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Charts / Maps

RV6_flyer

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I have been a pilot for more than 37-years. Commercial / Instrument rated with more than 3,000 hours in RVs and have actual RV IFR solo flight time. Have learned to fly before EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) using paper. Have been using an EFB for 9-years.

Those that have Glass Panels, how important are the Charts / Maps that that are part of the system? Do you use your Tablet (ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, Wing-X, FlyQ, etc.) to plan a flight then use the EFIS MFD to show your charts, plates, and maps in the cockpit or do you use your Tablet?

I know Seattle Avionics has a $99/year service that provides georeferenced charts for Dynon. Garmin G3X also has FliteCharts? for an unknown fee.

I am interested in how the MFD is actually used in your RV. Is the optional Map/Charts/Plates actually used in flight instead of your Tablet EFB?

My RV has a non-precision approach certified GPS navigator with an old 6-pack arrangement that has been updated with two G5s. I use the EFB to plan my flight, I program the panel mounted navigator for my direct to navigation waypoint and follow along on my Tablet EFB.

When I get a "Glass Panel", what will be the function of my Tablet EFB?

Will my Tablet EFB be a backup and the MFD be used as my map/chart/plate to follow flight progress?

Looking to get an education on Glass Panels. I have flown an RV with a glass panel and I only used it as I would a standard mechanical 6-pack. I know more features are in the different glass panels but trying to figure out if I will use them or if I should learn to use them.
 
EFIS/MFD Primary but always have iPad and iFly 740

on as backups. I have a single AFS 5600T and use the PFD/MFD split screen as my primary for charts and approach plate -- but usually have the iPad and iFly on with the same or supplemental information. The iPad has the iFly software as well as WingX (free) and FlyQ (lifetime). Fun to compare weather and traffic on each of them.

Ron
 
Back-Up and Look Ahead

RV-9A with two AFS-5600T screens, driven by two GTN-650s.
PFD primarily used for Attitude/Altitude; getting into the approach I split the screen to display the Approach Chart
MFD for Map Functions.
iPad with FlyQ used as a Backup for the flight, Looking farther ahead than the MFD, and getting into the landing area to display the Approach Chart.
I use a Dynon D3 as another backup, just in case.

The iPad w/FlyQ is used to plan the flight and sometimes file the plan. (Typically, I use the Leidos website for filing.) Route of flight preview, Approach Chart preview and anything else I want to research for the the flight. Once in the airplane and flying, it becomes a backup system with split-screen display for attitude / chart display.
 
Condor -

I have too many different EFIS’s and navigators in the different airplanes to keep them all up to date, so we primarily use ForeFlight and Pilot on our iPads (phones as backup) for up to date charts. We use the maps on the EFIS’s for situational awareness, but not for airspace, frequencies, or up-to-date airport info. If I only had one plane, I’d probably be doing it differently, but this works for multiple machines, or if I go fly someone else’s machine.

Paul
 
What I do

Two SkyView EFIS displays and a GTN-650.

The GTN-650 display is rarely used as it is that inferior to the SkyView displays. It does fill the function, via the SkyView ARINC, of displaying the flight plan, departures, arrivals and approaches on the SkyView moving map.

I have the Seattle Avionics chart subscription for the SkyView. The approach plates are geographical referenced - meaning when displaying the actual approach plate on the SkyView your plane shows up in real time flying the approach track. While this is cool, I find I rarely use it.

What I do:
- I still print out a paper approach plate for the anticipated approaches for the trip. I have the plate in use to the side left EFIS.
- I still value the Seattle Avionics chart display is it provides actual approach plates if I get diverted or such, and are great for planning ahead.
- I use ForeFlight on the iPad for flight planning. I do not rely on it for any phase of IFR flight. It is ?the third backup?.

Carl
 
We're the same ilk, Condor.

The five -7s I've built became progressively more glassy, Fiver full glass for seven years.

I carry an iPad with Foreflight for crossing Canada. It's the cheapest way to obtain NavCanada data. I don't consider it reliable flight instrumentation, nor do I use it to carry a flight plan from house to airplane for uploading.

Flight planning is on our big screen desktop. If traveling, the iPad is substituted. If I want to file a flight plan I use the phone. Since I've already studied the route, "direct-to" serves me well for each waypoint, building and storing a complete route only for long trips that may be repeated.

The EFIS contraptions are used as a six pack with a computer deriving GPS referenced useful information like real-time ground speed. Half the screen is geo-referenced moving map or approach charts. That is the most important navigation aid for me.

The really, really big PITA of glass is dinky screens. I spend half the flight scrolling in and out. Seems it's always too distant to make out detail or too close to get the big picture - looking at the world through a keyhole. In LA last week, an area I know real well, I used the paper TCA chart because I could read it, the GPS and iPad each problematical. The moving map gave me a sense of location, the chart let me look ahead.

