John DeRosa's Aviation Presentation and Information Page



	John DeRosa's Aviation Presentations and Information Web Page

		Introduction: I have created several presentations, and various other information details, on various glider related topics EXCEPT for anything to do with flying (flying well that is). I haven't quite figured that out as yet. INDEX OF PRESENTATIONS AND INFORMATION Click on the links below to download each presentation or see each informational web page. Aviation Electrical Best Practices Oxygen Systems for Glider Pilots Working with Glider Air Lines Remove Painted Letters on Gelcoat Landing Gear Warning Systems Transceiver Troubleshooting & Info Instrument Panel Sizes Securing L'Hotellier Fittings Emergency Location Devices Landout Survival Kits Bailout Survival Kits Cobra Trailer Ramps - Getting ON & OFF Trailer Wiring & LED Conversion Pilot Relief Systems Battery Testing Poor Man's Spar Alignment Tool OGN - Open Glider Network Cambridge Aero Instruments Carbon Fiber Instrument Panel Overlay Glider Maintenance Box ORD Class B Expansion 2010 Oudie Flight Computer IGC File Name Decoding CLGC Presentations Blanik Strut Oldies - Needs Updating! Soaring Aviation Electrical Best Practices Presented at the 2020 Soaring Society of America Convention - Little Rock, AR I have seen many glider avionics installations that have made my hair stand on end (or fall out altogether)! This presentation is intended to provide basic instruction in some best practices on the wiring of avionics. Topics include wires types and gauges, crimp lugs, power, batteries, installation, mounting, power distribution, power management, tools, etc. PRESENTATION - PART 1 Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Reference Information Chapter 2 - Your Tool Box Chapter 3 - Wires and Wiring Chapter 4 - Making Connections Chapter 5 - Other Things of Note Click Here to Download the Latest Presentation (Part 1) PRESENTATION - PART 2 Table of Contents Chapter 6 - Examples of Battery Circuitry Chapter 7 - Minimizing Lost Volts Click Here to Download the Latest Presentation (Part 2) Reference Materials The FAA bible on aircraft repair in the Advisory Circular AC 43.13-1B especially Chapter 11 - AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS FAA Aircraft Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) Best Practices Article "Selecting Wire" by Thomas Inman in Avionics News, July 2020 Issue Jump to Index of Presentations Working with Glider Air Lines Sailplane pneumatic air lines are critical to the safe functioning of instruments. This presentation will provide you valuable information on how to work with these lines, testing and repair/replacement. Table of Contents The Basics of Air Lines Types of Glider Pneumatic Sources Typical Instrument Use Capacity Flasks Condensation Filters Gust Filers Tracing Air Lines Path Using Colored Tubing Removing/Replacing Air Lines Splitters and Couplings Testing Air Lines and Instruments Miscellaneous Information US Glider Equipment Dealers Pneumatic Instrument Repair Stations (US) Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Transceiver Troubleshooting & Information Trying to figure out why your transceiver (radio) isn't working as well as it should is FRUSTRATING. This presentation may just help you! Table of Contents Typical Glider Transceiver Connections Troubleshooting Steps by Symptom Troubleshooting Steps - Miscellaneous Troubleshooting Speakers Troubleshooting Interference Microphones - Types and Issues Antennas & Coax Cabling Antenna Types Coax Connector Types Antennas and Coax Troubleshooting Miscellaneous Information Configuration Settings Speaker/Microphone Boxes Headset Jacks and Plugs Test Equipment (VSWR/VNA) Transceiver Repair Stations (US) Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Landing Gear Warning Systems This presentation talks about the basics of a landing gear warning systes. This is an alarm system to prevent a gear-up landing. The system is activated whenever the airbrakes are opened while the landing gear is still retracted. Because opening the airbrakes of a glider is part of every landing checklist an alarm should be sounded if the gear has not already been lowered. The presentation includes notes and hints on implementation, types of switches, and how to test the alarm system. This presentation also contains an animation of a gear warning system to help you to better understand how the system works. Microsoft PowerPoint Users - Please download the file from the link below and open it. Then hit F5 to start the slide show. Those of you with PowerPoint 2004 and later will be able to step through the previously mentioned animation one flight phase at a time. Older versions of PowerPoint may have issues with the animation. Non-Microsoft PowerPoint Users - If you do not have PowerPoint 2004 or later then there is an MP4 video available at the link below. WARNING - this is a large 6mb file. This will run through the entire presentation but will be too fast to study properly. So please use the pause function of your video application to step through it slide by slide and the various phases of the animation. Download the latest Microsoft PowerPoint presentation here Download the