Avionics News June 2018 - 34

HEART OF GLASS

Continued from page 33

quickly than pressure pumps.
Whatever type of pump powers any given analog panel is
moot with an all-glass panel, because the all-electric system
renders redundant those air pumps themselves. Conversely,
converting a panel powered by mixed sources may precipitate
the need for alternative electrical power to assure flight
instruments continue to sense and display in the event of an
electrical-system failure.
That's a trade-off decision made quickly by most pilots
drawn to going all glass. And other benefits come with the
upgrade.
For example, weight savings is another tangible benefit,
particularly as you move up the aircraft chain from trainers and
entry-level personal aircraft to high-performance singles, twins,
turboprops and jets.
In a piston single, the weight reduction may run only a few
pounds - up to 15, 20 pounds, depending on the panel. My
pilot friend said the net weight reduction in his Cessna 185
came in at 21 pounds. "Heck, that's an extra suitcase or almost
four gallons of fuel," the 185 owner explained.
In a Beechjet 400A, the weight saved by adding a modern
glass cockpit like the Garmin G5000 package in place of all the
old analog gear can run as high as 150 pounds. For a 90-series
King Air turboprop twin, the weight reduction can easily
exceed 100 pounds.
But how can that be? Many pilots don't realize how heavy
those three gyro flight instruments run. A modern electrically
driven attitude gyro can weigh between 2.5 to 4 pounds; airdriven may weigh slightly more.
Turn coordinators can go several pounds, as can the gyro
compass or directional gyro. Taken together, the three gyro
instruments can easily run 8 to 15 pounds, with the three
air-data instruments coming in at another 4 to 8 pounds.
Conversely, a typical primary flight display instrument replaces
all six flight instruments - the three gyros and three air-data
instruments - while weighing less than one gyro instrument.
The digital upgrade can help the plane shed more weight
when the air pump, its associated plumbing, filters and pressure
regulator come out. A drop of another 5 to 6 pounds is available
here. Functionality increases come with such upgrades.
The G5000 upgrade brings with it an estimated weight
savings of 150 pounds, the GFC 700 autopilot, with the
capability to fly coupled WAAS/SBAS and PBN/RNP 0.3 with
LPV/APV approaches, along with VNAV and FLC modes.
There's also optional underspeed protection and coupled goarounds. There's TAWS, synthetic vision, ADS-B Out, and the
digital color Garmin GWX 70 weather radar.
34

avionics news

*

june

2018

And then there's the reliability improvement. With no
spinning-mass gyros to fail and no motors to die, digital
attitude instruments enjoy much-lower failure rates compared
to their mechanical predecessors.
Then there's the air-data instruments, which use either a
curved, air-tight tube or a flexible box known as an aneroid.
Invented at the dawn of the 19th century, the general
principle of construction of all aneroids is the same: A metal
box with thin, flexible sides, hermetically sealed after the air
inside has been first exhausted.
As atmospheric pressure varies, the aneroid also varies its
form and size. That change can be linked to a needle to show
atmospheric pressure, as in a barometer, to show vertical speed
in climb or descent, altitude and airspeed.
The repeated flexing of these metal "sensors" can, over time,
impact their ability to read consistently - a problem nonexistent
for the solid-state MEMS - microelectrical mechanical sensors
- that give digital panels the data for everything from airspeed
to attitude.
Finally, the other major benefit of the glass-cockpit panel
is the graphic presentations of, well, everything. And more
compactly, as well.
Early adaptations
The first piece of panel kit opened up for adaptation by the
FAA's more-open attitude toward approvals came not from
a single manufacturer, but multiple suppliers. The piece of
kit: angle-of-attack indicators, or AOAs, as an adjunct to the
airspeed indicator.
In February 2014, the FAA recognized ASTM standards
for supplemental AOAs and approved a simplified process for
winning design approval as "nonessential equipment." While
considered nonessential under the aircraft's type certificate,
AOAs are highly useful as a more-accurate indicator of
approaching stall. The FAA made the change in recognition
of the potential for AOAs to reduce accidents stemming from
loss-of-control in flight.
The change opened the way to new, affordable AOA
products available for retrofit as a stall-avoidance tool that
corrects for bank angle and G-loading to accurately display
when an aircraft is approaching a stall.
With this door opened, other players saw an opening for
allowing other non-TSO'd equipment in certificated aircraft
panels. Design approval, parts manufacturing approval or an
installation STC serve as new paths to approval.
Two years after the AOA breakthrough, the EAA announced
the first FAA STC'd products from Dynon that allows their use
in certificated aircraft. An EAA subsidiary owns the STC for
the 4-inch EFIS-D10A and the 7-inch EFIS-D100. The STC
covers hundreds of popular light aircraft and has given many



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