Jacko wrote:
but once we have our destination in sight, is there any useful information to be gleaned inside a light GA cockpit?
If you are on an IFR flight – as Aviathor who started this thread – then you are supposed to follow IFR procedures, whatever you have in sight or not.
Jacko wrote:
Most of us would confess to a quick, but pointless, glance at the ASI before the final turn, but once we have our destination in sight, is there any useful information to be gleaned inside a light GA cockpit?
Useful, yes. Necessary? Maybe not.
Neil wrote:
Is there no method of reversion with the Avidyne system, to put the PFD information onto the MFD?
No, unfortunately. Which why it is good to be prepared because this is something that may really happen.
what_next wrote:
If you are on an IFR flight – as Aviathor who started this thread – then you are supposed to follow IFR procedures, whatever you have in sight or not.
Exactly. What one might ask is why I did not cancel IFR and continue VFR since it was relatively severe clear.
Well, why should I forego such an excellent training opportunity to prepare myself for what might happen again in less favourable conditions?
Well, why should I forego such an excellent training opportunity to prepare myself for what might happen again in less favourable conditions?
Yes of course, I would never criticise. It’s just that your experience with a blank screen got me wondering whether, in other circumstances, we practice often enough flying with no instruments. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that because they’re required equipment, we need to use them.
I went out to my amphibian to go flying last summer, and found that my PFD had inflated in the cockpit. I had left the automatic inflator in place (my mistake) and the moisture in the hull of the flying boat was enough to make it think it had been immersed, and poof, a whole lot of yellow in the cockpit, and the need for a $38 rearm kit.
So no auto inflators in the cockpit, shouldn’t have been in there anyway!
Pilot_DAR wrote:
I went out to my amphibian to go flying last summer, and found that my PFD had inflated in the cockpit.
Different type of PFD. Personal Floatation Device vs Primary Flight Display. Funny. But I can imagine that your kind would go pooof if overinflated.
Pilot_DAR wrote:
I went out to my amphibian to go flying last summer, and found that my PFD had inflated in the cockpit. I had left the automatic inflator in place (my mistake) and the moisture in the hull of the flying boat was enough to make it think it had been immersed, and poof, a whole lot of yellow in the cockpit, and the need for a $38 rearm ki
Perhaps one of the greatest thread drifts ever on here. Hilarious!
Interesting thread…
I have heard of this sort of failure (privately) several times. It does surprise me why they can’t have dual backlight inverters. The fluorescent backlight rarely fails but the inverters are cheap commercial items and they do. They are a major failure item on laptops – even high-end ones like Lenovo (formerly IBM Thinkpad) that I use universally for myself and at work.
You can also get a black LCD due to the software crashing. There appears to be no watchdog in there so the display can freeze, or the screen can go black. This has happened multiple times in “plastic” certified planes e.g. DA40, SR20, SR22 and I know people here who had that happen.
Regarding declaring it to ATC, I would try to tell them, because it could have failed due to a short somewhere and then the next event will be a smell and then you will be reaching for the Master switch, so a heads-up that you may be suddenly going non-radio and “here’s the ETA to the destination” is a good idea. I had that once with one of the smoking KFC225 autopilot servos, as I was over the Channel and heading back home. And then a second time over the Alps (with Justine!). Fortunately just the autopilot master switch stopped the smell, just as I expected. However, I would possibly not try to explain this to ATC outside the UK due to their often poor ELP (English language proficiency), since it cannot be done using standard phrases like “request 30 degrees left to avoid” and it might confuse the hell out of them.
This is why a backup GPS, running all the time and always within reach, is essential. And a handheld radio, preferably one which can fly an ILS. Even in a plane with a really good dual alternator+battery+bus system like the Cessna 400.
@Peter wrote:
I had that once with one of the smoking KFC225 autopilot servos, as I was over the Channel and heading back home. And then a second time over the Alps (with Justine!). Fortunately just the autopilot master switch stopped the smell, just as I expected.
How did you know the smoke came from the autopilot servos ?
Read the writeup on my website 
