Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/126719
At the End of the Day Long gone and quickly forgotten are the vacuum system, unreliable spinning gyros, DG precession, and magnetic dip. Initially, I had not realized that replacing this old technology with solid-state gyros would necessarily lead to a glass panel, but it does. Today, our state-of-the-art experimental RV-10 has more functionality accompanied by more reliability than most certificated general aviation airplanes. Even with the many modifications, the backup system was only needed a few times, and no flight has ever been aborted due to equipment failure. The distributed system design with independent backup system was a good, long-term strategy for several reasons: With threat analysis traffic visually and two years using ADS-B traffic; today I see five times more traffic using technology. It was always there, but it just blended into the background and was below, above, or behind me. FAA Flight Following has been a useful tool for our cross-country travels, but quality varies with the controller and the flight area. Flying in a barren desert can be more dangerous than terminal areas because vigilance varies dramatically. I have found a significant problem using display graphics within a congested traffic area. My mind quickly becomes saturated because there are too many targets and they are traveling in three-dimensional space. To make it worse, I was staring at the display and creating more danger. I had to abort the electronics and look out the window. Of course, you always need to look out the window, but identifying which aircraft is trying to kill you first is a tremendous aid. To solve this problem I decided to let the display computer identify my primary threat. When traffic is within 1.5 miles, another algorithm kicks in and calculates the closest point approach (CPA) for each target using 3D mathematics. Then, using time to CPA, it prioritizes the first and second threats. Magenta shows the highest, and yellow the second priority. "Spd" is the threat speed, "Min" is the calculated minimum distance between you and the threat at the CPA, and "Time" is seconds to CPA. The threats are updated every second so I can determine in real time whether the evasive action is improving or worsening my situation. I have filed a patent that is now pending for this ADS-B threat analysis algorithm and the graphics. • It handles equipment outages gently. • It is almost vendor proof with Garmin being the only significant dependency. • It can incrementally grow with technology enhancements without upsetting the core design. • When a component breaks I can perhaps purchase the identical part or shop for something better or cheaper. What if I was starting my panel today? Hard to say. Looking back, I sidestepped a lot of painful vendor issues. I like my backup system far better than purchasing glass components times two, and the stable round instruments are isolated from rapid glass panel technology developments. It would be more expensive to build my system today than purchasing a box from current avionics vendors because many have developed less expensive gyros and build their own sunlight-rated displays. Gyros and displays are extremely expensive in small quantities. Like Old Blue Eyes said, I did it my way. I've developed a great hobby intermeshed with my love of flying. Synergy and immediate gratification rolled into one. Few pilots realize their style of flying was mandated by the panel and instrument designer. What I slowly accomplished over the last six years was to analyze every uncomfortable flight situation and then implement computer aids until the panel perfectly fits my style. Safe and comfortable and fun. I would like to thank Sara for her unwavering support. Bill DeRouchey, EAA 561449, was bitten with the flying bug while growing up around the airport in Long Beach, California. He received his pilot license in 1977 and instrument rating in 1992. EAA Experimenter 25