flyersfan31
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2006
- Messages
- 14,269
- Display Name
Display name:
Freiburgfan31
I've read a lot lately about how nobody wants steam gauges in new aircraft. You can't get them in the 182. Cirrus and Columbia are glass. Piper's headed that way. It seems, at the moment, that glass will have better resale.
However, after flying the G1000 T182T yesterday, I got to thinking. Yeah, the new glass cockpits look awesome and modern, but how will they look in say 5-10yrs? Steam gauges have changed little over the years. Take a look at any cockpit still equipped with "state-of-the-art" avionics circa 1990, though, and those modern avionics look pretty pokey. I still remember the first LED watch I saw. Man was that awesome. I think most people would laugh at one now.
That, and probably none of them are supported by their mfrs, if the mfr is even still in business. That's a second issue. What if data formats, or card formats change? Remember the floppy? You know, the ones that really flopped? I'm afraid we, the consumers, are looking at a pretty nasty case of planned obsolescence, whereby we are forced to swap out boxes every 8-10yrs because the old ones aren't supported, or don't have the right data card, or somesuch. You can fly a 170B into the ground (well, until 8.33 spacing), but if you can't get the data into a G1000 you're screwed.
However, after flying the G1000 T182T yesterday, I got to thinking. Yeah, the new glass cockpits look awesome and modern, but how will they look in say 5-10yrs? Steam gauges have changed little over the years. Take a look at any cockpit still equipped with "state-of-the-art" avionics circa 1990, though, and those modern avionics look pretty pokey. I still remember the first LED watch I saw. Man was that awesome. I think most people would laugh at one now.
That, and probably none of them are supported by their mfrs, if the mfr is even still in business. That's a second issue. What if data formats, or card formats change? Remember the floppy? You know, the ones that really flopped? I'm afraid we, the consumers, are looking at a pretty nasty case of planned obsolescence, whereby we are forced to swap out boxes every 8-10yrs because the old ones aren't supported, or don't have the right data card, or somesuch. You can fly a 170B into the ground (well, until 8.33 spacing), but if you can't get the data into a G1000 you're screwed.