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<< Lancair Builders' Mail List >>
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I visited the Sierra booth at Oshkosh and wrote about it in my OSH trip
report. Last week end I went to the Golden State Fly In In at Castle/Merced
airport for a test flight in their C-210. It is VERY impressive. The
display showed towers in the same place they were out the window, terrain
(Sierra Nevada foot hills to the East), runways of airports we passed over on
our way to Fresno Chandler, and the "highway in the sky" representation on
final approach is especially impressive and very intuitive. There is
enormous flexibility and lots of information can be displayed based on your
preferences. The pictures in the brochure and the web site do not do justice
to the presentations in the cockpit.
It takes some getting used to, and a short test hop is not enough. To
use this stuff the way it is intended and with the level of precision that it
allows requires some practice, but will improve your piloting skills. The
pitch, roll, and directional information is MUCH more accurate and sensitive
than we are accustomed to in our mechanical instruments. As an example, the
heading information is spread across the top of the screen, and one degree
heading changes are large and easy to see. It also means that you can see
rudder wiggles and yoke wiggles more easily. As a result, you have to learn
to fly with more precision which will make you a better, smoother pilot.
Situational awareness is a no-brainer. Flying in the haze of the valley with
limited visibility was no problem. It was all laid out on the screen.
Flying home in my C-182 with a King HSI, I was amazed how much I had to
move the airplane around to see detectable movement on the DG compared to the
sensitivity shown by the Sierra display. I was told that software upgrades
and other improvements will further improve the already-impressive displays
with greater smoothness and even more rapid updates (which are now several
times per second).
I quizzed the Sierra folks for at least 2 hours on the equipment, and
then about their business. Unlike many supppliers, there was virtually no
BS. I got straight answers, and when somebody did not know or was not sure,
they said so with no bluffing. Very refreshing.
Much of the business information is confidential, but they do have some
"deep pocket" supporters that provide the financial muscle needed to take
this all the way through certification, planned for next year, and a lot of
interest in the airframe community from various big names. They have also
been invited to participate in a military working group working on improved
visual displays for fighter and helicopter pilots. This is based on their
work over the last several years on the "highway in the sky" presentation
which they have developed and continue to refine. They have also obtained
the support of one of the NASA national resource specialists who focusses on
cockpit display and man-machine interactions and will use his input to
further refine the product.
One interesting effect of the Sierra installation is that it permits the
panel to be substantially simplified since it displays attitude, direction
terrain, map, airspeed, VSI, altitude, and engine data (along with a lot of
other stuff). So all the steam gages are replaced by three pieces of glass
(two large, one small) and all you need in addition is a CDI/glide slope
indicator, and back up instruments. I did a layout and found I could put the
two large Sierra displays, CDI/glideslope, and backup instruments (attitude
gyro, airspeed, altitude, turn coordinator) all on the left panel leaving the
right panel virtually open for Jepp book cubbyholes, CD player, and CD
storage.
All in all, it was a very impressive and interesting day. I guess I will
have to put my MasterCard in the vise and see if I can squeeze out a bit more
money.....
Fred Moreno
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LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
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