Sunday, December 06, 2009

In a tight spot in the RV-6

Remember this?



That's my broken attitude indicator. I decided that since the weather today was offering a balmy 30F temperature to work in and the airplane is still broken while waiting for the cowls to return from the paint shop, I'd go ahead and remove the broken attitude indicator. I still don't know if I'm going to replace it, but I have a new argument in the "against" column: it took two and a half hours to remove it. And that's the easy part! I'm not proud of the language that it took to get the old one out (nor am I ashamed of it - I was provoked!) but I'm preemptively appalled at the colorful linguistics that will be surely be required to replace it.

That and the $500 for a new one.

Still, there's resale value to consider.

Decisions, decisions.

But I can't stress enough just how horrible it is to work behind the panel on an RV-6. Cramming myself into the tiny space down by the rudder pedals to reach up behind the panel makes even a small-ish guy like me feel as big as an NFL offensive lineman. That's not nearly as cool as I had thought it would be. In fact, it sucks.

Maybe I'll violate the code and hire someone to do it.

Decisions, decisions.

2 comments:

  1. aarrgh this is exactly why I'll never get my A&P. good luck on the attitude indicator; at least you can shoot simulated partial panels now!

    but really, $500 for an attitude indicator? man aviation is expensive.

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  2. The machine is lightweight and flexible to accommodate the uneven and complex form

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