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Compass trouble

R

Rickb

Registered User
Hello to everyone , I’m new to the site and have been enjoying the conversations. I live in western CO and purchased a wag aero supercub a while back.I purchased the craft as a complete project less engine prop and wheels/brakes. It’s a reinforced fuselage with toe brakes and a few other mods that make it a real nice craft. I’ve installed a Lycoming 0340 (vintage not new) 170 hp engine. Everything works great except I cannot get the magnetic compass to work. ( follows the aircraft nose not mn )I’ve owned and operated rag and tube ac before and never had this trouble. Moving the compass within the cockpit to any of the usual locations doesn’t change the problem. Other than a remote compass any suggestions ?
thanks, Rick
 
Sirs compass, move it around windscreen until you find best spot. I have one but really a gps does a better job.
DENNY
 
Most whiskey compasses are there for the FAA and most aren't worth the space they consume. My experimental doesn't have a compass.
 
oogle search "compass site: supercub.org" and you will find lots of discussion. Bottom line, most don't work.
 
Degaussing can work, for a while. But every time you fly, you’ll be re magnetizing.

I too have had good luck with the SIRS compass in two “problem” planes: a C 170 and a PA 11. It’s worth a try, and for those who believe GPS is a better alternative, wait till someone jams it for you. It’s happening frequently now. That SIRS compass might seem cheap then.

MTV
 
If my GPS is failed, jammed, etc., I can probably get around by looking out the window with a chart on my lap for the type of flying I do these days. Good news is at 90 mph, I went get too lost too soon.......
 
mam90 said:
If my GPS is failed, jammed, etc., I can probably get around by looking out the window with a chart on my lap for the type of flying I do these days. Good news is at 90 mph, I went get too lost too soon.......
Click to expand...

Good for you. Lots of pilots these days don’t carry charts.

MTV
 
Old habit for old pilot.. Having a reliable compass without a chart might be a little iffy too. What’s that joke - bad news is we’re lost, good news is we’re making really good time....
 
mam90 said:
Old habit for old pilot.. Having a reliable compass without a chart might be a little iffy too. What’s that joke - bad news is we’re lost, good news is we’re making really good time....
Click to expand...

Yes, and then there's the additional conundrum these days: How many pilots flying around actually can USE a chart without GPS placing a little magenta line on the screen?

MTV
 
Rick, a suggestion,
Pull the compass out and walk around the plane with it and let it tell you what it is looking at.
It might be the crankshaft in the engine that became magnetized during an inspection.
Or the fuselage it still magnetized from when it was welded together.

But you want to hand carry the compass away from the plane and just see if it works. Then carry it back and let it tell you what it looks at.
Then go from there.
There are a few options for why it does not work.
 
No body cares that the compass doesn’t work. It’s outdated mandate that it needs to be installed. Find the lightest one, put it out of way.


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
Magnetometer-fed ADHRS... amazing. Whiskey compass... junk. Times change.

My charts are on my iPhone. That begs the question, if GPS is jammed does my iPhone know where it is? I presume yes if within tower range.
 
stewartb said:
Magnetometer-fed ADHRS... amazing. Whiskey compass... junk. Times change.

My charts are on my iPhone. That begs the question, if GPS is jammed does my iPhone know where it is? I presume yes if within tower range.
Click to expand...

Just make sure you can receive Glasnoss
My curiosity lays with the major change in about 4 years time when our government turns on all our new navigation satellites. How soon are they shutting down what we trust now.
 
Nothing to do with a magnetometer and an ADHRS unless Simon Barr-Sinister controls magnetism. Compass schmompass! :)
 
FWIW, not much probly, my mag compass is very close and I maintain a paper chart subscription for my area.

My primary is GPS, but iike backups for when the electrons rebel. Or go AWOL
 
I like my whiskey compass and chart. It's worked for 0ver 100 years and will work tomorrow. I use Marcia's $100 car GPS for back-up sometimes just in case the chart goes overboard(open cockpit) Years ago i landed in a field to retrieve my chart........

Jack
 
mvivion said:
Good for you. Lots of pilots these days don’t carry charts.

MTV
Click to expand...

Anyone that carries a digital flight bag has the ability to carry charts.

The chart function still works even if the tablet doesn’t know where it is. I learned that when my last iPad stopped receiving GPS in the eastern WA mountains.

I agree that pilotage and dead reckoning is still an important tool. Should be taught and practiced occasionally.
 
I grew up learning to read a map and had some time in the military to refine my skills. I flew my first 150 hours without a GPS and the usual compass not working in the dash. It’s pretty easy to use terrain association if you have a map/chart. I always carry back up paper charts for where I am flying. A map just works for me I understand some people just are not good at using one.
DENNY
 
mvivion said:
Try using it on the Yukon Flats, or for that matter, middle of North Dakota.

MTV
Click to expand...

But in ND you at least can figure out North pretty easily.... No need for a compass if you can see a fence or a road. ;)

Vic
 
The two times I flew Eastern Montana - Dakotas - Kansas in lower clouds I was amazed at how difficult random flight must be w/o navaids. Sure we can follow railroads or highways and something like a group of buildings or airstrip will show up eventually. Flying terrain and natural landmarks is easier from what little I've done over a prairie.

Gary
 
Came back from the brooks with nothing due to alt issue with no problem. The key is to know where you are when you leave ground and keep track of your Location as you fly. If something doesn’t look right turn around and tell you fly back to the spot that matches the maps and start over. Not as easy as having a GPS but it works fine. And if you can’t read a map/chart a compass does only so much for you. Flying flat part of USA in the winter time would suck, but just find a water tower and go from there.
DENNY
 
RVBottomly said:
But in ND you at least can figure out North pretty easily.... No need for a compass if you can see a fence or a road. ;)

Vic
Click to expand...

problem is roads and section lines run both north/south and east/west. And, Denny, no towers on the Yukon Flats. Out there it’s easy if you can see the mountains on either side. Not so easy if not.

MTV
 
mvivion said:
problem is roads and section lines run both north/south and east/west. And, Denny, no towers on the Yukon Flats. Out there it’s easy if you can see the mountains on either side. Not so easy if not.

MTV
Click to expand...

LOL.

I guess I'm really old school. Just look for where the sun is! (Unless really overcast, I suppose). Of course, one might need a watch if he hasn't been awake for very long.

I remember during one of my early cross countries in Eastern Montana I descended low enough to read a water tower to figure out where I was.
 
The bottom line is to find a Compass that works the best it can! Because when all else fails you need to know what direction you want to fly.
if you ever have to go through a mountain range, with clouds at night with no GPS it is very nice to understand whatyour head in his.
 
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