Glass versus Steam

[inzersv]

I will be ordering a S7 in 2011. Until I am ready, I am watching this forum for ideas and to help me make some important decisions such as Glass vs Steam gauges. I see alittle of everything here. But not much on a comparison of the two. What has anyone have to say. I haven't flown in 25 years and never with glass. But I like the looks and it seems to me it would keep my weight down with glass. Is there much to do to transition from Steam to Glass?

[Dorsal]

I flew ~350 hours on steam, took 20 years off, built a Kitfox with two small Dynons and a Garmin 696, absolutely love it (both plane and panel) little to no adjustment time for me. Happy to provide more info if you like.

[jtpitkin06]

Equipping the panel in a Kitfox is a quandary for some builders. Do you load it up for full IFR to wow your friends and gut your bank account? Or do you put in the basic VFR instruments for low and slow flying?

Some owners consider it a necessity to have a fully loaded panel and won’t fly around the patch without it. Others load up the panel for nothing but show. And a small group installs only the bare necessities. The remainder put in a mix of VFR and IFR equipment.

I consider the Kitfox to be a basic VFR aircraft. With that in mind, all you need is airspeed, a cheap altimeter and a compass. I suppose a T&B would be nice for those times when the horizon is hazy. Throw in a second hand portable GPS like a 396 or 496 and you have a go anywhere, VFR, fun to fly, stick and rudder airplane.



But wait… there’s more!

The above might have been the choices 20 years ago. However, the low cost of multifunction displays have thrown out the rule books.

Glass panels have added a level of economy or bang-for–the–buck, if you like. If you total up the cost for new round dials to build a basic six-pack display, you can easily exceed the cost of a glass panel integrated system. Don’t forget to add the cost and weight of a vacuum pump if you go with a round dial six pack.

The new glass panels include sensors for up, down, left, right and even report altitude to the transponder. So now you can have a full panel without breaking the piggybank.

I’d also like to pass along a pilot report on the reliability of glass. I had a great time in 22 years of flying EFIS aircraft, I never had an instrument failure on glass. I had lots of round dial failures.

And finally, there is the flux gate bonus. With a glass panel you will never need to reset your DG every ten minutes. You get a slaved DG system for free. Whoohoo!!!

With the cost of a Dynon so attractive, it looks like my low and slow VFR airplane will have a six pack by default.


John Pitkin
Greenville, TX

[jtpitkin06]

Oh, Yes... to answer your question. It takes a whole three minutes sitting in the airplane to transition from round dials to glass. Ten minutes if you want to push the cute little buttons at the bottom of the screen.


JP

[DesertFox4]

Stan, I have a Kitfox with mostly steam gauges, an old Pilot 3 Garmin (not color)GPS and a GRT EIS for engine monitoring. State of the art when my Kitfox entered service. I also get to jump into the new factory glass equipped Kitfox's from time to time and find very little adjustment problems because the information is presented logically. I do not find myself spending "too much" time interpreting what is presented and not doing my primary job of seeing and avoiding other traffic. I think you'll be surprised how quickly it becomes 2nd nature to you. I will be upgrading my panel soon with a glass display and new GPS.
Opt for the latest glass panel and never look back. Best of luck.

[cap01]

what ever you decide on for a panel , dont rush out and buy it with the kit . wait till your well along with the build , always new stuff coming on the market . who knows what will be available by the time your ready for the panel . besides it will give you lots of time to do just what your doing now , gathering info . good luck and have fun .

[inzersv]

Thank you gentlemen. You have decided it for me. Glass it will be. But I will wait until I am ready to install. Like cap01 says, "things change".

[inzersv]

Dorsal, Would you have photos of your panel that you could post?

[Dorsal]

Sure, check the thread "finished my panel" http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/att...1&d=1265064801

[horsepower]

I will be ordering a S7 in 2011. Until I am ready, I am watching this forum for ideas and to help me make some important decisions such as Glass vs Steam gauges. I see alittle of everything here. But not much on a comparison of the two. What has anyone have to say. I haven't flown in 25 years and never with glass. But I like the looks and it seems to me it would keep my weight down with glass. Is there much to do to transition from Steam to Glass?

Im building a Super Skyraider which is also a tandem like your S-7,I went with the old fashion instruments with the exception of a Grand Rapids EIS.Being these airplanes are tandems the instrument panel is not as wide so mine seems crowded,if I had it to do over again I would go with the new wave glass stuff, plus they do look nice. Randy