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Force of Habit?

jsharkey

Well Known Member
I have a D100 with traditional 3 1/8" "steam" ASI and ALT mounted either side of it for redundancy. When I fly I always use the steam gauges for speed and altitude and not the vertical ribbons on the EFIS. As I make my turn on to final I'm always glancing at the ASI and not the EFIS. Similarly when I level from a climb I focus on the ALT and not the EFIS. I do use the EFIS VSI numbers though, and its AI, and DI and TAS but these are hardly necessary for VFR.

Are steam gauges easier to fly by or am I just an old dog?

Jim Sharkey
RV6 - Phase 1
 
Maybe, maybe not

How ya like that answer:eek: I think it depends on what you are use to flying with. We flew for many years with just the analog gauges. I find that the EFIS display can give me a lot more information about what is going on than what I use to get from steam gauges. I use the trend indicators and the velocity vector a lot on the EFIS panels. Over the outer marker, I can set 3 deg down on the velocity vector and pretty much stay on glide slope. The trend indicators for the airspeed clue me in as to whether I have the power set about right or not. When I'm leveling off from a climb or descent, i just set the velocity vector on the horizon. Works like magic. Hope this helps.
 
A friend of mine just built his second RV-9. The first one had a D10 with airspeed and alititude on either side. He said he always looked at them rather than the EFIS. He said when they're there it's hard not to look at them. His second RV-9 just put a D120 in the panel - no analog gauges. But with the new panel, he never misses them.
 
Woof woof...

I'm an old dog too as I use the steam gauges as well.

As for the VSI, I never understood why people add those for backup instruments. The only VSI display I have on my D100 is the tape on the right side and then I only look at it when I'm doing some testing.

However, in level flight I tend to use the Dynon's altitude more often and the TAS numbers.

Truth is, if I were building today, I would not bother installing those steam gauges. If I flew IFR, those round gauges would probably be right where they are.

I think the reason I use them is old habits and I feel they are just a little easier to interpret. That and I put the AS in the upper left corner of the panel, right where I look when landing and the altimeter is just below that and I still wouldn't bother with a VSI.
 
Not habit, ease of use.

When I fly I always use the steam gauges for speed and altitude and not the vertical ribbons on the EFIS.

Same with me. The steam gauges are visual indicators and therefore easier to read at a glance. I find that you need to stop and read the EFIS.

Since I'm a VFR pilot I spend nearly all of my time with my eyeballs looking out and about. I only briefly scan the instruments to make sure every things still ok. I have the AF-2500 engine monitor and love the gauge/bar readouts for the same reason.

Getting even more old school...I can tell you what my plane is doing just by the sights/sounds/control feel...no gauge reading necessary.
 
I'll try....

....blanking out the steam gauges as an experiment and see how it feels :)

Jim Sharkey
 
....blanking out the steam gauges as an experiment and see how it feels :)

Jim Sharkey

That's what you're gonna have to do to get yourself reading the EFIS - the steam gauges are just very familiar to your brain, so that is what you interpret first. Interestingly enough, the EFIS presentation itself makes a difference. With the original GRT EFIS airspeed and ASI tapes, I never used them. When they came up with the new style display, my eyes were drawn to them much more easily, I use the steam gauges much less now than I did before - but it takes training.

Covering them is a good idea if you want to retrain your brain - and it is worth it!

Paul
 
After flying 30 years behind steam gauges I switched to flying with a glass panel 5 years ago. It was love at first sight and I never looked at the back-up steam gauges again. I was 60 years old at that time and found the EFIS much easier to fly with from the get-go. I had familiarized myself with the EFIS and it's functions during the panel building and set-up process so I was comfortable with it from the first flight.

Martin Sutter
Building and flying RV's since 1988
EAA Tech Counselor
 
That's what you're gonna have to do to get yourself reading the EFIS - the steam gauges are just very familiar to your brain, so that is what you interpret first. Interestingly enough, the EFIS presentation itself makes a difference. With the original GRT EFIS airspeed and ASI tapes, I never used them. When they came up with the new style display, my eyes were drawn to them much more easily, I use the steam gauges much less now than I did before - but it takes training.

Covering them is a good idea if you want to retrain your brain - and it is worth it!

Paul

Jim,

As I read the thread, I thought about suggesting covering the steam ASI, but read further and see you're already on it. I'd concur with Paul...that'd be the way to retrain the "meat servo control center"...and the eyeballs as well.

Paul's post also brought up another thought: Do you have the D100 set to "modern" display or the earlier style display? You might try going to the "modern" selection in the menu, and seeing if that isn't easier to look at and have it register more quickly. I find I like the modern display much better (FWIW).

Once you work with it for a bit, you may very well find yourself picking up data and trends just as quickly (perhaps more so) than from the steam, and you may find you really like the nice tight scan the EFIS provides.

Even old dawgs learn new tricks (AMHIK!) ;)

Cheers,
Bob
 
Jim,

As I read the thread, I thought about suggesting covering the steam ASI, but read further and see you're already on it. I'd concur with Paul...that'd be the way to retrain the "meat servo control center"...and the eyeballs as well.

Paul's post also brought up another thought: Do you have the D100 set to "modern" display or the earlier style display? You might try going to the "modern" selection in the menu, and seeing if that isn't easier to look at and have it register more quickly. I find I like the modern display much better (FWIW).

Once you work with it for a bit, you may very well find yourself picking up data and trends just as quickly (perhaps more so) than from the steam, and you may find you really like the nice tight scan the EFIS provides.

Even old dawgs learn new tricks (AMHIK!) ;)

Cheers,
Bob

It's the modern display.

btw - It doesn't bother me that I paid for the EFIS but still use the steam gauges. The EFIS has many other useful features. I just wondered what others' experience was :)
 
You know, we sell a few nice instruments to plug up the ASI and Altimeter holes if you want to do that ;)
 
You know, we sell a few nice instruments to plug up the ASI and Altimeter holes if you want to do that ;)

Thanks for thinking about me :D

The D100 is great but so far I have just been using it as a big AI/DI nestled comfortably between a conventional ASI and ALT. I need to get up to speed with its other features.

Jim Sharkey
 
Round gauges on MGL EFIS

I?m sort of an old dawg myself but I like messing with technology. Here?s my plan. I?m getting an MGL Odyssey or Voyager EFIS and I?ll configure it to display round gauges for AS and ALT. You can download the panel planner software from the MGL site and design away. The panel design software also includes a simulator so you can see all your custom gauges in action. I?ve done this and it all actually works. It?s cool. You can get very creative. It?s fun.

You can use MGL?s primitive drawing routines to make a round gauge or import a picture of a round gauge minus the hands. Then overlay the hands on the gauge picture. You can custom design 9 screens and switch between them with a push of a button. Each screen you design is a file that you can share with your friends. It?s cool. If you don?t like what you see on the EFIS, change it. I think MGL is the only EFIS that you can totally custom design.
 
It's not that we're old dogs - if so we wouldn't have bought an EFIS in the first place. Old dogs learn new tricks BETTER than young pups, because we have a finer appreciation of a new trick.

The issue is that we also know we have a limited number of new memories we can store, and thus do not bother with new memories when the old ones are perfectly functional.

It's time for my nap now...

:D
 
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