Bearhawk Aircraft Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC Eric Newton's Builder Manuals Bearhawk Plans Bearhawk Store

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Instrument Advice

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Instrument Advice

    Naturally I was going to wait until the last possible moment to pull the trigger on my avionics, but a deal came up for a 430W and KX-125 that was hard to pass up. I figured the radios were a safe bet, and I'm used to the 430W since it's what we have in the club Archers. The package also came with a very nice GI-106A CDI/GS. Ideally I'd like to run a G5 as a backup which I understand will also display CDI/GS. So I'm wondering, is there any reason to keep or install the 106? As a backup to the backup, or a manual OBS? Seems unnecessary, but I'm not terribly experienced with IFR or IMC flight so I thought I'd see what the thinking was and if there was some benefit I wasn't considering.
    Dave B.
    Plane Grips Co.
    www.planegrips.com

  • #2
    I'm more weight conscious than many, but if I were putting in the 430W, KX-125 package, that 106 would be in there as well. Mighty nice when in the soup.

    Comment


    • #3
      I should mention I'll be using dual displays as well, not sure of the type yet but they'll be my primary navigation. The G5 would be my backup.
      Dave B.
      Plane Grips Co.
      www.planegrips.com

      Comment


      • #4
        I'm not instrument rated so I don't really know much about this kind of thing but if it were my airplane I wouldn't install it. If you are going to have dual EFIS plus a G5 then you will have plenty of options for displaying all your nav data without needing the 106.
        Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

        Comment


        • Archer39J
          Archer39J commented
          Editing a comment
          Makes sense to me.

      • #5
        Good point, all wonderful different options available. With the 430w kx125 106 package, I'd only go single efis. Enjoy the decision making process!

        Comment


        • #6
          If I were doing VFR only, I'd be happy with just one EFIS, for IFR, two would be the minimum. For more than that, I'd look at how things are wired, how redundant your set up is, etc. There can be such a thing as too much, when you consider power demand, both on your alternator and also during an alternator failure, how long will your backup battery last or how much will your backup alternator power (if you go that route). Another way to look at it though is if you lose and EFIS while you are in the clouds, there is no such thing as too many backup instruments/ avionics at that point. Your 4 place panel has so much more space than my Patrol does. I feel that I have the bare minimum for IFR with two EFIS, each with AHRS and of course built in GPS and an IFR GPS. But we have to be realistic, we don't have the space or probably the budget to have dual IFR GPS, dual VOR, dual EFIS plus backup instruments and 2 or 3 pitot systems. Weigh how much you think you will really fly IMC, and how bad the wx can really be that you will fly into it.

          I've talked to a few pilots with more experience than I have who either won't fly single engine IFR or who fly IFR but not with low ceilings/visibility on one engine. I hadn't really thought about it because most, or maybe all of my actual instrument time was in things with a couple engines. With one engine, they figure, if you have engine trouble, you are landing, wherever you are and it would be nice to break out of the clouds with enough time to choose what you are going to land on. It makes sense to me and setting enroute wx minimums for myself, in case I have no choice about continuing a flight, also makes me more comfortable about flying with less backup avionics than I might like.

          The cool thing is there really is no wrong answer as long as you build the plane that you want to fly.
          Rollie VanDorn
          Findlay, OH
          Patrol Quick Build

          Comment

          Working...
          X