If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Dream Time -- Little help here?
"Jim Fisher" wrote in message . .. Just recently I saw a "stormscope" in a magazine devoted to Park and Recreation Department people. It's designed to allow Park and Rec directors to close/open outdoor events when storms get close by. Not even close in performance to an aviation panel-mount Stormscope or Strikefinder. -- Richard Kaplan, CFII www.flyimc.com |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"Snowbird" wrote in message
om... What do you see the WSI In Flight system or XMRadio system as giving the pilot which is significantly greater than CBAV or WeatherClip on a wireless Palm? 1. Reliable coverage anywhere in the USA 2. Access to the national lightning network to display accurate lightning strike data 3. Automatic screen updates and thus much less pilot heads-down time 4. Precip tops radar 5. Color display (easier to distinguish between precip levels) The bottom line should be a much more pilot-friendly interface which should give more information to the pilot with more reliability and less effort/less distraction from other pilot tasks. And I think this should help to make the most critical weather decision of all: What is just precip and what is a thunderstorm and how do I plan a route with only precip? -- Richard Kaplan, CFII www.flyimc.com |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Jay Honeck wrote:
OR (heh, heh, heh...), I can keep the same monthly payment, and get MORE (bwa-ha-ha!) money, with which to upgrade my woefully out of date panel. Hi Jay, You don't fly the plane IFR, and you say everything works. Take the free mileage out of the working avionics and enjoy it. When things start breaking, possibly consider upgrading at that time. Money you sink into avionics goes into a dark hole and never comes out at resale. I say keep things simple and use the money for better purposes. I know it doesn't sound nearly as fun, but someday you might wish you'd done just that! (Especially when you look back on interest rates and kick yourself for not buying real estate this year!) -Ryan CFI-ASE-AME, CP-ASMEL-IA, CP-RH, AGI |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
: of usefulness. I disagree with the comments that handhelds are
: sufficient, since cig lighters do die, and a hardmounted antenna does a : When a cigarette lighter power source dies, presumably there are other : avionics on board to complete the flight. Also the handheld will have : batteries to complete the flight. : On the other hand, when the electrical system dies, all the avionics go out : except the handheld GPS. : Therefore a handheld GPS can be more useful and a better safety tool even : than a panel-mount GPS. I agree that a handheld is a good backup device, and I think it's a great idea to have one, and fresh batteries with you. Having used both, however, between the wiring clutter in the cockpit, intermittent cig lighters, and mediocre reception from a non hard-mounted antenna, a panel mount is a more solid part of the plane. They're not very expensive, of course I primarily did the install. : Jay flies in an area where radar service is almost always available and : therefore he could usually fly IFR DIRECT using a handheld GPS to back up : radar vectors and to back up his onboard IFR-approved VOR/LOC equipment. It : does not sound as if flying IFR approaches into airports served only by a : GPS approach is a major issue for him. Therefore, a $7000 Garmin 430 would : not provide Jay with any utility or safety advantage which he could not get : with a $1000 or so Garmin 196 or Garmin 295. I don't think that a Garmin 430 makes much sense for most pilots.... Especially for Jay's mission. If it were priced more affordably, it would make good sense. I'd rather outfit a whole stack of older equipment for a lack of single-point failure. The money saved would pay for : a very nice Strikefinder/Stormscope or for a very nice portable weather : datalink system, either of which would indeed provide him with a substantial : upgrade in airplane utility and safety for either IFR or VFR flying. Would be nice, agreed. I agree with other posts suggesting finishing the IR, and making use out of currently functioning avionics. Of course, I'm generally a cheap b*st*rd, so of course I'd lean that way... Use the $$ to buy more autogas, Jay! -Cory -- ************************************************** *********************** * The prime directive of Linux: * * - learn what you don't know, * * - teach what you do. * * (Just my 20 USm$) * ************************************************** *********************** |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
: A new cigarette lighter outlet on a sound circuit shouldn't
: be any more intermittant than any other part of the electrical : system, but a small power outlet just behind wherever one : mounts the GPS is much neater. I've experienced quite a few issues with the big, fat cig connector in its socket. With a more robust power connector somewhere (Molex or DC battery disconnect type), I'd agree. : I'm not sure what one means by "not very expensive" on the panel-mount : GPS, nor am I really arguing against it....but the two disadvantages : of the handheld (the external antenna, and the funky power) can almost : certainly be taken care of for much less than the cost of VFR : panel-mount, and the panel mount does not IMHO replace the handheld. I got a KLX-135 VFR GPS/COM for $1200, with install kit, and antennas. Took less than 5 hours to install myself and have it signed off on. That was even tying it into the transponder's altitude encoder to help resolve a GPS solution. : So if I were going to put the effort and time into an install, I'd : go for a used approach-capable IFR GPS and get the significant utility : of IFR approaches. Around here, there are plenty of airports where the : only approaches are NDB, or GPS, and IMO it *is* a significant increase : in capability. I'd heard enough horror stories about getting an IFR GPS installation approved that I declined that route. A friend of mine did buy a KLN-90B for pretty cheap, however ($1500 IIRC). It would be nice to have, but for my IFR training, I wanted to be proficient at old-school stuff. The GPS will only make it easier... : OTOH, how much time did you spend on the install? Given a choice : between 25 hrs of install time vs. 25 hrs working on the instrument : rating, I would have to agree with those who suggested that the : latter might be a better investment! This is true. I guess that's why I'm working on my IFR ticket a year later, since last year at this time I was busy locating and installing equipment. -Cory -- ************************************************** *********************** * The prime directive of Linux: * * - learn what you don't know, * * - teach what you do. * * (Just my 20 USm$) * ************************************************** *********************** |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
