Attitude indicator died, going to duct tape an iPod in its place

comanchepilot said:
As long as you remain VFR and have no expectation of haze, distant cloud obscuring the horizon or false horizons from clouds, and can guarantee it - then maybe you don't need an AI.

Just seems like creating a link in an accident chain. Go spend the money and OH or replace it- its not like it requires much in the way of re-certification to install
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I just wanted to say a sincere thanks for your looking out for others. People tend to go back & forth in posts on here, but your comments about a real safety concern are not lost on me and shouldn't be on others.

I am restricting myself to severe clear daytime flying only, and am staying within 25 miles of my home airport. None of this has been put into action yet as I have not been flying since identifying the issue, mostly because I have been away from home on vacation. This is more of an exercise in making something work that has been there for a couple of years, but I have never tried. (Back up AI using a Stratus 2S & an iDevice of some kind to display the information.)
 
This is why I am leaning toward buying an experimental aircraft like a Vans RV since I can build a low cost AI, DG or avionics suite for $100 with off the shelf electronics and technology.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
I just wanted to say a sincere thanks for your looking out for others. People tend to go back & forth in posts on here, but your comments about a real safety concern are not lost on me and shouldn't be on others.

I am restricting myself to severe clear daytime flying only, and am staying within 25 miles of my home airport. None of this has been put into action yet as I have not been flying since identifying the issue, mostly because I have been away from home on vacation. This is more of an exercise in making something work that has been there for a couple of years, but I have never tried. (Back up AI using a Stratus 2S & an iDevice of some kind to display the information.)
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I always worry about someone becoming an [unnecessary] statistic - I know if you fly inside 25nm from your home drome then you know the area, the landmarks, etc etc etc.

None of that gets you a horizon . . .
 
Blueangel said:
This is why I am leaning toward buying an experimental aircraft like a Vans RV since I can build a low cost AI, DG or avionics suite for $100 with off the shelf electronics and technology.
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comanchepilot said:
I always worry about someone becoming an [unnecessary] statistic - I know if you fly inside 25nm from your home drome then you know the area, the landmarks, etc etc etc.

None of that gets you a horizon . . .
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Ok, flying with homemade $100 instruments sounds like a worse idea than having none at all.

I mean, in the olden days, dem nuts flew without any of these instruments. A cub on a nice day doesn't need much in that regard to be safe.

However, putting homemade instruments in an Rv sounds far more dangerous than that.

A failed instrument doesn't provide no data, it provides incorrect data, which is far worse.
 
True it would be a backup not primary instrument. I would never rely on home made gear for primary instruments. Still it is good to know that such items can be produced at low cost compared to how expensive certified instruments cost! I am doing it more to gain experience building avionics. Good job market for that as the software jobs keep going to India and building aircraft avionics is a good skill.
 
Forgive my ignorance... but it seems anything that relies on a cell phone is going to be tough to calibrate properly. I have two cell phones I've briefly been messing around with at home by using Avare's PFD which is reliant on the phone's gyros etc... and unless it is perfectly oriented, there's no way to "zero" the AHRS. I can imagine that being an issue on any sort of portable AHRS solution.
 
ircphoenix said:
Forgive my ignorance... but it seems anything that relies on a cell phone is going to be tough to calibrate properly. I have two cell phones I've briefly been messing around with at home by using Avare's PFD which is reliant on the phone's gyros etc... and unless it is perfectly oriented, there's no way to "zero" the AHRS. I can imagine that being an issue on any sort of portable AHRS solution.
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Some of the discussion was that the only way this would work was with a portable ahars like the Stratus II


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gsengle said:
Some of the discussion was that the only way this would work was with a portable ahars like the Stratus II


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Eh. I have a stratux with AHRS. Unless you are able to affix the portable to something structural, I don't see how it's going to be nearly perfect. Unless the idea isn't perfection as much as it is just good enough.
 
I wouldn't use it except VFR or as an emergency backup...


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ircphoenix said:
Forgive my ignorance... but it seems anything that relies on a cell phone is going to be tough to calibrate properly. I have two cell phones I've briefly been messing around with at home by using Avare's PFD which is reliant on the phone's gyros etc... and unless it is perfectly oriented, there's no way to "zero" the AHRS. I can imagine that being an issue on any sort of portable AHRS solution.
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The OP says he is using the Stratus AHRS. Obviously a phone/iPod doesn't have aviation grade gyros.
 
ircphoenix said:
Eh. I have a stratux with AHRS. Unless you are able to affix the portable to something structural, I don't see how it's going to be nearly perfect. Unless the idea isn't perfection as much as it is just good enough.
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I did not know you could make a stratux with AHRS. How did you do that?
 
gsengle said:
I wouldn't use it except VFR or as an emergency backup...


