GA Automation is Good

[Dav8or]

If they cost $5k people would *****. Look, you want to live under a system of market capitalism based on consumerism, you have to be ready to pay the price. People love the concept until they realize there is nothing about it in their best interest.

Some people ***** about everything. If brand new airplanes were $10,000, some would ***** and say they ought to be $5000. It is what it is.

There are plenty of us willing to move forward into the 21th century flight and are willing to pay for it. The whiners can fly VFR. Please don't turn this thread into a wall of words about everything that you view is wrong with the world and your Shangri-la solutions.

 

[Dav8or]

The new stuff has great capability, absolutely phenomenal. It also has terrible user interfaces. G1000, et al suck to use. They are just the pits, and about as user hostile as is imaginable. yeah, yeah, blah, blag, blah, proficient, blah blah know your equipment blah, blah. . .nonsense. . .

Guys (and ladies) it isn't supposed to be that counter-intuitive. How many us IFR do everything on ForeFlight first, then muck about with the 430/530/1000/Aspen, etc? Yes, Garmin and the rest are constrianed by the FAA approvals, not all their fault. But I don't really care whose fault it is. The UIs bite. . .

Thank you!!! This is exactly it!! The stuff we have now is fantastic, but the user interface can literally kill you. If we had likes here on this forum you would have earned one from me!

My Garmin 430 lost me again today. Mind you I am not IFR current, nor have I trained for a dozen hours with an instructor with it. When I was IFR current and flew IFR everywhere, a Garmin 430 was just a dream for me.

Today I was flying VFR in very clear VMC. The sun was going down and there was little to no traffic, so I thought, what the hell, I'll pull up the RNAV 30 approach into Byron on the 430 and fly that thing VFR. I was able to find the approach, I was able to load it, but somehow it didn't activate. I missed that step. going back and finding it and making it work would have meant even more heads down time, so screw it. It probably would have ended with me pounding on the panel with my fist, so I flew the plane home like I always do.

It really doesn't need to be that lame, but it is what it is.

 

[Fearless Tower]

They won't look out the window without the TV screen either then, in fact they'll be head down more keeping keeping track of things on needles and dials.

Not true at all.

If you are flying along VFR with nothing but old steam gauges, you might glance down here and there to change a frequency, adjust an OBS and periodically glance down to see how you are tracking your course. But you are less likely to get engrossed in sub features.

In the case I gave above, I was clearly engrossed checking on weather ahead along my route. I was most definitely distracted and would never have been for that long with just steam gauges.

I'm in no way advocating against technology, just pointing out that we need to be conscious of the potential pitfalls so they don't bite us.

 

[Henning]

Not true at all.

If you are flying along VFR with nothing but old steam gauges, you might glance down here and there to change a frequency, adjust an OBS and periodically glance down to see how you are tracking your course. But you are less likely to get engrossed in sub features.

In the case I gave above, I was clearly engrossed checking on weather ahead along my route. I was most definitely distracted and would never have been for that long with just steam gauges.

I'm in no way advocating against technology, just pointing out that we need to be conscious of the potential pitfalls so they don't bite us.

Of course, you have more to manage, but information is like that. My point there was that someone who isn't inclined to be looking out the window for the view will be no more inclined to do so without electronic gadgets. In the old days people would read, work, or nap on autopilot. A person not inclined to look out the windows won't.

 

[JustinD]

I love technology. I get great joy out of truly learning how to use it and all the features it has. I've said this to friends before and I'll repost it here. You'll almost always find me using most of the automation as possible. I've always preferred to be a systems manager over physically controlling something. That's still flying the plane in a different way. Every now and then I'll hand fly the full flight and I'll go up and practice maneuvers and stay proficient but mostly I get more joy out of managing all the systems and technology to its full potential. That being said I think it is extremely important to know the full ins and outs of your technology before putting yourself in a dangerous situation by mismanaging it.

 

[MAKG1]

I had an autopilot (GFC700) wind the trim all the way nose down in PIT mode, when engaged straight and level on Saturday. That failure mode is utterly impossible when hand flying.

More complex systems have more things to break.

Fortunately, I was VFR at 4000 feet with sea level terrain ahead (a whole lot less behind me, though). Lots of room to recover from an uncommanded Vno dive. It would have sucked a whole lot more in IMC, particularly if I was on the home airport's approach. It's a GPS LNAV approach with step downs down to 640 feet.

 

[Henning]

I love technology. I get great joy out of truly learning how to use it and all the features it has. I've said this to friends before and I'll repost it here. You'll almost always find me using most of the automation as possible. I've always preferred to be a systems manager over physically controlling something. That's still flying the plane in a different way. Every now and then I'll hand fly the full flight and I'll go up and practice maneuvers and stay proficient but mostly I get more joy out of managing all the systems and technology to its full potential. That being said I think it is extremely important to know the full ins and outs of your technology before putting yourself in a dangerous situation by mismanaging it.

The only problem with this in GA is the reliability of most of the automation, especially the autopilots. It's a rare GA plane that has redundant autopilots, so if you're going IFR, unless you have a parachute on the plane, it's in one's best interest to be proficient at hand flying, and proficiency at hand flying comes from doing it for long stretches and developing that AP system of making very small corrections by starting them early and automatically.