Hello all--
In terms of engine instrument monitoring and reliability, I've
had less than sterling experiences myself with the Westach stuff; my
impression is that the VDO gauges that come with the Rotax packages are
probably higher quality.
Among the various engine indicating and monitoring gadgets with
which I've had experience, the best and most sophisticated installation
is doubtless the stuff from Vision MicroSystems, which uses various
senders, a central processing module, and either a very well-executed
single large-screen display (VMS-1000) or a series of 2.25" round dials,
each of which is only about half an inch deep behind the panel and all of
which are linked by a single ribbon cable "bus." An option is an
alphanumeric warning and advisory system which also does checklists.
Alas, while you certainly get what you pay for, you also pay for what
you get--somewhere on the wrong side of $2000!
A very viable alternative, at less than half the price, is the
excellent little engine monitoring and indicating system (all digital)
---From Rocky Mountain Instruments, who also make the fabulous
"microEncoder" air data instrument. Both of these gizmos are available
as kits, and the quality of both the components and the instruction and
assembly manuals are extremely high. "Factory" support is also
excellent, with a high level of builder handholding if necessary.
All this having been said, and while I still don't know what kind
of clockwork will go into A37, I'm pretty sure that I'll go with
traditional analog engine instruments: light, cheap, easy to scan and
interpret at a glance, cheap, reliable, and cheap.
As far as stall warning is concerned: the best, lightest,
cheapest, and most reliable system is an appropriate level of pilot
training and experience. After all, aircraft like the Spitfire, which
has a much less docile stall than Europa, never had stall warning
systems. When I flew ELSA, Pete Clark--sorely missed!--had removed the
stall strips for cleaner snap rolls (flicks, for you Limes) in his
airshow routine, and the
stall was still not only quite docile but preceded by quite a perceptible
buffet.
A few years ago, a gentleman called Morgan Huntingdon was selling
what he called the "Lift Reserve Indicator," effectively a pneumatic
angle of attack indicator based on a probe with holes above and below the
stagnation point and a sensitive differential manometer (available over
the counter from air conditioning engineering suppliers). A past issue
of Sport Aviation detailed a similar system based on tiny holes in the
upper and lower surface of the wing leading edge.
All very nice, and the thing indeed worked just as advertised.
Whether it's really necessary in an aircraft as honest as Europa remains
to be seen. If one comes to depend on an angle of attack indicator, one
may be at a disadvantage if it goes U/S at the wrong time. I think that
in Europa a certain minimum level of awareness, good hands, and an
educated bum should be more than adequate!
PSL
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