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I guess VFR would work... but I'd be annoyed as all get out if it was canted 2 degrees to the right when I was straight and level.

dmspilot said:
I did not know you could make a stratux with AHRS. How did you do that?
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https://store.openflightsolutions.c...products/ahrs-upgrade-for-flightbox-pre-order

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZZCHBHT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I really looking forward to seeing how it performs. Ideally I would have a working ADI with the iPhone display above it, and then film both of them with a GoPro or something.
 
I did a dry run on the ground. The display responds pretty much instantaneously. No jumping, no jitters. I holds dead steady when set on something solid.

Rain is coming for the next three days so I don't know when I will get to try it in flight.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
I did a dry run on the ground. The display responds pretty much instantaneously. No jumping, no jitters. I holds dead steady when set on something solid.

Rain is coming for the next three days so I don't know when I will get to try it in flight.
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How'd you mount it?
 
Do birds ever fly in clouds? Sounds like a joke but I'm serious. We earth bound humans become remarkably disoriented very easily. Are a bird's inner ears just that good that it has its own native AHRS (so to speak)? They surely must feel the effects of convection and drafts in clouds and risk disorientation as well??

Or maybe they just avoid clouds.. although when I worked in the marina even on days of crazy fog (maybe 30 fee visibility) you could hear seagulls flying around and doing their thing
 
Tantalum said:
Do birds ever fly in clouds? Sounds like a joke but I'm serious. We earth bound humans become remarkably disoriented very easily. Are a bird's inner ears just that good that it has its own native AHRS (so to speak)? They surely must feel the effects of convection and drafts in clouds and risk disorientation as well??

Or maybe they just avoid clouds.. although when I worked in the marina even on days of crazy fog (maybe 30 fee visibility) you could hear seagulls flying around and doing their thing
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I've read that they mostly avoid clouds, and there have been kills of flocks of birds surprised by inadvertent IMC/fog...


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Wasn't there something in Central California.... Foggy night and fireworks... birds all got disoriented and lawn darted.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
POA wants duct tape. You promised duct tape. :(
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Well I ended up using duct tape!
It was a one time mount to see how it would work. The video sucks. I wore a red shirt and the refelection of it is about all you can see. I will say that it worked great! You need to calibrate it when you are straight & level, so you can't really just pull it out of the bag when you need it unless you can calibrate while flying.
Now how do you post a photo while using an iPhone?
 
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Man that seems like a really horrible idea on several levels.
 
Salty said:
Man that seems like a really horrible idea on several levels.
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Proof of concept. I wanted to see it work. If I lost my ADI while flying I would do that in a heartbeat.
The next step is to build a temporary "panel" on the passenger side using an iPad or two, and an iPhone.
 

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Lindberg said:
Curious, what is the purpose of an attitude indicator in VFR flight?
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So the guy doing your flight review can bust your chops for not getting & holding 60 degrees.
Oh, and to keep you from spiraling in while flying in marginal VFR...
Yea, I don't use it much, if at all. Eyes outside in VFR.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
Proof of concept. I wanted to see it work. If I lost my ADI while flying I would do that in a heartbeat.
The next step is to build a temporary "panel" on the passenger side using an iPad or two, and an iPhone.
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You would do what? You couldn't calibrate it in the air, and if you could, you couldn't rely on it staying calibrated. You're better off with no AI than with one that may give you a false indication.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
Proof of concept. I wanted to see it work. If I lost my ADI while flying I would do that in a heartbeat.
The next step is to build a temporary "panel" on the passenger side using an iPad or two, and an iPhone.
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just hope no one calls....or sends a text message in the middle
of all that. :eek::confused::eek:
 
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Kiddo's Driver said:
Keep on saying 'nay' and let the rest of the world pass you by.
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With this kind of thing you might just beat me at that. To the grave. Again, having no instrument is far better than having one that isn't accurate.
 
Salty said:
With this kind of thing you might just beat me at that. To the grave. Again, having no instrument is far better than having one that isn't accurate.
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Anyone remember USSYorktown?

He advocated using an iPad speed readout as landing aid. And swore he would never be in an NTSB report.

Until he was.
 
FastEddieB said:
Anyone remember USSYorktown?

He advocated using an iPad speed readout as landing aid. And swore he would never be in an NTSB report.

Until he was.
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Was he a member of the forum? I don't remember his username, but vaguely remember someone trying to use "an iPad speed readout as a landing aid." That's obviously groundspeed...seems like the idea is utterly a non-starter.
 
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