Van's Air Force
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Attitude Gyro repair
- Thread starter markscogg
- Start date
Most avionics shops cannot overhaul or bench check gyro instruments or any other instrument. Instrument repairs and bench checks can only be performed by an FAA licensed Instrument Repair Facility. Additionally, they must be approved for each type of instrument. There are a number of approved shops, check Trade A Plane.
Get a written quote prior to sending the instrument and a list of the parts that are replaced. Items above the standard overhaul can quickly run the price of a overhaul through the roof. For example, rescreening the display or the cover glass or rebalancing the gyro rotor.
Get a written quote prior to sending the instrument and a list of the parts that are replaced. Items above the standard overhaul can quickly run the price of a overhaul through the roof. For example, rescreening the display or the cover glass or rebalancing the gyro rotor.
Nu-Tek
I purchased a new gyro from Nu-tek and also had a turn and bank overhauled. Great to work with. They can do most gyro's.
http://www.nu-tekinc.com
Good luck,
Paul
ps - yes they can set up a gyro for the 8 degree panel tilt.
I purchased a new gyro from Nu-tek and also had a turn and bank overhauled. Great to work with. They can do most gyro's.
http://www.nu-tekinc.com
Good luck,
Paul
ps - yes they can set up a gyro for the 8 degree panel tilt.
Mike S
Senior Curmudgeon
I have had good luck with http://www.gyrohouse.com/
Aircraft Quality Instruments - awesome source/shop
One impressive huge instrument shop -- that specializes in general aviation piston/prop analog flight & engine instruments only -- is "Aircraft Quality Instruments" ("AQI") in Wichita ( ( www.flyaqi.com ) ).
They seem to know, intimately, almost every LIGHT-plane analog ("steam gauge") instrument ever made -- gyros (from antique AN-style military gyros, to autopilot and flight director stuff), pressure stuff (airspeed/altimeter/vertical speed), and engine gauges -- manifold pressure, tach, fuel flow, etc. They even do "little" stuff -- magnetic compass, 8-day clock, etc.
They sell certified, remanufactured (nice) stuff outright, or will do an exchange or overhaul (which they seem to prefer, so they can get the cores to keep fixing & selling instruments) -- and let us have up to 2 weeks to get our core back to them in an exchange (they'll rush A.O.G. stuff overnight).
They seem to have just about EVERYTHING on the shelf, in stock -- including SigmaTek, R.C. Allen, Edo-Aire, AIM, Kollsman, etc. Even saw some Bendix/King and other flight director heads and HSI's (horizontal situation indicators -- those fancy directional gyros that have all the VOR/ILS & ADF needles built in, etc.)
Being a piston/prop-plane instrument shop, they only do pressure stuff up to about 300mph/30,000 feet, but that's pretty adequate for even the fastest RV, right? (OK -- maybe not, if you can find a used PT-6A to strap on to the nose, but that just MIGHT "exceed recommended limits")
And for those of us with tandem-Vans, with panel space at a premium, check out their 2-inch gauges. They've got some nice stuff. Just be sure your eyes and reflexes are up to the small dials (which implicitly give less-clear indications).
Apparently their work is good enough for other instrument shops, since they've got a couple of labs doing rotor overhauls and dial refinishing for other shops (wow! you should see how beautifully they really fix-up a crappy old dial!).
They're pretty cheap, but back their work with what they call a "one-year, no-hassle" warranty -- and they seem pretty serious about it. Being pretty nice guys, not big-biz snobs, they've been pretty quick to address any needs or wants I have.
Perhaps best, AQI (as near as I can see) just charges general aviation / owner-flown prices -- rather than the astronomical corporate turboprop/bizjet rates that other shops seem to enjoy. And they take us seriously, even if we're just flyin' a homebuilt or puddle-jumper. Must be good, 'cause they've got customers all over the planet -- including (apparently) a lot of repeat biz from flight schools (whose gauges take a constant beating, and have to be right).
Was in their shop a few days ago, and asked LeRoy (the owner) how many instruments he'd worked on. He stopped talking, and then started doing some math out loud, calculating days, years, instruments per day -- came up with a career history of something like 18,000 instruments! No wonder he seems to know every instrument I show him, before I even hand it to him.
(He says he started out with a major gyro manufacturer decades ago, and has been running his own shop now for nearly 20 years -- almost all general aviation guages.)
Others there, too, seem to be savvy long-timers. It's a big shop, but with guys who really know G.A. instruments, and seem to LOVE them.
