Flying with a "Glass Panel" only?

5 posts in this topic

Posted

I looked at a plane where the owner replaced most of the steam gauges with an Integra 6624 and Avmap GPS. If those are lost due to a power loss or lightning strike, the only flight instrument is a compass. No air speed, altimeter, VSI, turn and bank, or gyro's - just compass. So what do you think?

I have always liked having some redundant instruments, and while this is a VFR aircraft if you happen to get into IMC with just a compass it seems like survival gets pretty unlikely. In IFR aircraft you usually have electric, air pressure, and vac powered instruments so no single failure will leave you flying blind.

With the current state of aviation electronics, that have both panel power and an internal battery, would you fly a VFR aircraft with a glass panel that is not just primary, but is the only source of flight information other than mag heading? The Integra and Avmap provide a nice display of more than enough flight information, as long as they keep working.

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Posted

If you get hit by lightning in a Kitfox...well then your probably flying IMC too. Both of which you would have to make multiple poor decisions to happen. If it did happen losing your airspeed is probably the least of your worries. Not sure how much time you have in these type of airplanes but you'll find that after a very short time you'll find yourself using your instruments very little compared to a faster, bigger, heavier certified airplane. It's very easy to become one with the airplane in a Kitfox/Avid. I fly by feel and sound most of the time. Unless I was completely IMC I probably would not even end my flight if I lost all my instrumentation. In fact one time I was about 20 minutes into a flight before I realized my airspeed was stuck at zero. In a Cessna part of my takeoff roll was always to state "Airspeed Alive" No time in the Avid. By the time you see it move your airborn. :buttrock: When I went to my ANR headset it really screwed me up for a couple hours till I relearned what the airplane sounded like.

I certainly would not pass on an airplane because of it. It would be easy to add a steam airspeed altimeter and vvi to the panel as a standby.

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Posted

I agree. Mine is all electronic now except for the compass but flying VFR I don't really "need" my gages. You can fly the plane with feel and hearing and I do that most of the time. I could rarely tell you what my airspeed was on takeoff or landing. I would be wondering why the heck my instruments quit working though.unsure.gif

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Posted

About the only time I am looking at my instruments is when I am letting the kid fly and teaching him to hold altitude in turns. Other than that, I dont look at them much as I am low enough that I really dont want to take my eyes off the ground a few feet below me.

That being said, I did fly into a lil fog bank a couple weeks ago that gave me some flashbacks to about 15 yrs ago. I dropped down 200' and I was flying clear again. Did give me a little pucker factor though as I was crossing open water with an engine I only had 3 hrs on since I resealed it and I was on wheels. I like to stay high over that cold water and did not like giving up that 200'. When I lost visibility, I just kept an eye on the GPS for heading and watched the airspeed and VSI. My whiskey compass does not do me much good when the radio is turned on as it swings about 60 degrees and hold there for the entire flight...

:BC:

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Posted

When I was at the Oshkosh picnic this year a couple of guys asked me what type of GPS do I have, I told them I don't have one I just look out the window.

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