Going Glass, Part 1

Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 09:20 AM ET

Verified

My airplane's flight instruments are shown. I definitely want to eliminate the A1 and DG, which means the vacuum gauge in the upper left can go, too. The fate of the other instruments will depend on the package of new equipment I end up choosing and has it's installed.

Key Takeaways:

The author aims to replace his airplane's mechanical "six-pack" flight instruments with electronic (glass) counterparts primarily to eliminate the vacuum system, enhance safety, and leverage advances in situational awareness and automation.
Key objectives for the upgrade include adding an air data computer for true airspeed and wind data, implementing GPSS functionality for the autopilot, and ensuring seamless integration with existing IFR GPS and ADS-B systems for navigation, traffic, and weather display.
Critical considerations for this significant modernization project involve establishing robust redundancy and reliability solutions (e.g., power backups, standby instruments), managing the financial investment and aircraft downtime, and adapting to new operational procedures.
The overall goal is to bring a 50-year-old airplane into the 21st century by trading the risks associated with vacuum-driven instruments for those of an all-electric system, ultimately enhancing the flying experience and situational awareness.

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Editor’s Note: This is the first in an occasional series of articles exploring the details and considerations of replacing conventional mechanical flight instruments with their electronic counterparts aboard a typical piston-powered personal airplane. While the series will necessarily involve comparing products, it also will evaluate the implications for operations and safety.

My personal airplane is a prime candidate for an upgrade to microprocessor-based flight instruments. It’s on all the Approved Model List Supplemental Type Certificate (AML-STC) lists for the various realistic options, and it has IFR-approved WAAS GPS navigation capabilities, with ADS-B Out and In. It also has a popular two-axis autopilot, which can be made to interface with just about anything.