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What is essential (was: Z11 architecture question)

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brian

Joined: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Sacramento, California, USA

Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 5:42 am Post subject: What is essential (was: Z11 architecture question)

On May 25, 2006, at 5:31 AM, Robert L. Nuckolls, III wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		      Better yet . . .  pitch the pump, install an SD8 and have

    UNLIMITED endurance under e-bus ops with 100% of battery retained

    for approach to landing. But in any case, we craft to avoid

    needing words like emergency, essential, critical, etc. etc.


	


Po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to.



What it boils down to is being able to point to certain devices and  

say, "I *really* want that thing to keep working until I get back on  

the ground." Whether you consider that thing to be 'essential', an  

'endurance' item, or loss of that item to be an 'emergency', is of no  

real import. You think it is important and you take steps to ensure  

it keeps working.



The real kicker is that most people don't really think about the  

difference between essential and desirable. I suspect that a lot of  

people put things on the e-bus that don't belong there. Let me give  

some examples. I would be willing to bet that there are a LOT of e- 

busses with the transponder and comm radio connected. If you think  

about it, the transponder is really for the benefit of ATC, not you.  

I can get to my destination very comfortably if my transponder quits  

so it is NOT an essential item. Likewise with a comm radio. Sure it  

is nice to be able to talk to ATC and other aircraft but loss of comm  

will not pose a danger to my continued safe flight.



OTOH loss of my attitude instrument or my overall navigation  

capability is a serious handicap when under IFR conditions. Either of  

those events would constitute an emergency in my book. When flying  

under VFR conditions only the loss of an engine would really  

constitute an emergency so if you have an electronic ignition, it  

would probably come under the heading of "essential".



Here are some things I consider to be nonessential:



* landing lights

* pitot heat

* airspeed indicator (unless the attitude indicator fails while under  

IFR)

* needle-ball (unless the attitude indicator fails while under IFR)

* comm radio

* transponder

* position lights

* electric fuel pump (assuming the aircraft has a mechanical fuel  

pump that normally works)



Someone mentioned landing lights. IMHO they are, for the most part,  

superfluous. I had an airplane that had only one landing light and it  

was notorious for having it burn out. (The light was in the cowl and  

I suspect suffered from too much vibration.) I just got used to  

landing without a landing light. In fact, I got so I preferred it and  

just stopped using it during landing. (Of course the airports had  

runway lights.) I would only turn it on to taxi once I got on the  

ground. And there were times when I taxied by holding my flashlight  

outside the window to see where I was going.



(And I would love to debate the need for an airspeed indicator.)



Getting back to the issue at hand, here are some things I consider to  

be essential:



* stuff that keeps the engine running and makes all the fuel  

available for use. (There are a number of airplanes at the bottom of  

the ocean because an electric fuel transfer pump failed which made a  

big portion of the fuel unavailable to the engine.)



* attitude indicator (IFR)

* altimeter

* basic radio navigation, VOR/ILS and perhaps GPS (IFR)

* compass



If you think about this for awhile you will probably come to the  

conclusion that there isn't a lot that you *really* need.



But most devices have on/off switches. Frankly, I would probably go  

ahead and attach my transponder and comm radio to the e-bus. I can  

always turn them off to conserve necessary energy in the battery or  

to stay within the capacity of my backup power source. But the pitot  

heat and landing light certainly don't belong on the e-bus.



When something breaks it is up to the pilot to make decisions and  

reconfigure the aircraft for continued safe flight. If that means  

turning off some devices, no problem. Going to extreme lengths to  

make things happen automatically is probably counterproductive as you  

are going to end up adding complexity which makes for more possible  

points of failure. Keeping the systems in your airplane simple is  

going to go a long way toward making it more reliable. The critical  

point is to ensure that there is no single point of failure that will  

make you very uncomfortable or unable to continue your flight safely.



Brian Lloyd                         361 Catterline Way

brian-yak AT lloyd DOT com          Folsom, CA 95630

+1.916.367.2131 (voice)             +1.270.912.0788 (fax)



I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .

 Antoine de Saint-Exupry

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_________________
Brian Lloyd
brian-yak at lloyd dot com
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)

I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

bakerocb

Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 727
Location: FAIRFAX VA

Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 7:17 pm Post subject: What is essential (was: Z11 architecture question)

Responding to an AeroElectric-List message previously posted by: Brian Lloyd 

<brian-yak(at)lloyd.com>



Hello Brian,



You wrote: "....skip.....I can get to my destination very comfortably if my 

transponder quits so it is NOT an essential item.....skip..."



Not true if your destination is inside the Washington DC ADIZ.



You wrote: "...skip.... But most devices have on/off switches. Frankly, I 

would probably go

ahead and attach my transponder and comm radio to the e-bus. I can

always turn them off to conserve necessary energy in the battery or

to stay within the capacity of my backup power source.....skip....."



Good solution.



OC

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brian

Joined: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Sacramento, California, USA

Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 8:43 pm Post subject: What is essential (was: Z11 architecture question)

On May 26, 2006, at 8:14 PM, <bakerocb(at)cox.net> <bakerocb(at)cox.net>  

wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Responding to an AeroElectric-List message previously posted by:  

 Brian Lloyd

 <brian-yak(at)lloyd.com>



 Hello Brian,



 You wrote: "....skip.....I can get to my destination very  

 comfortably if my

 transponder quits so it is NOT an essential item.....skip..."



 Not true if your destination is inside the Washington DC ADIZ.


	


Perhaps not in that case, but that is about the only place.



OTOH, if you are on an IFR flight plan in IMC and you lose your  

transponder and your comm, the regs say you should proceed to your  

destination, hold, and then shoot the approach at your scheduled  

arrival time. That rule hasn't changed so if your destination is in  

the Washington, DC, ADIZ, the right answer is to proceed following  

your flight plan, transponder or no transponder. Don't worry; they'll  

keep an eye out for you.

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 You wrote: "...skip.... But most devices have on/off switches.  

 Frankly, I

 would probably go

 ahead and attach my transponder and comm radio to the e-bus. I can

 always turn them off to conserve necessary energy in the battery or

 to stay within the capacity of my backup power source.....skip....."



 Good solution.


	


But the point still stands. Many things that people think are  

essential are really only just very desirable and not essential at  

all. Case in point, I recently had a student who spent most of his  

time chasing airspeed so I finally just covered up his airspeed  

indicator and made him fly an entire lesson without any ASI. He  

smoothed right out and started flying pitch and power. When I would  

let him steal a look at the ASI he invariably found he was within 5  

kts of his target airspeed. Most people think that the ASI is a  

critical instrument and it really isn't (provided you know your  

airplane). What else might fall into that category?



(I would much rather have AoA than ASI any day of the week.)

Brian Lloyd                         361 Catterline Way

brian-yak AT lloyd DOT com          Folsom, CA 95630

+1.916.367.2131 (voice)             +1.270.912.0788 (fax)



I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .

 Antoine de Saint-Exupry

- The Matronics AeroElectric-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List

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