So, install the biggest EFIS you can cram in, have a second huge one dedicated to maps/charts, and a small everything-but-flight engine monitor (like a JPI 740) to simplify the EFIS screen. A loose EFB tablet is cockpit contamination in my mind.

John Siebold
 
Ditto Carl, except 2 AFS with GTN as active EFIS nav source. IPad geo-reference nice as B/U but 1) too busy to look down on approach and 2) don't completely trust IPad not to fail at critical time.

Robert
 
We might be twins. I've been flying for 37+ years, com/instr, and do fly in IMC in my -10. I still have my circular slide-rule style E6B.
I use two GRT HX displays. They will show Seattle Avionics charts but I don't have them. I use my iPad (WingX, free to CFI's) for charts exactly the same way I used to use paper charts; look at them to brief the approach, memorize DH/MDA's, glance to verify step down altitudes. But then I put it aside, even though it does show geo-referencing, I don't use it. I do carry paper plates as a back-up.
I split my primary screen to PFD/HSI, because I just feel more comfortable with the round DG and full size needles. I can fly an approach just using the PFD display but I do prefer the split screen. Probably because I'm so used to a round DG. The GRT will display a "velocity vector", which makes the wind correction easy (alternative is to look at the GPS "purple line, track up"). You didn't mention autopilots; those available now are light-years ahead of the 40 year old analog units. I have a Trio Pro (I'm sure they're all good, buy based on features you want) and it flies the -10 like it's on rails, from just after lift off to just before the flare.
 
Maps and Charts usage

Crimini Gary! Walk across the Airpark to my house and sit in my RV7 with twin Dynon D-1000 screens and a GNS-430W unit and see for yourself!
I use the Seattle Avionics charts for all my primary functions in the air. The iPad has FlyQ EFB on it and I use that for flight planning and backup only. Very seldom gets turned on in the cockpit in flight - only then to check ahead for possible deviations or for planning a different approach. I like the geo-referenced approach plates. They make it very simple to crosscheck that your track is what you are expecting to fly. Oh, and if you do go Dynon (or any other system that Seattle Avionics supports with maps and charts), wait until they have their yearly sale and pay the one-time lifetime subscription fee and never have to purchase charts again (EVER)!
 
FWIW: Dual DYNON, G430W, VAL INS429 and Samsung Galaxy S4 Android Tablet.

I only pay for the Garmin 430W database subscription ($299/yr) which makes me /G IFR legal. I use the free FltPlanGo app on the tablet to display my approach plates. My backup plates are on my smartphone, also running FltPlanGo.

When I select the approach on the G430W, it shows on the DYNON MAP displays. I use the HSI needles on the DYNON to shoot the approach while the geo-referenced approach plate is displayed on the tablet for quick reference.

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That makes it a 3 display system while paying for only one subscription. It works very well for me.

:cool:
 
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I never had glass, always a "six-pack" arrangement, and a portable GPS.


Our new Sling 2 has a full Garmin G3X system, AP, remote x-ponder, etc.

I flew it solo from OSH to OKC the week after "AV", gooooosh, I wouldn't have anything else. In fact, I'm so pumped over it, I can't wait to get my 9A flying. Just to have fun with the G3X I'm putting in it.
 
I'm old fashion or perhaps "chicken". My -12 has all the magic but I still carry sectionals and if heading out of town will print out a hard copy of the flight plan. You can carry dozens of backup gps devices but they are all susceptible to loss of gps signal.
 
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Paper??

Hey Condor
I’ve been flying with glass for 8 or 9 years now in the RV. I do all my flight planning in Foreflight, bluetooth it to the 650 off I go. I have all the charts and plates in my GRT and my ipad as a backup. I only use the ipad for big changes enroute and looking up info about airports, notams etc.
I set up approaches early, familiarize myself with them and have the plate loaded on the EFIS just in case. I have all the bugs SET for DH and missed altitudes but the plate is not displayed . They are there if I need them.
Phone in pocket s 3rd backup. Hey, if I need that it’s just not my day.
As for loss of signal, well, I still have that old VOR, still have eyeballs and still usually know where I am.
The more comfortable you become with your EFIS the less you depend on the ipad has been my experience.
As for paper..?.? Haven’t used it in years. As for a six pack! They are for drinking!
 
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I carry an iPad with Foreflight for crossing Canada. It's the cheapest way to obtain NavCanada data.
Correction: FltPlanGo is the cheapest way to obtain NavCanada data. Unless you're getting Foreflight and the Canadian add-on for free.
 
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