Reduce Weight with Instrument change? Hyd Pwr Pack Overhaul?

[3Bellanca]

Hi! I am new to this forum! We met some of you in Oshkosh this year.

My husband and I are getting ready to do our first annual on our Bellance 260. We have purchased instruments, AI, Turn Coord, veritcal card compass, still looking for a DG with a heading bug and an low cost IFR GPS, and we want to take out the old DG, old AI, old electric compass/RMI, and the old autopilot as well as all associated wiring. The autopilot doesn't work well, starts doing a 3 degree bank turn after engaging, and I figure all the above would save some weight and upgrade the panel. Has anyone done this? Did it save weight? Has anyone had to fix the autopilot and did it successfully?

Also, has anyone had their hyd pwr pack overhauled? Or done it themselves? My pack blew the main o-ring on the way back to Oshkosh this year, luckly after I put the gear down! We want to overhaul it while we are in there doing the annual. We did the test on jacks as we were loosing our red light every so often in flight, and found it was the pack that was causing it. Some company wanted to charge us like $1200 to overhaul it and the o-rings don't cost but about $20!

Ava and Matt

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Ava:

The overhaul price you were quoted for your power pack is reasonable nowadays, sorry to say. Plus, if your red gear-up light is going on and off in flight there may be more problems with the pack than just an O ring....that, or the micro switches may need adjustment or replacement. Having suffered a power pack failure that required a gear-up landing, this is not a device I'd try to save money on. This is not a do it yourself sort of thing, IMO, but plenty of A&Ps with Bellanca experience read this forum and may be able to offer better insights than I.

As for that George you have, is it a Brittain wing leveler? I have one that is controlled by the turn-and-bank indicator. It has a knob for adjusting bank. I take it yours does not have such an adjustment?

My Brittain unit was inop when I bought the airplane, but they are still in business and can overhaul the servos, turn coordinator, and tracking device if you have one. The tracker can employ data from up to two nav devices, including a GPS. Removing it will save weight, but even a wing leveler is mighty handy when flying instrument approaches.

My Cruisemaster was built in 1950 and, yes, it has the heavy and enormous AN style AI...lots of military surplus instruments were used in those days, and my DG came with a heading bug. Using modern gauges may save weight, though I am not acquainted with the instruments used in the post-G.M. era. It is silly how much adding a heading bug costs, alas.

As for an inexpensive IFR GPS, keep in mind that a yellow tag is meaningless on an overhauled unit. You need an 8130-3 form stating the unit has been overhauled, tested, and meets the original specs. Plus, to be legal, the installation itself must be done by an approved shop and requires more FAA paperwork.

Welcome to the small but cunning few who appreciate these marvels of GA These are splendid aircraft.

Jonathan