Tandem vs Side by Side; Perfect vs Ideal.

[FLYNOTE]

Jip, bring on Gariep in May Thanks Lennie for also pointing me in the direction of the Calidus and the Arrowcopter when I started looking around for "the latest and greatest" in enclosed tandem. We often hear the term "German Technology" thrown around. I mentioned on this forum a few years ago that I was impressed with Xenon that constantly strived to improve their machines with each model. That was the French "maestro" and although I was impressed, I must in the same breath agree with Learjet that mark1 is never a good model to buy. Zen 1 by Artur Trendak in Poland is a vast improvement over and a far cry from those very first Xenons. You do not want to see a manufacturer sticking to his make/model year after year without constantly improving the machine to be better/safer on the one hand and to keep up with the improvements seen in other makes around him on the other. When I buy a new BMW I want to see that they have bettered on last years model and not stuck to the idea that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'
But then again ...you do not want to see changes made because the initial ideas did not work. Problems experienced in Mark 1's are always pointed out by customers who act at their peril and cost as the actual test pilots
Calidus really incorporates most of what is the latest technology as far as gyros go. And then the German precision is an added bonus. The choice of instrumentation, the pre rotation system (also Ela ...I know) the finishing, small detail which is added locally by Theuns to just give it that edge ...
Change/adapt the product to constantly improve on that which already is tested and proven... not because it is not working. We do not want to buy and fly "prototypes" all the time

[Gyronaut]

As usual, well informed and lucid Flynote.

How do you feel about flying with fuses rather than circuit-breakers? Is it a factory optional extra perhaps?
I am in two minds about it. Only time a fuse has ever blown in any of my cars was when I messed with trailer lights and got it wrong.
I have recycled a circuit-breaker with success in flight a few times. Have had to land because of a blown fuse. I dunno… What say the guru's?

I am with envy at your beautiful machines!

Len

[FO Gyro]

Hi Len,

Let's see what Mr Boeing has to say for some wisdom...

Here's an exerpt from our Boeing Flight Crew Operations Manual:
Flight Crew reset of tripped fuel pump and fuel pump control circuit breakers in flight is prohibited. Reset of any other tripped circuit breaker is not recommended unless in the judgement of the Captain, the situation reulting from the circuit breaker trip has a significant adverse effect on safety. These other tripped circuit breakers may be reset once, after a short cooling period (approcimately 2 minutes). A ground reset of a tripped circuit breaker by the Flight Crew should only be accomplished after maintenance has determined it is safe to reset the circuit breaker.

I guess the thinking is that if a fuse has popped, there's probably a good reason. Maybe going the fuse route prevents this continual resetting of a circuit breaker that could result in a fire.

[Vertical Tango]

When I was building my Xenon, when I saw that the standard Xenon diagrams have 4 resettable fuses for the entire works, I threw away all circuit diagrams and rewired all electronics and electrics through 14 motor-car type fuses. Like FOGyro says, if it pops there is a reason. You replace the fuse without fault finding, it will pop again. What is worse is to have few items on one fuse. When it pops you lose the whole lot.
I have added leds on all of them and at preflight, push one button and it is a xmas tree. If it works for a fancy car, it should work for a gyro.

[Gyronaut]

That makes perfect sense. Yet I have experienced total comms failure in a Gyro, replaced the fuse after landing, has never happened again.
I once had a GEN light come on and all charge lost, recycled the circuit breaker, has never done it since.
Your logic makes sense if you put only one device per fuse AND you can check their status at the push of a button… Perfect!
It would be nice if you didn't have to remove any panels to get to them.

Thats what I want in my next Gyro. An easily accessible fuse system with annunciators.

[Learjet]

My preference would be a circuit breaker over an automotive fuse.

- A circuit breaker (CB) allows you to quickly and easily isolate a particular circuit - without having to remove gloves, find long-nose pliers and engage in a tug-of-war with a molten glob of plastic..
- So when your newly installed GPS or whatever starts leaking grey smoke and the cheapo car fuse doesn't blow - it can at least still be quickly isolated by popping the CB.
- Quality of automotive fuses is quite poor. I've seen some fuses melt without actually breaking the circuit - so my money is on a circuit breaker for quality and reliability.
- It's much easier to spot when a CB pops - and which one it is. CB's are easier to test, and makes pre-flight checking easier (and safer). i.e. CB's also allows for more immediate in-flight problem recognition and identification...
- In flight , it also provides the pilot with the OPTION / choice of whether or not to recycle the circuit breaker in flight. less so with an automotive fuse - in-flight replacement is finicky and impractical.

