Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2011-2012 - 36

AVOIDING THE BULLIES
Continued from page 34

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Spherics Devices: More Options than Ever Labeled by some as the poorpilot’s radar, many general aviation pilots consider a spherics device to be the best weather-avoidance tool available — outside the Mark II Eyeball . Going back to the earliest Ryan Stormscopes of decades ago, spherics devices have proven themselves a practical weatheravoidance tool . Today, dealers offer choices from manufacturers such as L-3 Avionics Systems, the successor maker of the Stormscope line; Insight Avionics with the Strikefinder line; Honeywell with the LSZ-860; and Avidyne with the TWX670, the first color-coded spherics detector . Avidyne’s system offers its own unique features to identify storm cells as opposed to merely identifying lightning-strike points; it requires a panel-mounted display . The Insight Strikefinder is a stand-alone, self-contained unit that can be gyro-stabilized to maintain correct orientation of recorded strikes displayed as the aircraft maneuvers . The Honeywell LSZ-860 system is designed more for installation in larger business jets and transport aircraft, with better shielding to protect it from spurious and stray radio-frequency interference — as such, it’s the most expensive . L-3’s Stormscope line is the broadest, including self-contained models . The line ranges from the WX-500, a box-only system designed to play on a MFD, to the higher-end WX-1000 . Avionics shops need to ensure aircraft owners understand install- 36 -

ing most of these systems requires accurate mapping of radio-frequency sources and interference in the actual aircraft — with placement of antennae in spots with little or no RF interference . “That mapping can take time,” said Tom Harper, director of marketing for Avidyne . “Without taking the proper steps in the installation of the antenna and shielding the connecting cable, the system can pick up and display a lot of false targets .” Aircraft owners also should know learning to use and interpret the strike data can be as important as learning to fly an ILS approach . Why Pilots Prefer Two Radar comes with limitations . Range, depth into a storm and antenna attenuation all cut into its effectiveness as a precipitation detection and avoidance tool . Data-link is only as accurate as its last update — and the static, single-snapshot picture gets progressively more outdated . Updates, while only six or so minutes apart, can suffer from latency in the system of gathering the national radar mosaic and in downloading the data package . Spherics devices, while excellent at detecting lightning discharges — and by extension, the turbulent conditions that sparked the static charge — see only a couple hundred miles; data-link sees the entire country . Spherics devices, however, are instantaneous and an accurate reflection of the dynamics of a storm . Safety instructors and flight instructors alike recommend pilots avail themselves of two tools — or three, if budgets and aircraft allow . For most pilots, one of the two always will be a spherics device . q

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Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2011-2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2011-2012