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Options: Good/Bad News

The good news is that our electronics give us options. The bad news is that it’s not always obvious which is the best option to use.

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Modern avionics provide pilots with customizable display options for critical information, including moving map orientation (north-up vs. track-up), attitude indicator roll pointers (fixed vs. sky), and flight director symbology (cross-pointer vs. inverted-V).
  • The optimal choice for these display options is often contextual, influenced by pilot preference, and guided by learning principles such as the Law of Primacy (early exposure) and Law of Readiness (willingness to experiment).
  • Pilots should be mindful of potential negative learning transfer when transitioning between different display configurations, as such changes can lead to confusion and were a contributing factor in an aviation accident; not all display options are easily pilot-selectable.
See a mistake? Contact us.

With the advent of GPS, moving maps, tablets with aviation apps, and glass panels driven by software, we now have more choices. Having choices in three displays typically results in heated debates among pilots in FBO lounges and hangars, and especially out in the blogosphere. Those, um, “discussions” focus on three display options.

Our moving maps give us the option to display the map with north up or with track up. (There is a third option: Heading-up, which we will not consider; we are more concerned about the course over the ground, i.e., the “track.” Plus, heading up is similar enough to track up that most of the same arguments apply.)

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