January 2000 - American Bonanza Society

Garmin 295I think the hottest product will be theGarmin 295, a four-color moving mapthat is portable and fits perfectly on theyoke of a Bonanza. The avionics manufacturershave finally gotten access tocolor, liquid crystal, active-matrix, sunlightreadable, cool-running display technology,and I expect them to run with it.Everything in the cockpit will soonbe digital color display. The Gannin 295announced price is $ 1,495. As of thiswriting, I don 't think they are shippingthem yet. Whatever the reason for this,I'm sure they' ll have it ready for sale bythe Sun ' n Fun airshow next sprin g.Perhaps not this year but soon, lookfor a "Glass Cockpit Bonanza" with digitalinstruments fumi shed by Meggitt Avionics.These instruments look like a miniaturizedversion of the displays foundin the newest Boeing jets, and are lessthan half the cost of the existing Collinsand AlliedSignal systems. They are stillquite expensive (about $45 ,000 to$50,000 should cover it for a Bonanza),but with a lot of late-model Bonanza andBaron values now exceeding $200,000or so, it begins to make sense to si nk thatkind of money into new display technology.Really!The previ ously mentioned GarminGPS 295 can display a horizontal situationdisplay (HSI) on a split screen, whilealso showing a four-color moving map.By now, all of us who have been usingG PS and even Loran for years know thatthey are capable of showing '"Track" (ai r­craft heading corrected for wind).When this information is displayed ona compass card similar to a directionalgyro with a needle to show where the airplaneis headed (not where it is pointed),we have a pseudo HSI that does not haveto derive its information from either acompass or a gyro.What if we could somehow also deriveour airplane's attitude from somethingother than a spinning gyroscope telling uswhich way is up? If this were possible, wecould wipe out our trouble-prone air-pressure-driven or electric gyros!Seagull TechnologyWell. folks. here it comes. There isan outfit in California named SeagullTec hnology that is working on an AHRSsystem for light airplanes!What in the world is "AHRS"? Rememberthat we have solved, via GPS,the question of where an airplane is andwhere it is going anywhere on earth withoutreference to allythillg on the earth'ssurface. We' re halfway there already.Now what we need is something that cankeep us fro m hitting the earth when wedon't want to.Again. the airlines have had AHRS intheir Boeings for several years. In theircase, th is is done with very powerful,very expensive laser-referenced gyroscopesthat can sense minute accelerationsand decelerations in any direction.Assuming the ai rplane is sitting on theramp rightside up and reasonably levelwhen the LaserRef Gyro Inertial systemis powered up, the system can then rememberwhich way is up and where it isfrom then on.AHRS stands for "attitude headingreference system ." This system, on bothbig Boeings and linle guys, is accessed andaddressed most often through one or moreFMS or flight management systems.The FMS lets us know when the inertialreference is up to speed and ready toro ll. While that's happening, we can beloading the waypoints for our flight intothe FMS. (This is where the old jokeabout airline pilots no longer being ableto fly any better but being able to type60 words a minute comes in).What if we're not really going anywhereexcept into the touch-and-go patternor 60 miles away on a sunny day toget a $100 hamburger? The SeagUll systemenvisions a fast erection time, utilizing the altitude function of the GPS.Thus. when you' re ready to go, it is too.How much will it cost? Hopefull y,le ss than $ 10.000. Before you get"sticker shock" again. have you pricedreplacement of your old. wheezing gyroscopicinstruments lately? I don't envisionthis system coming on the marketanytime this year. or perhaps not evennext year, but it's coming.Since this is an avionics column, l willnot digress into the new technology comingin engines and airframes. I'll bet astime passes I soon will be talking aboutpropulsion and aerodynamics more, becauseall those technologies are comingtogether and their lines of distinction arebecoming more blurred.My son, who flies for Executive Jets,recently checked out in the Hawker 1000.I read some of his manuals and leamed thatthere are no mechanical connections betweenthe cockpit throttles and the engines.Electronics control the starting and therunning of the engines. Oh, sure. Thereare throttle levers st icking out of themiddle of the console between the pilots,but they are used merely to convey 10the engines the wishes of the pilots.These could just as easily be pushbuttonsmarked "Start," "Taxi," "Takeoff,""Crui se," "Land" and "Shutdown." (Iasked him if, when he pushes all the leversand buttons correctly, as seen by theairpl ane computers, do the computersdispense him and his cop ilot a banana?)What else is ahead in 2000I did not issue all my prognosticationsfor the coming year so that I can still addsome and retract some as the year goesby. I did not, for instance, discuss HeadsupDisplays, even though I read that myold fri end and longtime ABS memberDon Hawkins. CEO of Hawkins Associates,has been awarded distributorship ofHUDlS, a system I have been followingand encouraging for several years. It is aheads-up guidance system for light airplanes,and I will discuss both heads-upand headsets in later issues.That 'S it for now. Happy New Year!And please accept my wishes for all tohave a year of safe and happy fl ying.Tailwinds always.ABS member lim Hughes , Sanford, Florida,holds a BS degree in Aero Engineering. Heis a CFII and an A&P mechanic. Jim headsMarketing & Professional Services, a consultingand flight test firm involved in bothmilitary and civil avionics applications.ABS January 2000Page 6043