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 February 3, 2021

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Instrumentation

Overview

I intend to go with an IFR panel. How full will depend on what money is available at the time. I don't intend to do any hard IFR flying but I would like to be able to climb through the overcast in the morning and get going when the only weather problem is a low ceiling.

Gyros

There is a neat little product being developed by Dynon Development that looks really promising. It is a small EFIS that combines attitude, direction and pitot static information all in one little screen. I really like what it is becoming and I hope they have the kinks worked out of it by the time I am ready to buy one.

The direction indicator in the Dynon EFIS is not actually a gyro but a magnetic field sensor so it is more like a compass. We'll see how well it works but, the TruTrak Autopliot is solid-state and it has a slaved directional gyro indicator. If I can afford that autopilot at the time then I will probably also go with that DG, as it will be a really nice backup for the EFIS.

Pitot Static

The Dynon Development EFIS described above has the airspeed indicator, altimeter, vertical speed indicator as well as an angle of attack indicator so I shouldn't have to do anything else, but since I don't want all my eggs to be in one basket, and I'll need an encoder for my transponder anyway I'll probably get the microEncoder from Rocky Mountain Avionics. This would make a nice little backup Pitot Static instrument in case the EFIS fries a wire.

Fuel System

Well I have already installed the capacative fuel senders in the tanks so I suspect that I will have to go with the Electronics International fuel gauge. I like that guage a lot but it is rather pricey. I had considered adding the capacative adapters to the EIS (see below) but in the end I think I like the idea of having a stand alone guage to show fuel tank levels. I will probably add the fuel flow option to the EIS.

Engine System

I have decided to go with the EIS 4000 from Grand Rapids. I decided that I didn't want to clutter up the panel with all those graphics even though I generaly don't like digital displays. It is just not worth it to spend the extra $2000 on an engine monitor simply for the graphical displays. The EIS has good alarming capablites, a great leaning function and is fairly customizable. I can also add a fuel flow option that rivals the best flow computers out there.

 February 3, 2021
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