I got an email from a glider pilot wanting to install a gear warning system in his ship. While the system is electrically simple (battery+wires+switches) it can be logistically complicated.gear warning functions mechanically and electrically.
I started to reply via email to convey the needed information but this just doesn't work. So I spent some time putting together a PowerPoint presentation covering what I know about gear warning systems. It includes a PowerPoint animation of how the
This is a second public release of this DRAFT presentation. I'd like your feedback. Let me know if you have any questions or confusions so I can make needed updates.properly in Open Office or Google Docs? I haven't tried.
You will need Microsoft PowerPoint to open the file and then "play" the presentation and its animation.
http://derosaweb.net/aviation/presentations/documents/Landing_Gear_Warning_2022.07.15.pptx
Is there a way to export the slide show (and animation) to something more portable? You can save-as to a MP4 file but it runs through the animation too fast to understand (but you can use the space bar to stop/start). Can it be opened and run
Thanks, John (OHM)
Nice job, John.
But, since I don't use Microsoft products and the Open Office animation
was not as good as it could have been, I'm not sure about your switch mounting.
It appears to me that you mounted the gear switch on the landing gear
itself. I would suggest that it would be much simpler to mount it on
the linkage in the cockpit. Saves wallowing in the dirt to install and
less chance of the switch getting knocked off in the cockpit.
Dan
5J
On Saturday, July 16, 2022 at 10:36:30 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Nice job, John.
But, since I don't use Microsoft products and the Open Office animation was not as good as it could have been, I'm not sure about your switch mounting.
It appears to me that you mounted the gear switch on the landing gear itself. I would suggest that it would be much simpler to mount it on
the linkage in the cockpit. Saves wallowing in the dirt to install and less chance of the switch getting knocked off in the cockpit.
DanDan - Yes, the best place is on the linkages.
5J
I use the term "linkages" throughout the narrative and mention a suggested location near the gear and airbrake handles.
Thanks, John (OHM)
On Saturday, July 16, 2022 at 3:08:52 PM UTC-5, John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote:The closest that I have found is exporting within PowerPoint to an MP4.
On Saturday, July 16, 2022 at 10:36:30 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Nice job, John.
But, since I don't use Microsoft products and the Open Office animation was not as good as it could have been, I'm not sure about your switch mounting.
It appears to me that you mounted the gear switch on the landing gear itself. I would suggest that it would be much simpler to mount it on
the linkage in the cockpit. Saves wallowing in the dirt to install and less chance of the switch getting knocked off in the cockpit.
DanDan - Yes, the best place is on the linkages.
5J
I use the term "linkages" throughout the narrative and mention a suggested location near the gear and airbrake handles.
Thanks, John (OHM)The presentation labels the switches on the levers/contols on the PPT I saw.
I exported to google slides and the animations can't be made work quite right. The animation options are not as sophisticated to start and stop at specific positions.
Jim M "P9"
I have struggled with magnetic switches for years. Attaching them to gear/airbrake pushrods seems easy, but the tolerance between magnet and switch is very small making installation easily unreliable. Last time I did gear warning system I usedmicroswitches and everything works 100%. I would not bother with magnet switches anymore.
I have struggled with magnetic switches for years. Attaching them to gear/airbrake pushrods seems easy, but the tolerance between magnet and switch is very small making installation easily unreliable. Last time I did gear warning system I usedmicroswitches and everything works 100%. I would not bother with magnet switches anymore.
On Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 5:29:58 AM UTC-6, krasw wrote:microswitches and everything works 100%. I would not bother with magnet switches anymore.
I have struggled with magnetic switches for years. Attaching them to gear/airbrake pushrods seems easy, but the tolerance between magnet and switch is very small making installation easily unreliable. Last time I did gear warning system I used
I too detest magnetic switches. Unless they are mechanically fixed in place with screws or clamping devices, the tape will not hold in a hot environment. If the switch moves out of the intended position even a small amount, the alarm either triggers orworse, is disabled and you don't know it. Use microswitches and clamp them firmly in place. Test the circuit on the ground repeatedly. After reinstalling the seat pan or any other panel that covers the switches and actuating rod/lug/tab, test again.
Finally, consider something other than a warning horn. Many of these inexpensive (cheap) buzzers have a tone that is difficult to hear in the cockpit while in flight. Additionally, the pitch sometimes coincides with hearing loss in a particularfrequency range. (Fairly common in people who spent time around loud airplanes, firearms and other noisy environments. Many of our flight instruments like audio variometers, radios and anything else that makes noise might be enough to mask the buzzer. A
John-with microswitches.
To each his own. My experience with magnetic vs. microswitches is exactly the opposite, and I have installed about ten gear warning systems using both. Maybe I'm doing it differently and getting different results than you, but I've had better results
As far as the lights, I GUARANTEE you can't ignore the ones I am using. You could probably see them if you were wearing a welding hood.
Sysop: | Keyop |
---|---|
Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
Users: | 292 |
Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
Uptime: | 208:54:38 |
Calls: | 6,618 |
Files: | 12,168 |
Messages: | 5,317,103 |