Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2011-2012 - 51

PILOT’S GUIDE

The increase in value, the decrease in real prices and other benefits pushed glass-panel upgrades to the top of the wish-list for many pilots and, in particular, owners . The buy-in for the most-basic glass no longer rivals the market value of many older airplanes which would benefit from the upgrade . Instead of $18,000 to $25,000 for a basic system for a certificated airplane – hundreds of which won’t fetch those dollar amounts in a normal market – an aircraft owner can get the most-basic glass-panel functions for about $6,000, plus installation costs . Of course, more sophistication, more glass-panel depth and more redundancy are available . An owner can double down on flight instruments, navigation indicators, moving map and hazard detection functionality – and provide the plane with full redundancy in all those functions – without breaking $20,000 . You can, of course, spend far more creating the custom panel of your dreams . For turbine aircraft, particularly FAR 25 hardware, such equipment is stellar in its capabilities and, at least in the eyes of the average owner, stellar in price, with low six figures the starting point . That disparity in price lends itself to the value quotient many owners attach to converting . That is, the owner of a $25,000 airplane may balk at spending that much to go glass – but happily spend $6,000 and change to gain most of the benefits of an EFIS panel . Traffic, terrain, landscape details, enhanced-vision and synthetic-vision, air data and engine data – if you want it, there’s a solid-state display system able to do it . When considering converting to a 21st century digital panel with graphic displays from analog and steam-gauge-era instruments and gyroscopic instruments, there are several important questions to answer: • What do you want? • What do you need? • How much are you able to spend? • And when – all at once or phased in? If you own or are building an experimental aircraft, you have an abundance of choices – including all the certificated products we’ll review in that half of this buyer’s guide . If you’re flying a certificated aircraft and approval of equipment is important to you, you’re more limited . But, you can still install some experimental/non-TSOd hardware as non-essential equipment . Basics: Defining Terms & Scope “Going glass,” as noted, covers a lot of territory – more than we can embrace . So, we’re going to focus our glass on two types of glass-panel products: primary flight displays and multifunction displays . While it may not satisfy everyone’s needs – for example,

many pilots prefer graphic engine monitors or engine analyzers, or full-graphic engine-condition-and-monitoring – such systems get into a different area with a variety of powerplant parameters to present as an element in their functionality . Similarly, PFDs and MFDs offer varying degrees of functionality . They are the two most-commonly sought upgrades; both are standard on virtually all new FAR 23 aircraft . And, light sport aircraft offers glass, sometimes as standard, but otherwise optional . So, moving forward on that basis, let’s review the vagaries of these two technologies – PFD and MFD . PFD – Your Basic Six-Pack Carryout Option Sounds a lot like primary flight instruments, doesn’t it? It rings the same because they share primary-flight instruments chores with six primary flight instruments packaged in a single box with a common screen . This six-pack includes: • Attitude Indicator: to show your relative angle to the horizon in roll and pitch – to keep you straight and level . • Turn Indicator: to show when you’re turning and at what rate – to tell you when you’re changing heading . • Directional Gyro: to show the heading you’re steering – to get you to your destination . • Altimeter: to know how high you go – to clear terrain and obstacles . • Vertical Speed Indicator: to show how quickly you’re changing altitude, up and down – to control your transitions . • Airspeed Indicator: to show how fast you’re traveling through the air – to know “when we will get there .” That’s the six . But, there’s one more little, modest, toooften overlooked member of the standard six-pack: the slipskid ball previously packaged as part of the turn coordinator – to tell when you fly a coordinated turn . The first advantage when considering a PFD upgrade is the weighing aspect . In general, the electronic PFD and its associated sensors weigh less than the three spinning-iron gyroscopes used for decades – the AI, TI and DG . Ditto for the three air-data instruments, each with a spiral, hollow metal tube and the associated gears and needles and the heavy plastic or metal cases . Some PFDs can save as much as a dozen pounds . Replacing old, analog sensors and gyros are modern, solid-state attitude heading and reference system and solidstate air-data sensors . Today, these systems can fit in less
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Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2011-2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2011-2012