Systems Outline

Piper Arrow PA-28R-201

By: Cody Dennison

Pitot Static System:

This system is for both ram air and static air, it provides air for the altimeter, VSI, and the
airspeed indicator. The Pitot tube is located on the left wing and it has a hole for ram air
on the front, a drain hole on the bottom for a drain, and a static air hole is located
separately on the back side of the fuselage. The pitot head is also able to be heated to
prevent ice from accumulating and blocking the ports this is controlled by an electrical
switch in the cabin.
The air comes in on the pitot head and is ducted in air lines into the cabin to the
instruments that are ran by the ram air and static air.

 Questions,

What instrument is ran with ram air?

Where is the Pitot tube located?
What is the purpose of the drain hole on the Pitot tube head?
What instruments does the static air run?

Vacuum System:
The system has an engine driven vacuum pump, a vacuum regulator, a filter and
plumbing. The pump used is a dry pump so there is no need for an air or oil separator. A
shear drive protects the engine from damage. If the drive shears the gyros will become
inoperative.
When the engine is running the vacuum is creating pressure and this is displayed on the
vacuum gauge in the cockpit on the right side fire wall, normal operating pressures are
4.8 to 5.1 inches of mercury.
We have an annunciator panel that shows us if the vacuum pressure is to low meaning a
leak or problem in the system, the regulator is what monitors the system and maintain the
right amount of pressure to correctly operate the instruments.
On the arrow we only run the attitude indicator off of the vacuum system. Here is a
picture below to see how the vacuum system runs the attitude indicator.

 Questions,

What creates the vacuum pressure for our system?

What is the one instrument that uses vacuum pressure?
Do we have any system for back up vacuum pressure?

Fuel system:
The piper arrow is a fuel injected system meaning the fuel is distributed right into the
cylinder head where it is then mixed with air and spark. There is a fuel selector in the
cockpit that can turn the fuel from left tank to right tank to off.
The arrow uses an engine driven fuel pump and has an electric fuel pump for backup and
it is also used in critical areas of flight to help the engine driven fuel pump. There is a
fuel pressure gauge on the instrument panel to show your fuel pressure.
The total amount of fuel that can be carried is 77 gallons with only 72 usable.
There are 2 fuel tanks one in each wing and each can carry 38.5 us gallons. They are
attached with screws into the wings and are part of the overall structure of the wing.
There is a filler neck in each tank along with tab marks that help aid in the fueling of the
aircraft, when the tank is filled to the tabs there is 25 gallons in it.

 The aircraft can run two different fuels the minimum grade fuel is 100 octane, normal
recommended is 100ll blue,
Some components of the tank are vents one on each tank this is just a breather tube to
allow the tank to vent its self as the fuel is used it has to be displaced with air so the
system can work properly. Also we have quick drains one on each tank and 3 on the
lower portion of the left front noise cowling. We use these fuel tank drains to collect
contaminates in the fuel in the bottom of the tank and then we are able to drain them out
so they dont cause problems to the system.

 Questions,

Do we have a fuel injection system or a carburetor?

What is the total amount of fuel we can carry and what is the usable amount?
How many fuel pumps do we have?
How many fuel drain do we have and where are they all located at?

Electrical System:
The system is a 14 volt, 60 amp alternator that is protected by an alternator control unit
with a voltage regulator and an over voltage relay. The alternator provides all electrical
power at all RPMs
Voltage regulator monitors the volts required in the system and then tells the alternator to
create more or less power. In the cockpit we also have an ammeter that monitors the
systems output of power so the pilot can see what the electrical system is doing and if is
operating correctly.
The overvoltage relay will disconnect the system is there is a surge of power so that the
whole electrical system doesnt fry.

 We also have circuit breakers in the system for extra protection for each individual
electrical component, the circuit breaker will pop before any harm can be caused to the
actual electrical component its self. This is located on a panel in the cockpit on the lower
left side of the firewall.
Electrical components; alternator, starter, electrical fuel pump, stall warning horn,
ammeter, and annunciator panel, navigation, ground recognition, anti-collision, landing,
instrument panel, and cabin dome lights,
Secondary power is provided by a 12 volt, 35 amp battery, this is used for engine starts
and is a backup in case we have an alternator failure we will still have power for
equipment and radios for about 30 minutes.

 Questions,

Does the arrow have an alternator or a generator?

What is the volts and amps on the battery?
Name 5 components of the electrical system?
What is a voltage regulator and what does it do?

