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GHA-15 Radar Altimeter Dynon equivalent?

Majorpayne317641

Majorpayne317641

Well Known Member
So I saw Garmin came out with a radar altimeter for experimentals… is Dynon going to come up with something too? I am at a crossroads for my panel upgrade where I can go either way, I just don’t want to pull out my Dynon AP servos to go Garmin just for this option. Anyone in the know? I’ve always wanted one of these but it was cost prohibitive until Garmin announced it this month.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1339678/pn/010-02942-00
 
Maybe I’m mistaken but doesn’t the stand alone landing height sensor by engine bridge do the same thing for half the cost as the garmin unit? I love mine….
 
Does it account for the dip in the runway? Can you modify it to say 40...30...20...10...DON't flare yet...5....not yet....3...2...OK now.......
 
We do have laser altimeter option available with our ELM1000 EFIS and VICS-01 voice module.
It is not the same what Garmin offers though (Garmin is radio based altimeter, our's is LiDar based) but it does the job and tells you an altitude starting from ~90-95ft and down to runway ;)
Soon we will have it as independent module with direct to audio panel connection (no EFIS needed).
 
Majorpayne317641 said:
I saw this, I was wanting it more for how it’s used at work where I can see AGL at any altitude.
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The wording "at any altitude" is tricky and likely very expensive.
Garmin offers it from couple hundred feet only and there is a reason for that - radar power/antenna size/preciseness.
Big guys (Boing, Airbus, etc) utilizes expensive radio altimeters (LRA) which usually cuts at 2500' AGL. 5G screws them a lot these days :rolleyes:
This is about radio based radars (means we send a high frequency radio beam and measure the reflection time/strength).

Laser based (so called LiDars) are something much more simple. They can go up to maybe 200ft for reasonable amount of money. In reality laser ones are good from ~100ft and down. Inexpensive but expect less preciseness due to possible obstructions (humidity, low fog, etc). LiDars are good when you able to see the actual runway so it is more for good landings / night landings rather then for real IMC use in my opinion.
 
Are you going to start doing CAT I-SA, II and III operations? I'm struggling to understand the value on this one. :)
 
Me too!

DCBrown198 said:
Are you going to start doing CAT I-SA, II and III operations? I'm struggling to understand the value on this one. :)
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Our sitting height in these airplanes is lower than standing. What do you really want this for? Can’t you tell how high you are?
Just because something can be done, why do it.
I flew airliners with sitting height 40 feet AGL with the nose in the air and callouts were useful on a low vis landing. In an RV. My gosh folks, look at the other end of the runway and flare. Landing one of these fine little ships is just about as basic as you can get. If you need something to talk you down that last 5 feet, boating may be a better choice.
As usual, my opinion is worth double what you actually paid for it! 😜
 
RV8iator said:
Our sitting height in these airplanes is lower than standing. What do you really want this for? Can’t you tell how high you are?
Just because something can be done, why do it.
I flew airliners with sitting height 40 feet AGL with the nose in the air and callouts were useful on a low vis landing. In an RV. My gosh folks, look at the other end of the runway and flare. Landing one of these fine little ships is just about as basic as you can get. If you need something to talk you down that last 5 feet, boating may be a better choice.
As usual, my opinion is worth double what you actually paid for it! 😜
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Nothing to do with this for my reason. I would love to use it as a low level AGL read out for flying 500 AGL or any other AGL I desire.
 
Majorpayne317641 said:
Nothing to do with this for my reason. I would love to use it as a low level AGL read out for flying 500 AGL or any other AGL I desire.
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If you are flying at 500AGL somewhere and didn’t just take off or are not about to land, looking outside would seem to be a higher priority than looking at an RA display. But if you really want it for the purpose you state, your EFIS should provide an AGL map item that does what you want based on the terrain database.

Using an RA every flight at work, I can’t imagine a scenario where it’d be useful in my RV. But ymmv….
 
ChiefPilot said:
If you are flying at 500AGL somewhere and didn’t just take off or are not about to land, looking outside would seem to be a higher priority than looking at an RA display. But if you really want it for the purpose you state, your EFIS should provide an AGL map item that does what you want based on the terrain database.

Using an RA every flight at work, I can’t imagine a scenario where it’d be useful in my RV. But ymmv….
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I guess my work experience is different than yours, I watch my RA when 300ft off the ground at 500mph.

I’m not sure why it’s so controversial to install an RA in a GA plane.
 
I bet there are a few pilots that have “pancaked” onto the wide runway at Osh that wished they’d had one :eek:
 
RV8iator said:
Our sitting height in these airplanes is lower than standing. What do you really want this for? Can’t you tell how high you are?
Just because something can be done, why do it.
I flew airliners with sitting height 40 feet AGL with the nose in the air and callouts were useful on a low vis landing. In an RV. My gosh folks, look at the other end of the runway and flare. Landing one of these fine little ships is just about as basic as you can get. If you need something to talk you down that last 5 feet, boating may be a better choice.
As usual, my opinion is worth double what you actually paid for it! 😜
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Well said Widget!
 
Walt said:
I bet there are a few pilots that have “pancaked” onto the wide runway at Osh that wished they’d had one :eek:
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It only takes once... I added the landing height sensor for that reason. Wider runways, and night landings. I flew into a new airport with wide runways at night several months ago, and was grateful for the altitude callouts. No looking at panel, only hearing the callouts in my headset. Made a potentially stressful landing much less so.
Plus it's cool. :cool:
 
Passenger landing aircraft

I would think this would be helpful helping a novice passenger land a RV if the pilot would become incapacitated. At some point Garmin might add this to SmartGlide. We all know how easy a RV is to fly and land but I think this might help. My wife is a nervous passenger, and this could assist. I know many pilots whose wife's refuse to fly in small GA aircraft. That would not be good for me, and far cheaper and easier to maintain than BRS.
 
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