Avionics News March 2016 - 17

Beyond the availability of modern analog instruments
awaits panel equipment of the digital era, the increasingly
dominant glass-cockpit system. So varied are the digital
options that aircraft owners and pilots can opt for electronic
instruments that mirror and mimic the original analog gear.
With thousands of aircraft owners still weighing how to
meet the Federal Aviation Administration's mandate for
ADS-B Out in most U.S. airspace by the start of 2020, it
feels safe to say that the coming years should
bring a lot of work to avionics and
maintenance shops - a need sure to
inspire many aircraft owners to weigh
additional improvements in their
panels.
The most-popular options often occupy less space than the analog six pack
of flight instruments while presenting all
the same six indications - plus the ability to display navigation and powerplant
data within the borders of the same
single instrument.
Or they can opt for a combination of
solutions, particularly the primary flight
display - an instrument displaying all the
indications represented by the venerable
analog flight-instrument six pack: airspeed;
vertical speed; altitude; direction via the gyro
compass; turn indication; and the attitude indicator.
Glass companion options offer moving map displays,
weather and traffic, all the engine instruments - oil pressure
and temperature, fuel pressure, fuel level, voltage/amperage,
cylinder-head temperature, and exhaust temperature.
For those unable to afford a full cockpit makeover - and
that seems to be a large cross section of owners - progressive
upgrades prevail.
By making partial upgrades periodically, the aircraft owner must clear a lower bar for funding the desired upgrades.
Gotta start from somewhere; and the gains are still there.

Setting the end-game goal
Planning such a progressive upgrade path should begin with a view to the end game. Where does the aircraft
owner want this progressive upgrade process to end?
And with what in the panel?
Defining the primary purpose of the upgrade can help
bring order to the planning process.
For example, if the partial-panel upgrade is to beat the
FAA's Jan. 1, 2020, deadline for equipping
with ADS-B Out, no need to invest a lot
of agony over the flight instruments.
Conversely, if the avionics are nearing the life limits, yet work as they are,
the goal may be satisfied with a
six pack upgrade of one type or
another.
For many aircraft owners, the
answer usually encompasses a
little of both; they want some
digital flight instruments in the
six pack and some enhancements in the avionics stack.
Identifying a plan based on
the operator's needs and ultimate
outcome for the upgrade helps the
aircraft owner identify the specific
goal, gain a cost estimate for each step
and a total. It also can help the avionics
shop craft a logical process that avoids unnecessary or
redundant steps along the way.
Continued on following page

avionics news

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march

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News March 2016
