![]() ![]() The Off position of the mag switch does not actually remove electricity from the magneto because the magneto is what makes the electricity. When you switch off the radio, you are removing the electricity from the radio. The Off position of the magneto switch is different from that of other electrical switches you use. In order to understand what you should be looking for while performing the magneto check during the engine runup it's important to understand what the mag switch actually does. There you have it - two independent ignition systems that are also independent of the battery/generator system. They are usually painted black, and the spark plug wires come out of each mag and go to their respective plugs. The mags are attached to the back side of the engine and are about the size of a grapefruit. Each cylinder has two spark plugs, one for each mag. Each magneto has its own distributor, wires, and spark plugs. The same gear drive that spins the magnet also spins a distributor that sends the electricity to the correct spark plug at the right time. The mags on your plane are gear-driven by the engine. Modern applications of magnetos include motorcycles, weed trimmers, and wind-up radios, in addition to piston-engine airplanes. Have you ever seen one of those old telephones that had a hand crank on the side? The crank simply provided the turning motion to operate a magneto, which sent out enough electricity to ring the bell on the other end of the line. In its simplest form, a magneto is nothing more than a spinning magnet surrounded by a coil of wire. The magnetos produce the electrical power for the spark plugs, and these neat little gadgets have been around for more than 100 years. The airplane's double ignition system provides better performance because of more efficient combustion and a higher level of safety through redundancy. Those folks at the FAA are really into safety with this one! Time pilot rom generator#The battery and generator can be removed from the airplane and the engine will still run (you just won't have an electric starter). Not only must the ignition be independent of the battery/generator system, but your plane also must have two ignition systems that are independent of each other. This is accomplished on most airplane engines by the use of magnetos to create the ignition electricity. The FAA requires that the engine ignition on airplanes must be separate from the battery/generator system. Your airplane also has a battery/generator system, but it has nothing to do with the engine ignition system. ![]() ![]() If the battery/generator system on your car fails, the ignition goes dead and a tow company gets some of your hard-earned money. Your auto ignition shares the same battery/generator electrical system with the lights, radio, starter, and every other electrical item. The heart of any ignition system is the electricity, and this is where the big difference between cars and airplanes shows up. While your automobile and airplane ignition systems both accomplish the same task, the way they do it is very different. There must be a source of electricity a distributor (which tells the electricity where to go) wires to carry the electricity and the spark plugs, which ignite the fuel. Any ignition system on any reciprocating (piston) engine has the same basic components. The ignition system is what causes the fuel to burn, which results in the wonderfully loud engine noise we pilots love to hear. Do you know what the magneto check is actually proving? Let's review this important system.Ĭhecking the magnetos (let's call them mags) is really a check of the entire ignition system. It can become so automatic that I sometimes wonder if we really know what we are looking for. After a while, this procedure of checking the magnetos almost becomes automatic. The engine is set to the proper rpm, and you perform the normal routine. At the core of the run-up procedure is the magneto check. ![]()
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