One handy thing about AQI -- they're in the industrial park just 3 blocks east of Wichita's famous "Dead Cow International" -- Westport Airport (under the Class C space just east of the Wichita's main "MidContinent Int'l Airport") -- where warbird-restorer Earl Long runs a legendary maintenance shop that caters to the eclectic general aviation crowd -- homebuilts, antiques, warbirds --as well as all the usual certified production spam-cans (Cessna/Piper/Beech/Mooney/etc.).
Get your annual/100-hour done at "Dead Cow," and you can walk (if you're patient, or maybe borrow a ride from Earl) over to the AQI instrument shop -- to shop around for what you want (even hand-carry your old gauges in).
Their website ( http://www.flyaqi.com ) says their "toll-free" phone number is 800-942-9938, but i just use their local number -- 316-942-9933. Fortunately, they're usually in on Saturday morning, so I can deal with them on personal business in my "off the clock" time.
RH
One impressive huge instrument shop -- that specializes in general aviation piston/prop analog flight & engine instruments only -- is "Aircraft Quality Instruments" ("AQI") in Wichita ( ( www.flyaqi.com ) ).
They seem to know, intimately, almost every LIGHT-plane analog ("steam gauge") instrument ever made -- gyros (from antique AN-style military gyros, to autopilot and flight director stuff), pressure stuff (airspeed/altimeter/vertical speed), and engine gauges -- manifold pressure, tach, fuel flow, etc. They even do "little" stuff -- magnetic compass, 8-day clock, etc.
They sell certified, remanufactured (nice) stuff outright, or will do an exchange or overhaul (which they seem to prefer, so they can get the cores to keep fixing & selling instruments) -- and let us have up to 2 weeks to get our core back to them in an exchange (they'll rush A.O.G. stuff overnight).
They seem to have just about EVERYTHING on the shelf, in stock -- including SigmaTek, R.C. Allen, Edo-Aire, AIM, Kollsman, etc. Even saw some Bendix/King and other flight director heads and HSI's (horizontal situation indicators -- those fancy directional gyros that have all the VOR/ILS & ADF needles built in, etc.)
Being a piston/prop-plane instrument shop, they only do pressure stuff up to about 300mph/30,000 feet, but that's pretty adequate for even the fastest RV, right? (OK -- maybe not, if you can find a used PT-6A to strap on to the nose, but that just MIGHT "exceed recommended limits")
And for those of us with tandem-Vans, with panel space at a premium, check out their 2-inch gauges. They've got some nice stuff. Just be sure your eyes and reflexes are up to the small dials (which implicitly give less-clear indications).
Apparently their work is good enough for other instrument shops, since they've got a couple of labs doing rotor overhauls and dial refinishing for other shops (wow! you should see how beautifully they really fix-up a crappy old dial!).
They're pretty cheap, but back their work with what they call a "one-year, no-hassle" warranty -- and they seem pretty serious about it. Being pretty nice guys, not big-biz snobs, they've been pretty quick to address any needs or wants I have.
Perhaps best, AQI (as near as I can see) just charges general aviation / owner-flown prices -- rather than the astronomical corporate turboprop/bizjet rates that other shops seem to enjoy. And they take us seriously, even if we're just flyin' a homebuilt or puddle-jumper. Must be good, 'cause they've got customers all over the planet -- including (apparently) a lot of repeat biz from flight schools (whose gauges take a constant beating, and have to be right).
Was in their shop a few days ago, and asked LeRoy (the owner) how many instruments he'd worked on. He stopped talking, and then started doing some math out loud, calculating days, years, instruments per day -- came up with a career history of something like 18,000 instruments! No wonder he seems to know every instrument I show him, before I even hand it to him.
(He says he started out with a major gyro manufacturer decades ago, and has been running his own shop now for nearly 20 years -- almost all general aviation guages.)
Others there, too, seem to be savvy long-timers. It's a big shop, but with guys who really know G.A. instruments, and seem to LOVE them.
One handy thing about AQI -- they're in the industrial park just 3 blocks east of Wichita's famous "Dead Cow International" -- Westport Airport (under the Class C space just east of the Wichita's main "MidContinent Int'l Airport") -- where warbird-restorer Earl Long runs a legendary maintenance shop that caters to the eclectic general aviation crowd -- homebuilts, antiques, warbirds --as well as all the usual certified production spam-cans (Cessna/Piper/Beech/Mooney/etc.).
Get your annual/100-hour done at "Dead Cow," and you can walk (if you're patient, or maybe borrow a ride from Earl) over to the AQI instrument shop -- to shop around for what you want (even hand-carry your old gauges in).
Their website ( http://www.flyaqi.com ) says their "toll-free" phone number is 800-942-9938, but i just use their local number -- 316-942-9933. Fortunately, they're usually in on Saturday morning, so I can deal with them on personal business in my "off the clock" time.
RH