Landing Gear system:

The arrow has retractable tricycle landing gear, which is hydraulically actuated by an
electrical reversible pump. This means hydraulic fluid is what is in the lines that actually
moves the gear into position but the force behind the hydraulic fluid is the electric driven
pump and it can pump both ways for up and down.
The gear is activated by a lever on the instrument panel and it can be extended or
retracted in about 7 seconds. There is a speed limit on the gear it cannot be extended
above 129 KIAS, and it cant be retracted above 107 KIAS.
In case of a failure of the landing gear system we have an emergency extension gear
handle in between the two front seats and there is a checklist to follow when you use the
emergency gear extension, but all it does is open a relief valve in the system holding the
gear up in position and by releasing that pressure the gear will fall out into position.
Components of the landing gear system.

Three green lights on the instrument panel to indicate gear locked down in
position.
Gear unsafe light and warning horn, this will come on when gear is in transit, on
the ground and you try to retract the landing gear, pull throttle below 14 MP with
gear up, or add more than 10 degrees of flaps when gear is still up.
Down limit switch, turns green lights on it the aircraft and shuts the pump off
when gear is extended
Up limit switch, turns the gear unsafe light off
Squat switch, protects the system from retracting the landing gear while on the
ground.
Throttle quadrant switch, turns on the gear warning horn if the throttle in reduced
below 14 MP and gear is still in up position.
Pressure switch, turns pump on and off to maintain the system pressure at 1800
psi.
The struts uses in this system are the oleo struts this is an air and oil type strut
which uses a piston inside of the strut that moves up and down and as the piston
moves it displaces the oil through orifices to damper the movement of the piston
inside of the strut which in turn creates a shock to damper impacts.
On the landing gear we also have tires and brakes, the tires are filled with nitrogen
and the brakes we use are hydraulic disk brakes. This means the brakes use
calipers and rotors and brake pads. The brakes are activated by the pilot on the top
of the rudder controls.

 Questions,

What type of hydraulic pump does the arrow have?

Name two of the different switches that the arrow has on the landing gear system
and what they do?
Can the gear be retracted on the ground?

What type of strut does the arrow use?

Propeller system:

McCauley propeller
Blade 90DHA-16
Two blades
Hub model B2D34C213
Constant speed hydraulically actuated

Components

Prop control
Speeder spring
Fly weights
Pilot valve
Governor

The constant speed propeller is more complex than a fixed pitch propeller, the pitch of
the propeller can now be changed in flight by changing the blade angle with the manifold
pressure and rpm.
When inflight the pilot can adjust the prop control to set a specific rpm and the prop
governor will maintain that set rpm within its limits.
How it works is high pitch low rpm low pitch high rpm
Under speed condition Oil flows out of the prop hub and pitch of the propeller decreases
and rpms will rise.
Over speed condition, oil flows to the prop hub and increases pitch to bring rpm down.
Always adjust manifold pressure then rpms
So say we are flying at 2500 rpm and we want to increase to 2700 rpm, we move the prop
control to 2700 now the speeder spring adjusts and the flyweights are now in an under
speed condition so the pilot valve opens and oil comes out of the prop hub and the blade
pitch is decreased and rpms will ride to 2700 and then the prop governor will maintain
the set rpm.

 Questions,

What type of propeller does the arrow have?

If the prop is set to a low pitch what is the rpm setting going to look like?
How is the pitch of the prop adjusted and what are all of the steps?
Explain what will happen if you move the prop from a setting of 2700 rpm to
2500 rpm?

Engine:

Lycoming IO-360-C1C6
4 cylinder
Direct drive
Horizontally opposed
Fuel injected
Naturally aspirated
Air cooled
200 HP

This engine is a 4 stroke meaning INTAKE, COMPRESSION, POWER, EXHAUST,

 Uses a crossover type exhaust for improved performance, cabin heat and windshield
defrosting are provided by a heater shroud around the muffler.
Oil is used to cool and lubricate the engine and all its moving parts also has an oil cooler
on the front cowling to cool down the oil and re circulate it back into the engine.
Some components on the engine are the starter, engine driven fuel pump and oil pump,
alternator, has 2 mags for creating the spark, 8 spark plugs 2 per cylinder, fuel injected,
air filter and air intake equipped with an alt air source in case the filter gets blocked it
will automatically open.

Engine system review:

What type of engine do we have?

Is it fuel injected or carbureted?
What type of system do we use to cool the engine?
How much HP does our engine have?

Sources:
Arrow POH
Past notes from ground schools