Microlighters

Hi all,

who has experience on the using / buying a digital instrument panel? Are they worth it? or am I looking at getting a whole lot of info, that really is not necessary. Which makes and models should i be looking at. Will be used on a trike
Any help would be appreciated. Fly right

MGL Avionics are great. They are Proudly South African and have a whole host of instruments to choose from.

Check them out on

http://www.mglavionics.co.za

Personally I want my primary instruments as non-electrical as possible, i.e. ASI and ALT. The last thing you need is a blown fuse to cut out your whole panel. I also don't like the type that is purely numerical, it is easier and quicker to see a graph or guage or needle than to read numbers. An lastly sometimes the contrast doesn't quite work out or you get glare from the sun and you can read the instrument properly, especially where the intruments are exposed, like on a trike.

I have their mini-single range for Engine management and Fuel management. Both work brilliantly.

My wife and i both had digital intraments in our racers for a while
i hated them- couldnt see them in bright light and you have to read them not just glance for a trend into the red etc- we both chucked them out and went back to old fashioned watches

The trike I am flying at the moment has a Skydat 1 which displays all the info numerically. It is difficult to read in just about any light conditions. The altimeter changes value when you are making a radio call and it is very easy to confuse a positive and negative VSI. In short it is horrible and not recommended.

I have flown an trike with a Skydat 2 (I think?). It has pseudo analogue displays on a much larger LCD and is a lot better but also very difficult to read. Real analogue displays are soooo much easier to read and you dont have to do mental gymnastics to figure out what is happening. I have not seen the MGL displays but have had dealings with the company. They are very professional and extremely helpful.

Ok, many thanks all. I will put the info into my brain, churn it up, and see what I decide. tks

I have a Stratomaster Ultra. I find it awesome - it's very clear in direct sunlight. If I remeber correctly, they changed their displays to ones that work better in sunlight. Since I already had my old instruments, I kept my ASI and Alti when I re-did my panel because I wanted to have them in case of power failure etc.

If I were to do it again, and had to buy an ASI and Alti, I'd just go with the Ultra.

All my instruments are from MGL and I'll recomend them anyday, they are easy to read and accurate. Electrical shorts should not happen any where specialy not in a a/craft, If your scared of wiring stuff, get a pro. If a company like Airborne instals MGL Avionics into their a/craft then you know its good stuff. Botom line, stay away from the cheap stuff!!

Airborne actually fits the Amptronic Skydat GX2 to their flagship trike the XT912.

This is probably a case of "different strokes for different folks". Having grown up in the "digital" era, I love having everything on one screen instead of little clock thingies all over the place but I can understand that some oldtimers are reluctant to embrace the modern age. I personally have not had any problems with reading the instrument in sunlight - I am sure you could always devise and fit some form of little hood to keep the sun off if this was really a problem. Electronics are becoming more and more reliable but I would say that this is probably the big weakness versus analogue instruments.

But besides that , it looks cool, you can brag that you have a "glass cockpit" fitted in your trike , non-flying types are suitably impressed and did I mention that it looks cool?

Sebastian wrote: I love having everything on one screen instead of little clock thingies all over the place but I can understand that some oldtimers are reluctant to embrace the modern age.

Listen here lighty, who are you calling old, I'm going to beat you with my walking stick when I see you on Saturday.

I hear all the arguments but these are microlights and things do go wrong, fuses do blow, vibration does cause electrical contacts to crack. I agree that these newfangled electronic devices are more reliable than in the past, but any chain is as strong as it's weakest link. If a simple little 10c fuse blows, your all-in-one instrument is as useful as a highly sophisticated electronically enabled brick. I like having redundency, like have an electrical fuel pump as well as the normal pulse pump, saved my bacon once already.

And besides, I think the little clock thingies are pretty. I've seen the look on the faces of others of your reduced age who look in the cockpit and there is nothing to see except a blank screen. They expect to see guages, and clocks and stuff. :D

Jeepers all, thanks for the help / advice / tips / warnings. I think that for the time being, i am staying with what I have.
FLy Right

I knew I would get a rise from you Morpheus! I did say SOME "oldtimers". In hindsight though I would probably go the analogue route due to all the positives mentioned in this thread. I bought my plane second hand and it already had the GX2 fitted. One of the Saldanha guys who has a GX2 fitted has already complained that his air speed indicator has him doing 25 mph whilst parked safely on the ground.

See you tonight at the WCFC meeting?

OK OK Will wind in my wrinkle free neck!

Jees - must be the bi-annual dipstick check that has you ,um, experienced people all so touchy about your age.

Sebastian wrote:See you tonight at the WCFC meeting?

No can do

See ya Saturday at Malmesbury

Thanks for the responses guys - I am a technofreak and your input here has made me decide to stick to the analog tools too!

DarkHelmet wrote:Thanks for the responses guys - I am a technofreak and your input here has made me decide to stick to the analog tools too!

I aggree!!