Gebr. Winter GmbH & Co.KG
On-Board Devices for Aviation
Jungingen, Germany

Related Winter Pages:

• Airspeed Indicator Operating Range Stickers
• Airspeed Indicators
• Altimeter Scale Rings
• Altimeters
• Flight Hours Counters
• Großkinsky - Variable-Camberflap Rings
• MacCready Rings
• Pitot Tubes & Pressure Sensors
• Slip/Skid Indicators
• Tubing, Connectors and Miscellaneous
• Watch
• Winter Variometers

Variometers
Vane type variometers measure the change in air pressure inherent to changes in altitude.  The instrument consists of a cylindrical chamber with a precision-ft baffle plate (vane) rotating on shockproof jewel bearings and centered by a coil spring.  The vane divides the chamber in two: one section is open to static pressure, while the other is connected to an expansion tank in which a volume of air is insulated against thermal effects.  Differences in pressure are compensated by the narrow gap between vane and chamber wall.  There is a change in static pressure when the aircraft climbs or descends, and a differential pressure is established between the two sections of the chamber.  The resultant deflection of the vane provides a measure of the vertical speed and this deflection is transferred to the pointer of the instrument.  The response rate of a variometer is important.  In high-performance gliding, thermals can be identified all the quicker and used all the more efficiently if the variometer responds without delay.

Defined as the length of time the instrument takes to reach 65% of its final reading in response to a sudden change in vertical speed, the time constant serves as a standard for gauging speed of response.  The faster a variometer responds, the smaller its time constant will be.

Vane type variometers with large measuring ranges such as the 5 StV 5 (± 20 knots and ± 30 knots) have small time constants.  The volume of the expansion tank must be increased in order to achieve comparable figures with variometers having the most common measuring range (± 10 knots).

Winter Variometers Details Table
The Winter Variometer Details Table contains a list of all the available variometers from Winter.  Winter variometers come in a wide variety of flavors.  I stock the most commonly used units which are highlighted in the table and included in the price list below.  But I can get any unit you desire. 

Variometer Options:

• Ranges/Units
  •  ±10 knots
  • ±1000 ft/m
  • ±2 m/s
  • ±5 m/s
  • ±10 m/s
• Scale Type
  • Linear - standard
  • Logarithmic - for more needle movement at weak lift and sink (0.90 L capacity flask)
• Size
  • 80 mm (3 1/8")
  • 57 mm (2 1/4")
• Response Speed
  • Standard - 3 second (0.45 L capacity flask)
  • Fast ("Sensitive") - 1.8 second (0.90 L capacity flask)
• MacCready Ring