RussR
En-Route
For those of you who teach in Aspen-equipped airplanes - what are you doing to simulate failures of various systems, like the AHRS or ADC? I have a client with a 3-panel Aspen setup and am trying to create realistic failure scenarios. He is an "instrument refresher"-type client, so I am not prepping him for a checkride, but trying to advance his abilities.
His plane does not have any obvious circuit breakers labeled "AHRS" or "ADC".
I'd love to create something like this:
If this looks familiar to some, I did post this question on Facebook "CFI Discussion Group", but the answers I got generally fit into one of the following categories:
1. Just cover them up with sticky notes
- Yes, I could do that and that is the backup plan, but that doesn't create very realistic training, which is what I'm after. For example, if the AHRS fails, the effect it has on the autopilot is not simulated by sticky notes.
2. Find a simulator and practice there.
- I agree that would be ideal, but how do I find a simulator that matches my client's equipment and exact installation configuration? I doubt this even exists. (Piper Seneca III, 3-Aspen setup, Stec 55x autopilot, Garmin 530W)
3. You should never, ever, simulate anything using circuit breakers.
- But nobody went into detail as to why. Rather, the explanations were "it's risky" or "bad things happen". I asked for some specific examples, because I sure don't want anything bad to happen, but got no response. Some were concerned about wear on the breakers, but we're not talking hundreds of repetitions here, we're talking about doing something twice. Maybe three times.
I did receive one interesting tip that opening and closing the alternate static source a few times can sometimes cause it to think the ADC failed. Anybody done this? Any negative impacts?
Simple software tricks, if there are any, would be great too - like just turning off features. For example, in the Garmin GPS units, you can turn off WAAS to simulate a downgrading of the GPS signal. It works great and causes all the same, realistic effects as an actual signal downgrade. That kind of idea is what I'm looking for in the Aspen.
I do note that Garmin has a guide for simulating failures with the G1000. However, Aspen apparently doesn't have a similar guide for their products.
Thanks!
His plane does not have any obvious circuit breakers labeled "AHRS" or "ADC".
I'd love to create something like this:
If this looks familiar to some, I did post this question on Facebook "CFI Discussion Group", but the answers I got generally fit into one of the following categories:
1. Just cover them up with sticky notes
- Yes, I could do that and that is the backup plan, but that doesn't create very realistic training, which is what I'm after. For example, if the AHRS fails, the effect it has on the autopilot is not simulated by sticky notes.
2. Find a simulator and practice there.
- I agree that would be ideal, but how do I find a simulator that matches my client's equipment and exact installation configuration? I doubt this even exists. (Piper Seneca III, 3-Aspen setup, Stec 55x autopilot, Garmin 530W)
3. You should never, ever, simulate anything using circuit breakers.
- But nobody went into detail as to why. Rather, the explanations were "it's risky" or "bad things happen". I asked for some specific examples, because I sure don't want anything bad to happen, but got no response. Some were concerned about wear on the breakers, but we're not talking hundreds of repetitions here, we're talking about doing something twice. Maybe three times.
I did receive one interesting tip that opening and closing the alternate static source a few times can sometimes cause it to think the ADC failed. Anybody done this? Any negative impacts?
Simple software tricks, if there are any, would be great too - like just turning off features. For example, in the Garmin GPS units, you can turn off WAAS to simulate a downgrading of the GPS signal. It works great and causes all the same, realistic effects as an actual signal downgrade. That kind of idea is what I'm looking for in the Aspen.
I do note that Garmin has a guide for simulating failures with the G1000. However, Aspen apparently doesn't have a similar guide for their products.
Thanks!
