Zander 940/941 or ZS-1 Flight Computers???

At 19:03 07 August 2008, Tim wrote:
Hello All:

I've got a couple of questions regarding Zander flight computers. If
anyone has any insight (good or bad) I would appreciate it.

1) Are there any opinions out there about the Zander 940/941 flight
computer?

2) How about the new ZS1 flight computer?

3) For North American pilots, any idea why they are so popular with
contest pilots in Europe, but seemingly so unpopular on this side of
the pond?

Thanks in advance,
Tim McAllister EY


I've flown with a selection of Zander computers but not the ZS1. IMHO the
functionality and accuracy are all there but the human interface leaves
something to be desired. I had a week with a 940 and the manual was out
most of the time; by day 3 I'd managed to get a task in and set up the
audio: this was in a two-seater with the the instructions in front of me!
I was reminded of older varios like the Peschges VP3 that took a whole
season to get comfortable with but were very good once you were familiar
with them.

I'm sure once you're accustomed to Zanders they're just as nice as
anything else but the learning curve is a little steep for my liking. The
ZS1 looks like an improvement as they've discovered rotary knobs and the
display seems clearer.

In the UK the only Zander varios I've seen have been in 2nd hand imported
gliders; LX & Cambridge seem to be the most popular here. Go across to
Germany and the situation is almost completely reversed: why, I'm not
sure... I have noticed that in the UK we tend to buy cheapo varios/loggers
and tack on PDAs with WinPilot/SeeYou, etc. whereas on the continent you
see much more in the way of fully integrated systems.

Well...

I have a Zander SR 940 and I am not very happy about it.
OK it works fine but the human interface is very complex, and
absolutely not "user friendly".

When you have to change a menu in flight, you need to be engineer to
understand what you have to do.

I miss my old LX4000 which was more easy to use in flight.
Cheers,
Bruno

Zander has probably the best variometer available, plus working
thermal assistant. Amount of information you can get from the system
is overwhelming. Which makes it a bit difficult to use. SR940 has a
bit restricted graphics and no area task support, so PDA is required
if you need them. ZS1 has better screen and is easier to use. More
than few world-championship-class pilots I know rate the Zander system
best there is.

rk