latest MP4 video of the presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Overview of Emergency Location Devices This presentation talks about the basics of what ELTs, PLBs, and Personal GPS Trackers, do and how they can benefit you. Comparison of the various devices by specifications and by pricing. Examples of live contest tracking and sailplane locator functionality [via the Soaring Society of America (SSA)]. Download the latest presentation here The SSA sponsored Webinar of this presentation is available here. See also these related presentations; Landout Survival Kit Bailout Survival Kit Jump to Index of Presentations Landout Survival Kits Over the years I have created a survival kit which I carry in my glider at all times to be prepared for landouts. There is another version for when I fly out west. See this web page for more details on the landout survival kit. See also these related presentations; Bailout Survival Kit Emergency Location Devices Overview Jump to Index of Presentations Bailout Survival Kits Over the years I have created a bailout survival kit which I carry attached to my parachute at all times to be prepared for a bailout. Download the latest presentation here See also these related presentations; Landout Survival Kit Emergency Location Devices Overview Jump to Index of Presentations Oxygen Systems for Glider Pilots Presented at the 2023 Soaring Society of America Convention - Reno, NV Once you have experienced the joys of soaring to high altitudes, you will want to do it again and again. However, you must learn how to use an oxygen system in your glider and, most importantly, learn how to conserve the limited amount of oxygen that you can take aloft. This presentation will help you learn how to create and use an oxygen system in a glider. Download the latest presentation here Companion medical oriented presentations on Oxygen by Dr Dan Johnson, Eric Bick, and Others; Glider Oxygen Breathing-at-Altitude Johnson (2023) Glider Oxygen Hypoxia Article (Soaring Aug 2018) Jump to Index of Presentations Cobra Trailer Ramps - Getting On & OFF To get my glider's fuselage into my "hangar" (AKA garage) for winter work I often have to get it off and out of the trailer by myself. I made some inexpensive ramps to help me with this. I thought you might find this useful. There are two pairs of ramps needed; One is a pair of rather narrow/thin ramps used to get the fuselage dolly up/out of the deep Cobra ramp aluminum channels. Made of 1"x1-1/2" oak and about 18" long tapered at the ends to fit your trailer's channel width. The second pair of wider/thicker ramps are used to get the fuselage dolly down to the ground. The wooden portion is made of 2"x8" pine and about 28" long tapered at the ends cut on a big bandsaw or two passes on a table saw (and sanded/planed smooth afterwords). The steel angle portion can be found on Amazon. See the images of the ramps HERE. Jump to Index of Presentations Instrument Panel Hole Sizes There are four common instrument hole sizes found in aircraft panels; Fractional inches sizes - 2-1/4" and 3-1/8" Metric sizes - 57mm and 80mm There is also the small rare 1-1/4" (~32mm) size While the fractional inch and metric sizes are close to one another they are not exactly the same. This presentation will provide you instrument hole size details, conversion factors, and templates. Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Trailer Wiring & LED Conversion Trailer wiring can be daunting no matter what trailer you have. Converting a European trailer like a Cobra to a US connector can be a chore. Then dealing with burn out or corroded bulbs can be frustrating. This presentation may just help you! Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Pilot Relief Systems I have brought together information on my experiences with pilot relief ("pee") systems for glider and soaring pilots along with information from other resources. See this web page for more details. Jump to Index of Presentations Battery Testing Each year I like to test my ship's batteries and replace those that do not have enough individual capacity to last 6 hours at a 1A load. But how can the average pilot perform a reasonable "real world" test with easily obtainable equipment? See this web page for an explanation of the testing that I perform, and the simple load test rig that I use, along with Excel templates for gathering the data and then graphing the results. There is a manual test methodology and an automated one. Jump to Index of Presentations OGN - Open Glider Network The objective of the Open Glider Network (OGN) is to create and maintain a unified tracking platform for gliders, drones and other aircraft. Focused on tracking aircraft equipped with FLARM and OGN trackers, OGN is also open for integration of other flying objects tracking data sources. You can see beacons from FLARM PilotAware, SPOT, Garmin InReach, Skymaster, FANET (paragliders) and Spidertracks circulating through our network. The tracking data is freely available. Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Poor Man's Spar Alignment Tool Inserting the main spar pins into the spar bushings during sailplane rigging can be difficult due to the close manufacturer tolerances. In other words things have to be JUST RIGHT to get the $#%^@ pins in! Included here is how to make a poor man's version of a non-eccentric spar alignment tool. Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Removing Painted Lettering from Gelcoat After purchasing my new/used ASW-27B I was faced with removing the non-vinyl painted contest ID letters from the underside of the right wing. That was a learning experience as imparted by others to me and is important to pass on to whomever might be faced with the same task. Download the latest presentation here Jump to Index of Presentations Cambridge Aero Instruments The Cambridge Aero Instruments line of flight recorders and audio varios were very popular with soaring pilots. Their last model of the flight recorder, flight computers, and audio vario was the great model 302 which is still highly regarded by glider pilots the world over. Here is a web page with additional information on several subjects; logging error fixes,tones decoded, software and manuals, simulators, etc. Jump to Index of Presentations Securing L'Hotellier Fittings Everything that you wanted to know about L'Hotellier fittings and the several ways to secure them to comply with the FAA AD about them. Included is a step-by-step guide to the installation of Wederkind Sleeves on a glider with L'Hotellier fittings and sources for the parts. See this web page for full details and pictures. Jump to Index of Presentations Carbon Fiber Instrument Panel Overlay This presentation talks about applying the following types of carbon fiber to the face of an instrument panel plus the pros and cons of each with examples of the finished products; Rigid sheets of real carbon fiber panels Non-rigid sheets of 3M's Di-Noc "carbon fiber" Download this 2016 ChicagoLand Glider Council presentation for complete details. Jump to Index of Presentations Glider Maintenance Tool Box A comprehensive list of many things that you might need in a maintenance kit for your glider at home and during your road trips. Click here Jump to Index of Presentations O'Hare Class B Airspace Expansion In mid-2008 the FAA started the process of expanding the O'Hare Class B airspace. This change was implemented on October 21, 2010. This has directly impact several soaring sites in the Chicago area, notably Sky Soaring near Hampshire, IL. More details and information can be found by clicking on this link Jump to Index of Presentations web page Oudie Flight Computer with SeeYou Mobile Here is a web page with some information on the Oudie Jump to Index of Presentations IGC File Name Decoding Maybe you have wondered about the file names of the IGC log files that are generated by your flight recorder. For example, "85KC3WK1.IGC". It looks like a strange random combination of letters and numbers, but each character does have a meaning. In the example above it means, "1st Flight on May 20th, 2018 using a Cambridge flight recorder serial number 3WK". Simple? Not so much. Please see this web page for more information. Jump to Index of Presentations ChicagoLand Glider Council Presentations These presentations come from past ChicagoLand Glider Council meetings. Jump to Index of Presentations Blanik L-13/L-23/L-33 Strut Information and Repair The repair/rebuild of the L-13/L-23/L-33 strut landing gear strut is an important skill if your strut has collapsed and is no longer holding gas (typically nitrogen). A repair/rebuild kit is required. Old parts should not be reused and the new kit is not commonly available. To my knowledge kits are only available from Blanik (approximate cost US$500). Note that a replacement new strut is much more expensive. Also note that L-13's have been effectively grounded (at least in the US) and used struts from an L-13 can be reused in L-23's and L-33's. Several items are included here for downloading; Scans from the L-23 service manual on the repair/rebuild/refill of the strut. Pictures of an actual repair/rebuild of a Blanik L-33 strut. This should be the same for an L-13 or L-33. Scans from the instructions included with the 2015 purchase of the repair/rebuild kit for the Blanik L-13/L-23/L-33 strut. This also includes how to build custom tools to facilitate repair/rebuild. Pictures and information on refilling the Blanik L-13/L-23/L-33 strut with nitrogen. Jump to Index of Presentations Old Presentations that Need Some Serious Updating Soaring Flight Computers NEEDS SOME SERIOUS UPDATING! This presentation details GPS systems for use for soaring pilots. I talk about how flight recorders are used, how they are wired together, how to upload and download flight logs and other details. I deal with what flight computers bring to the party, how they can help soaring, how they enhance moving map PDA displays, file structure, etc. Download this 2007 SSA Convention presentation for complete details. Basics of Dr Jacks BlipMaps and BlipSpots(PLB) NEEDS SOME SERIOUS UPDATING! Here is a short presentation on the use of blipmaps and blipspots which was created for a ChicagoLand Glider Council meeting. Download this 2007 presentation for complete details. Also available is Dr. Jack's presentation from the 2003 SSA convention (by kind permission). Comments Please Click Here