Glass cockpit hard to read

On Oct 6, 8:21 am, Arno wrote:
Hello,

I am computer scientist and usually really like fancy technology. But

Arno

When I used to fly Avidyne equipped planes, I absolutly loved the tape
altimeter, but preferred the dial airspeed. Ever since switching back
to steam gauges (about 600 flight hours ago) I've never quite gotten
used to the round altimeter. I still want to level off at 3800 instead
of 2800 etc.

The range of possible airspeed values varies within a limited range
(Vso to Vne). Depicting that data as a specified position within that
range makes the most sense to me. On the other hand, altitudes can be
anywhere from -600feet to 60,000 feet. The only relation the different
values have to each other is "higher" and "lower". The best way to
logically depict that relation is with a "tape" display. With a steam
gauge altimeter, 6000 feet looks pretty darn similar to 7000 feet,
8000 feet and 9000 feet, even though those values have no meaningful
relation (other than they all end with zeros which means nothing to a
pilot). With a tape display, 6000 looks nothing like 7000, but it does
kind of look similar to 6100 and 5900, which is meaningful to a pilot.

On Oct 6, 11:21?am, Arno wrote:
Hello,

I am computer scientist and usually really like fancy technology. But
I just had my first flight with a "glass" PFD (Avidyne) and must say I
am not impressed. In particular reading altitude and airpeed from
these scrolling bands requires a lot more attention than with regular
gauges, just like reading a digital clock takes longer than reading an
analog one. Glancing at it and checking against a known picture, like
"speed at 3 o'clock is fine on final" or "altitude at 20 minutes past
midnight is minimum", just does not work anymore, instead I end up
reading the actual numbers every time I look. Does anyone feel the
same? Am I missing a particular technique?

Arno

Take a look at the EFIS 1200 at www.teamtango.com, go to the
options page. The ADI screen has BIG digital numbers for airspeed,
heading, and altitude as well as round dials underneath. I have
flown other EFIS systems with displays similar to what you describe.
I got used to them , but in some instances preferred round dials. No
more. I have about 140 hours with the EFIS 1200 and find the BIG
digits easier to read and interpret. Initally I looked for the
altimeter needle at the bottom of the dial when flying at VFR
hemispheric altitude, but now I pay more attention to the digits. I
don't need tapes or ladders for trends. IMHO we could eliminate the
analog dials at this point and I wouldn't miss them. Just as a big
horizon line is easier to interpret than a two inch standby gauge,
size matters when it comes to glancing at those important numbers.
The guy who builds the EFIS 1200 agrees with you on the Avidyne and
similar displays and built what he thought was a better display. I
like it. There is more to come, but that is a different topic.

Denny

horizon line is easier to interpret than a two inch standby gauge,
size matters when it comes to glancing at those important numbers.
The guy who builds the EFIS 1200 agrees with you on the Avidyne and
similar displays and built what he thought was a better display. I
like it. There is more to come, but that is a different topic.

Denny

Good to know there are people who are still working on alternatives.
And it's runs even under Windows :-) As I said, if we get enthusiasts
to try out new designs, something better is going to come out of it
eventually.

Arno