[Condor]

Yet another owner that decided what will work for him.

Think he will feel just as comfortable behind the stick as behind the wheel of his trusted green tractor.....

John Deere Calidus

[FO Gyro]

Different, but quite nice!

[PTKay]

My preference would be a circuit breaker over an automotive fuse.

- A circuit breaker (CB) allows you to quickly and easily isolate a particular circuit - without having to remove gloves, find long-nose pliers and engage in a tug-of-war with a molten glob of plastic..
- So when your newly installed GPS or whatever starts leaking grey smoke and the cheapo car fuse doesn't blow - it can at least still be quickly isolated by popping the CB.
- Quality of automotive fuses is quite poor. I've seen some fuses melt without actually breaking the circuit - so my money is on a circuit breaker for quality and reliability.
- It's much easier to spot when a CB pops - and which one it is. CB's are easier to test, and makes pre-flight checking easier (and safer). i.e. CB's also allows for more immediate in-flight problem recognition and identification...
- In flight , it also provides the pilot with the OPTION / choice of whether or not to recycle the circuit breaker in flight. less so with an automotive fuse - in-flight replacement is finicky and impractical.

I think the solution by AltairAviation with CBs for the new Zen is really nice:





BTW: The machine delivered recently looks truly great:





I can only agree with FLYNOTE's comment:

Zen 1 by Artur Trendak in Poland is a vast improvement over and a far cry from those very first Xenons.

Congratulations to MAK!

Many happy flight hours on ZU-RKU.

[Gyronaut]

Beautiful panel.

I was most impressed with what I saw at Kitty Hawk with regard to the Zen1.
Definitely a strong contender in the side by side market and the leader as far as space and comfort is concerned!

[FLYNOTE]

"An easily accessible fuse system with annunciators." I think that's the way Auto Gyro will go the moment someone has a problem with the current set up. I once blew a fuse on my Xenon due to the ground wire touching the exhaust and burning through the plastic. The next moment all went blank on my panel. The fuse was one of those big mothers that Eric Torr had to travel from West Rand to East Rand and back again to try and source. But if a circuit breaker pops I'm outta here till the source of the problem has been found and addressed before I shout "prop clear" again. That is an area that I know absolutely nothing about and I just know that a fuse going or a circuit breaker popping is not good news especially when the houses and cars look smaller from the cockpit of your gyro. I am mechanically and electrically handicapped and envy the fundis like the Learjets, Gyronaughts, Torrs and Weidis of this world.
Ok... back to the very little that I do almost understand about Gyros. I am a very happy chappie and at a good place at this stage of my 25 year "flying life". I have now done 20 hours on my Calidus and am convinced that FOR ME it was the right decision to move back from side by side to tandem. As mentioned before, enclosed is a non negotiable so Calidus was the way to go. My happiness and exhilaration lies in the fact that she is extremely manoeuvrable, lots and lots of fun to fly and very comfortable in the cockpit due to the added ventilation and tinted canopies in the latest models and very very fast.
I never thought that roll trim could be so effective in a tandem but now I would not like to fly without it again. I love adjusting prop pitch in cruise to get the ultimate "fine tune" between fuel burn and speed and this one is fast, very fast and economical when "fine tuned" in cruise. At 6000 ft., 48000 Rpm, 30" map and she burns 18l per hour and the ASI sniffs at the 100-115 mph mark.
I have replaced the grey factory seat covers with red leather and added sculptured foam for comfort and back support. The factory should start doing this as a factory standard item. I have always fancied a silver sport car with red upholstery and as the Calidus is a sport car/ gyro due to its speed I had to go this route! I cannot wait for my first long cross country because you can get from A to B so much sooner than other gyros due to the speed of this machine. She is a looker in silver with red upholstery and a speedster at 100 mph cruise. Did I mention that she is also fast?

[Gyronaut]

Here is an interesting fact.

This weekend a Calidus and a MTOS took off together, full tanks.
They flew from Lamberts bay to Morningstar. The Calidus took 15 ltrs the MTOS took 10 more.

Not entirely sure if the Calidus was REALLY full or almost full on refilling because I didn't see it myself but thats what the records say.
Can it be SO much lighter on fuel?

So pleased you are happy with your stunning machine Flynote!! Ek kry sommer lekker vir jou part!

[FLYNOTE]

Lennie, please forgive my memory ...

[FLYNOTE]

Lennie, please forgive my memory but you know this forgetfulness thing...did I mention that she is very fast also ?
Ek sal wragtag n C 172 en PA 28 dice en nie vreeslik vêr derde kom nie!

[Gyronaut]

So is it quick too Flynote? …