In a message dated 1/8/2008 8:46:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Is there any real use for a turn & slip indicator in a two control Ercoupe? Is installing one worth the extra weight and electrical load, both of which are at a premium in my plane? Eliacim, I didn't see too many responses to your question, so I'll throw in my two cents worth. In my opinion, if you are going to fly strictly day VFR, you don't need a turn coordinator or turn and bank in a two control Coupe. These instruments give you two pieces of information, turn quality (slip or skid) and rate of turn. The ball in these instruments tells you turn quality. You can't do anything about turn quality in a two control Coupe, but that's OK because the coordinated controls do it for you. Therefore you don't need the ball. (Unless you need to know when your plane is parked "wings level" for fueling purposes.) The needle or "little airplane" in these instruments tells you the rate of turn. (They don't actually both tell you the exact same info, but close enough for this discussion.) In VFR flying, you really don't need to know your rate of turn either. For any given airspeed, the rate of turn is directly related to the bank angle, and you can always see the bank angle when VFR by looking out of the airplane. And in VFR flying, you probably don't really care how many degrees per second you are turning as long as you are at a bank angle that doesn't make your passenger want to climb in your lap. In IFR flying the rate of turn indication becomes important for two reasons. First, most turns while flying IFR are "standard rate turns" (3 degrees per second). Holding patterns, approaches, etc are set up for standard rate turns, and a standard rate turn is a nice shallow bank angle that keeps you out of trouble while flying on the gauges. Only the turn and bank or turn coordinator directly indicate the rate of turn. Therefore when flying IFR, you are always looking at (scanning) the rate of turn indicator. Secondly, the rate of turn indicator is used to cross check the artificial horizon. If all is well, these two instruments will agree with each other and tell the pilot that the turn is OK. If they disagree, then one of the two instruments may have failed, and the pilot has to figure out which is wrong, and react accordingly. When flying in IMC, this gets real important real quick. When flying VFR, it's really unnecessary information. Personally, I like having the "standard six" instruments in my plane because if I ever screw up and fly into the clouds (easy to do at night - been there, done that), or just can't see the horizon (real easy to do at night - been there too), having the gyros and knowing how to fly on them makes that event a minor embarrassment instead of a life threatening situation. Having said that, if an Ercoupe is only flown on nice clear, sunny days, then having a turn coordinator or rate of turn indicator is really pretty useless. They also use up useful load, and when they break (and they do), they cost about $400.00 to overhaul. So the answer to your question is: It depends! But you already knew all that! Best Regards, Wayne DelRossi Alon N5618F Hours logged since restoration: 347.5 (Where, oh where is my crankshaft seal???) "Nobody has ever scientifically proven that life is supposed to be serious." **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
