?

 

You all do realise that I'm pulling the idle back to make it spin and shake.

At 3000 rmp it's nice and smooth. 

 

Also yes I replaced it. It is been in the golf buggy for a few years now.

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

Most of these things are Mounted on rubber.  Nev

[Moneybox]

On 14/4/2026 at 2:16 PM, danny_galaga said:

Yeah, damn that's a LOT of movement 😲

 

Can't quite think of the brand of mine, but I decided not to cheap out on it. It's American, quite a reasonable price and is OEM on Beechcraft etc. 

 

Now I've seen how it's NOT supposed to be, I think I'll be fine. Mine definitely dampens nicely 🙂 

 

Edit: Air path is the brand 

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com.au/catalog/inpages/airpath_compass3.php

 

My compass is not that bad but still difficult to follow because it’s rarely accurate when the going gets rough. When I’m doing my flight planning I note the corrected compass bearing and find the MGL EFIS heading sits steady when the magnetic compass is wobbling all over the place. When I get the time I’ll be installing an AP to make holding a steady course much easier. 

[facthunter]

IF fitting an autopilot is the answer I'd revisit and clarify the Question. Autopilots have risks and downsides. Nev

[skippydiesel]

14 hours ago, Moneybox said:

My compass is not that bad but still difficult to follow because it’s rarely accurate when the going gets rough. When I’m doing my flight planning I note the corrected compass bearing and find the MGL EFIS heading sits steady when the magnetic compass is wobbling all over the place. When I get the time I’ll be installing an AP to make holding a steady course much easier. 

Ozrunways or similar APP, will give you a "track" & heading.

 

Even in turbulence ,its easy to follow the track (magenta line), even if you diverge a bit, from time to time.

 

No down side, as with autopilot (George).

 

George may disconnect in turbulence, then there are concerns about system failure (how long before you notice you are far of track), loss of control feel, cost, etc 

 

I have "toyed" with the idea of fitting a George - I would need both altitude & heading control - so far resisted making my simple aircraft more complex.😈

[facthunter]

I think you would be better off sticking with the title" Autopilot. "  to avoid more confusion.  There ARE downsides with An Autopilot It might be to your advantage to  consider what they are. Apart from the High Cost.  Nev

[Moneybox]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

I think you would be better off sticking with the title" Autopilot. "  to avoid more confusion.  There ARE downsides with An Autopilot It might be to your advantage to  consider what they are. Apart from the High Cost.  Nev

I plan on fitting a Trim Tab autopilot like the SuperECO. It's not terribly expensive, easy to install and can be overridden with the controls if necessary. 

 

https://www.aircraftautomation.com/products/supereco-autopilot 

[facthunter]

 That method needs smaller  servos. an advantage.. Planes can be flown just on Tabs but they would be a lot heavier than Our Planes are to justify doing it that way. it's also not that good at Lower airspeeds (Not enough authority). A disconnected tab will Flutter.  Nev

[Garfly]

5 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

Ozrunways or similar APP, will give you a "track" & heading.

No GPS based navigator deals in Heading.  They only do Track.  They've no clue as to where your nose is pointing (and don't care ;-).

Some EFIS systems have electronic compass (magnetometer) input as well as their GPS track data.

In practice, though, the most useful thing a magnetometer does is to enable the display of real time wind-velocity. 

[facthunter]

Some magnetic compasses used a Remote flux valve under a wingtip to transmit signals to a dash Mounted dial. That doesn't have to be very Heavy but still needs to be swung and Have a correction card. A Magnetic Compass is Independent of everything but not a lot of use near the Magnetic Poles where the dip is extreme and they MOVE anyhow.  Nev

[danny_galaga]

On 16/04/2026 at 7:03 PM, facthunter said:

Some magnetic compasses used a Remote flux valve under a wingtip to transmit signals to a dash Mounted dial. That doesn't have to be very Heavy but still needs to be swung and Have a correction card. A Magnetic Compass is Independent of everything but not a lot of use near the Magnetic Poles where the dip is extreme and they MOVE anyhow.  Nev

Note to self: make sure my first few navs are not near the south pole 😄

[facthunter]

It's to help you understand what the Principle  of dip is. Nev

[Moneybox]

My iPad version 6 has been useless in the plane so I spent $150 and had a new battery fitted yesterday in Perth. Hopefully that and the cooler weather will keep it alive long enough to reliably run OzRunways.

I have an iEFIS lite in the Zenith but my old brain is having trouble getting the best out of it.