wrote in message
... one, and fresh batteries with you. Having used both, however, between the wiring clutter in the cockpit, intermittent cig lighters, and mediocre reception from a non hard-mounted antenna, a panel mount is a more solid part of the plane. They're not very expensive, of course I primarily did the install. If you want, you can install fresh batteries before a trip and/or travel with extra batteries in your flight bag and then there is no wiring clutter at all. I am not sure why you feel there is mediocre reception from a non hard-mounted antenna; perhaps this was an older generation GPS or perhaps it has something to do with your particular cockpit. My Garmin 295 works fine without any external antenna at all. And if antenna reception is a problem in any given airplane, just have an external GPS antenna installed with a connector on the panel -- that is still way cheaper than a panel-mount GPS. There is actually a key advantage to a handheld GPS being used as a regular part of an avionics suite -- if I were to lose my electrical system while in IMC, I would not skip a beat continuing to a landing (preferably finding VMC, but IMC if necessary). With a handheld GPS in the flight bag one would need to pull out the GPS, remember how to use it, initialize its position, etc., etc. I don't think that a Garmin 430 makes much sense for most pilots.... Especially for Jay's mission. If it were priced more affordably, it would make good sense. I'd rather outfit a whole stack of older equipment for a lack of single-point failure OK, I may agree with you there on second thought considering the plane and the mission as I understand it. Keeping with the "trailing edge of technology" argument, I would say that there are excellent bargains to be had with a used Northstar M3 Approach GPS. Or for a slight upgrade, a King KLN94 Approach GPS offers nice value as well. -- Richard Kaplan, CFII www.flyimc.com |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
: If you want, you can install fresh batteries before a trip and/or travel
: with extra batteries in your flight bag and then there is no wiring clutter : at all. Sounds like a good idea, but it's one more thing to forget to bring. Granted, for a real trip and not just a quick $100 hamburger, it's not that much more significant. : I am not sure why you feel there is mediocre reception from a non : hard-mounted antenna; perhaps this was an older generation GPS or perhaps it I've had poor experiences with a handheld unit. Frankly, I'm amazed they work as well as they do inside a spam can. : There is actually a key advantage to a handheld GPS being used as a regular : part of an avionics suite -- if I were to lose my electrical system while in : IMC, I would not skip a beat continuing to a landing (preferably finding : VMC, but IMC if necessary). With a handheld GPS in the flight bag one : would need to pull out the GPS, remember how to use it, initialize its : position, etc., etc. True enough. Point taken. : OK, I may agree with you there on second thought considering the plane and : the mission as I understand it. Keeping with the "trailing edge of : technology" argument, I would say that there are excellent bargains to be I believe the term was, "cutting edge of yesterday's technology," but it amounts to the same thing... I got a *full* old-school digital IFR panel for $4500 and probably about 20-40 hours of my time installing it. That's shopping around, getting equipment off ebay, etc and consists of: Dave Clark Isocom, KMA-20 audio panel w/ MB, KLX-135 VFR GPS/COM, KY-197 COM, KNS-80 NAV/LOC/GS/DME/RNAV w/ KNI-520 head, KN-53 NAV w/ KI-203 head, KT-76 transponder with AR-850 encoder. That's the point I was making about the lack of sense for a Garmin 430. With that you get one of most things (COM/ILS/GPS), but for 2x the price and no redundancy. About all it has going for it is the IFR GPS with spiffy display, and coolness factor. Most of the installs I've seen have been primarily because of the latter. ... but whatever floats your scope. -Cory -- ************************************************** *********************** * The prime directive of Linux: * * - learn what you don't know, * * - teach what you do. * * (Just my 20 USm$) * ************************************************** *********************** |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Use the $$ to buy more autogas, Jay!
The latest count off the gauge on the Mighty Grape: 1300 gallons pumped: Translated into dollars, that's 1300 gallons x $1.50 (per gallon price differential comparted to Avgas) = $1950.00 saved since November. It's hard to beat. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Jay Honeck wrote:
: Use the $$ to buy more autogas, Jay! : The latest count off the gauge on the Mighty Grape: 1300 gallons pumped: : Translated into dollars, that's 1300 gallons x $1.50 (per gallon price : differential comparted to Avgas) = $1950.00 saved since November. : It's hard to beat. Preaching to the choir here, Jay. I'm already sold on autogas with a $1.25/gal diff between based 100LL and 93 AKI with a $0.125 tax rebate (obviously since the pricey STC). I'm still lugging 6-gal cans to the airport though. I'm pretty sure the new Nazi airport manager would have kittens if I tried to use/store a fuel truck/trailer on the line. Still thinking about how to do it for cheap. If I could easily filter the 6-gal containers to get the small amount of sediment and water out of it, I probably wouldn't even bother with trying to do it bulk. -Cory -- ************************************************** *********************** * The prime directive of Linux: * * - learn what you don't know, * * - teach what you do. * * (Just my 20 USm$) * ************************************************** *********************** |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
American nazi pond scum, version two | bushite kills bushite | Naval Aviation | 0 | December 21st 04 10:46 PM |
Logging time on a PCATD | [email protected] | Instrument Flight Rules | 3 | December 18th 04 05:25 PM |
Hey! What fun!! Let's let them kill ourselves!!! | [email protected] | Naval Aviation | 2 | December 17th 04 09:45 PM |
For Keith Willshaw... | robert arndt | Military Aviation | 253 | July 6th 04 05:18 AM |
FS: 2002 "Ghosts: A Time Remembered" (Aviation) Calendar | J.R. Sinclair | Military Aviation | 0 | June 14th 04 06:22 AM |