During the last year, my soon to be installed compass has been pointing at the airframe from across the room. You might say the frame has more than a “little” residual magnetism from the welding process.

I spent about an hour yesterday degaussing the airframe with a bulk video tape eraser. It’s working pretty well. I have the compass deviation down from 180 degrees out of whack to within 10 or 15 degrees. I’ll make a few more passes with the buzz box and the compass should settle down to an acceptable error. When I get it to the airport I can use the compensation screws to fine tune the deviation and create a correction card.


I noticed in the “show us your panel” postings most builders mount the compass top center with a few installing it off to one side. There are also a few panels with no compass visible so I wonder where it is hiding. I've read only a few negative posts on compass location, so I’m assuming once you get the magnetism out just about any location will work.

I suppose I could pull the MD-80 stunt and mount it behind the right seat with a mirror on the glare shield to view it. Yep, that’s really how it is mounted in that aircraft. What was the FAA thinking when they bought off on that???

I’m planning on the usual location of glare shield top center… boring, but visible, and far enough from steel tubes. It matches the décor of my steam gauge layout, too.

Just to pass on a magnet in the cockpit story… My dear departed Mother-in-law asked me one year what I’d like for a Christmas gift. I said I’d like a red color, double-D cell, MagLite® flashlight for my aviation kit bag. I wrote down the info to make sure she knew the exact model, size and color. On Christmas morning I opened a package to discover a red plastic Ever-Ready flashlight with a “big-ole-honkin” magnet riveted to the side. Mom asked if it was the right one. I told her it was perfect. (It’s still riding around in my pick-up tool box.) Thanks again, Mom... it’s perfect for the truck.

John Pitkin
Greenville, TX