vacuum system

[GAHorn]

I'm surprised at your willingness to spend good money to remove good equipment, but it's neither illegal nor even "wild" to do so. The airplane originally was certificated with nothing more than the T&B for it's only gyro equipment. The original "whiskey" compass is a better compass than the vertical card, in my opinion. An educated pilot who is familiar with the behavior of a wet compass can use it's characteristics to good advantage. Example: The pitot tube or airspeed, or the static system/altimeter is acting up---but the compass shows a turn to the North. What does that tell you? It says you've lowered your nose, losing altitude, and are accelerating. Or your T&B has died and you're caught in fog. Your compass shows an initial turn left, but then seems to pause before swinging right. It would be a mistake to bank right to correct that intial swing if you're on a northerly or southerly course due to a magnetic compass turning error.
These important and useful characteristics of a wet compass are not available to an owner of an insensitive (and failure-prone) vertical card compass owner.
Finally, I doubt you'll experience a meaningful gain in performance to offset the loss of usefulness of the full gyro panel, should you remove it. Your safety of flight would improve immensely should you choose to keep the gyros and get some good instruction and keep current. My own recent Christmas trip would have been a disappointment had I not had the ability to fly between layers at night, and I certainly wouldn't have done that without my full gyro panel and a good radio.

[blueldr]

Holey Moley. George! -- between layers at night-- your'e a real sport. I haven't done that for a good many years, but I recollect that being akin to flying inside a bottle of India Ink. There is NOTHING more "IFR" It was always a darn sight more vertigo inducing than being in clouds.

[GAHorn]

Eric's comment (originally posted before Blueleader's above) was split into two paragraphs. One paragraph is repeated here....the other is repeated at the Pilot Lounge under "Language" (Split topic). None of his message was deleted,...it was only split in order to relate to the seperation of the two topics. -George

Sounds like someone's inferring a lack of judgement and/or forethought on my part. However,bragging on one's "ability to fly between layers at night" in a single-engine piston-powered airplane to some might indicate a lack of judgement & forethought also! Must be nice to have that much (blind) faith in your equipment,especially when it's 50 years old!

Eric

My comments were not meant to appear braggadocious. My meaning was that without a full gyro panel my airplane would have been unequipped to fly at night between layers. Without the equipment, whatever qualifications a pilot possesses would have been useless, and any such attempt would be foolhardy. I believe that recognizing that limitation is an example of the excersize of good judgement.
My comments with regard to your decision to remove your gyros were intended to mention the limitations you would be imposing on your airplane. I certainly respect your judgement and felt that you were fully aware of the change-of-capability your choice would be imposing on your airplane. I don't see that any of my comments presumed you to be lacking in judgement.
(I intend to post a seperate message under a new topic over the next few days describing my Christmas trip. My IFR at night portion was at the end of the trip above basic VFR conditions at the ground level. The reason I chose to fly at a higher altitude even though it placed me IFR between layers was because a significant portion of the route was over swamp and open water. I felt that a low-level flight (day or night) over that terrain was a greater risk than being on an IFR flight plan in a radar environment at an altitude that would allow me to glide to terra-firma in the event of power failure. It was the last 100 miles of a 1400 mile trip on Christmas Eve, and was done to get away from an area of rapidly developing severe weather.)
As for the age of my equipment, ...all my instruments have been recently overhauled to new condition and so certified. My airplane is in similar mechanical condition, with less than 500 hours on a complete restoration to like-new condition. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of airplanes older than mine in everyday commercial use carrying passengers for hire. I don't think using my properly maintained airplane for it's intended purpose is lacking in judgment.

[GAHorn]

Holey Moley. George! -- between layers at night-- your'e a real sport. I haven't done that for a good many years, but I recollect that being akin to flying inside a bottle of India Ink. There is NOTHING more "IFR" It was always a darn sight more vertigo inducing than being in clouds.

Yeah, but it was a darn sight better than being IN the layers! At least it was smooth. In the clouds was pretty chopppy and distant lightning was un-nerving without being between layers to observe the distance and direction.

That's another vertical card compass story, also. I once flew an airplane from Houston to Austin (westbound), VFR between wide layers (and it was VFR at both ends of the trip) with a vertical card compass and noticed the VOR needle (CDI) was moving like it was reverse-sensing. It really got confusing. I'd correct left and the needle went even further left! After about 20 minutes of this I finally called Flight Watch and got a Center freq., called them up and got identified on radar. They told me I was tracking almost 080! That vertical card compass showed 280!
They gave me a no-gyro steer towards Austin, and I broke out between the layers about 50 miles from destination. When I landed and taxied near the hangar the compass suddenly swung to a correct heading. I'll never want one.

[zero.one.victor]

"My comments were not meant to appear braggadocious."

Isn't that a town in Texas,just northeast of Nacogdoches?

[flyguy]

HOKEY, YOU BETTER NOT COME TO TEXIAS AN TRY TO GIT TO BRAGGYDOCIOSE BY GOIN NORHTEEST. THATLL GIT YOU TO LOOSYIANA AN IN A LOT OF TROUBLE. OLE GAYHORN (BRAGGY) IS SOUITHWESTERLY FRUM THAT TOWN YOU WUZ TRYIN TO SPELL AND COULDN'T.

PS. FLYIN BETWEEN LAYERS IS BETTER IF IT IS BETWEEN SILKY BEDCOVERS AN WITH A PERSON OF THE FEMALE PERSUASION. NOT NEAR AS DANGEROUS UNLESS IT AINT YOUR WIFE AND SHE FINDS OUT ABOUT IT.

DEENIE SAYS: SHE WOULD PREFER TO BE LAYING BETWEEN FLYERS THAN FLYING BETWEEN LAYERS.

IMA GITTIN A LITTLE CORNFUSED! LAYERS, LIARS, FLIERS AND ----------

[GAHorn]

GAR, Does Deenie know about that "PERSON OF THE FEMALE PERSUASION" you tried to pick up down there in Nawlins French-quarter? (Remember? The one that was "persuasive" but not convincing! ?)