AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 97

magenta on the SVS screen. During an instrument approach to a particular runway, however, only the landing runway has magenta edges. Runway numbers also appear on the SVS as well as whitestriped centerlines. “It’s going to be very hard to land on the wrong runway with this system,” Jacobson said. Terrain in the Avidyne SVS appears yellow when it’s within 1,000 feet below an aircraft’s altitude and red when it’s within 100 feet. Obstacles within five miles and 2,000 feet of aircraft altitude are encircled in blue “threat bubbles.” As the obstacles get nearer, threat bubbles turn yellow at 1,000 feet below, and red within 100 feet. The altitude of each obstacle (in feet msl) also appears next to each one. Airports also have a rectangular “suppression area” around them to prevent pilots from getting nuisance warnings of false hazards. Avidyne equipment has earned a welldeserved reputation for being easy for pilots to learn and use, and SVS continues that legacy. There’s an SVS tab and a Nav Display tab on the R9, and either one can control how SVS is displayed (or whether it’s displayed at all). Rocker switches on the R9 flight displays also simplify operation because there are relatively few buttons, or button combinations. Avidyne also offers pilots the flexibility to customize the ways they display SVS information on each screen, but not too much. “The goal is to provide the right compromise between flexibility and simplicity,” Jacobson said. “Maximum flexibility can also create maximum confusion. We think we’ve found the right balance.” Avidyne has been test flying SVS in two airplanes, a Cirrus SR22 and a Piper Saratoga. Both airplanes have made multiple test flights throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee and Jacobson said the fidelity between the in-flight images on the SVS screens and the rocky mountain ridges passing by is remarkable. “It’s almost like watching a video of what’s going on outside,” Jacobson said. “You see hills, valleys, lakes, and ridges on the screen that seem to correspond almost exactly to what you see outside the airplane. SVS is going to provide a lot of operational utility—and it’s going to be an integral part of some very intriguing concepts we’ll be working on in the future.” Email the author at dave.hirschman@ aopa.org.
AOPA PILOT • 97 • JULY 2011

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011

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