Safer Flight By Steve Wightman, EAA 627933 
OLD VS. NEW FLYING.
Like the Internet, flat-screen technology has found its way into every part of our lives. From smart kitchen appliances to automobiles, to smartphones and watches. Digital technology provides fast answers to questions like “What’s the weather like?” “When will dinner be ready?” “What is my heart rate and blood oxygen level?” Aviation has also experienced a digital revolution. In this article, I will briefly explain my transition to digital technology with my Super Seawind amphibious airplane
WHAT CAN MY SMART PANELS DO?
Rather than trying to explain the functionality of my smart technology, including my Garmin G900X, Grand Rapids Technologies, GRT, Electronic Flight Information System, EFIS, TruTrak Sorcerer Autopilot, Garmin SL30 Com/Nav radio, and the Foreflight App, I will reveal how I utilize them for safer and more enjoyable flying. I will leave the independent study of any one of these devices up to you and your Internet searching. There are several books and online videos that go into detail on the functionality of each. Now, on to my journey.
Price and value.
In 2008, when my Seawind was under construction, I had to decide between steam gauges or flat panels. I had read a lot about Garmin technology, and I had trained and flown for many hours with GPS and VOR navigation. During instrument training, I was impressed by GPS accuracy, And I also knew that it was the way of the future. Steam gauges would not get me there, so I ordered a state-of-the-art flight management system, FMS, which I still have today. My decisions were based on one simple question: could this technology potentially save someone’s life? The cost, although steep, never outweighed the value of a single human life.
Performance.
From the first flight with the G900X (the experimental version of the G1000), I felt overwhelmed by the features and available information. Later, after flying the hours required locally around KSRQ, I gained some comfort with the technology. Soon, I made my first one-thousand-nautical mile flight from Florida to Bedford, MA with two en-route stops. The three com/Nav radios calmed my nerves knowing I had plenty of backup as I flew at 19,000’ at 180 knots. Fuel range and terrain were painted on the Multi-Function Display, MFD. Better yet, weather from Sirius satellite weather information system gave me and my then copilot-instructor, the late Jack Ardyno, a clear view of hazards we would avoid – all with ATC blessings. My Super Seawind had faster, more accurate weather information than ATC as I could see things ahead, but they could not.
A happy marriage.
Coupling the G900X flight plan with my Trutrak AP certainly lightened the load. It even pinpointed and initiated a Safer flight path from the top to the bottom of a descent and guided my plane from a STAR to an IAP (instrument approach). I was delighted to see this electronic teamwork flawlessly execute its first ILS approach. It displayed necessary information with traffic vision and a flight director guiding the ship’s altitude and heading to a welcoming lighted airport. in the dark Amazing!
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT.
Flight data, flight logs, maintenance, and record-keeping are all stored electronically automatically. Everything moves from the cockpit to the Cloud seamlessly. The G900X tracked the entire flight to Bedford and the GRT recorded all the engine data for the entire trip. The G900X even recorded ATC communications for playback in case I forgot something.
Maintenance costs:
They are lower. Why? With landing guidance from the G900X and the AP, landing speeds are precise, slower, and softer. As a result, landings are easier on the landing gear and tires. Furthermore, with the AP guiding to the lowest safe IAS, the landing roll is shorter saving brakes and increasing safety margins. Also, an engine health monitor runs during every flight. It has, unlike me, a perfect memory. Maintenance staff use the data for trend analysis or to look for signs of future maintenance needs. Like screening for cancer, deficiencies are detected early, arrested, and repaired before larger problems emerge.
Enhanced functionality.
Split screens provide quick pictures from multiple sources with the G900X and the GRT screens. For example, I can check engine data along with the GRT PFD or Inset TIS B with TAWs and terrain on the G900X MFD. Overlays help too. The GRT EFIS live video displays the nosewheel 3D position along with PFD functions like altitude, airspeed, safe taxi, and heading.
Although the fuel range prediction map is great, my favorite is the dynamic MFD and App displayed glide range map. They constantly monitor fuel consumption, wind, and altitude. It predicts fuel ranges in minutes remaining. In an extremely rare PT6 turbine engine-out emergency, the coupled G900X and the AP can fly N71RJ at the best glide speed to an airport. Furthermore, all flat panels are powered by four 12V batteries that enable a minimum of one hour of continued flight in the event of an electrical failure. Moreover, considering failsafe features, such as backup steam gauges, an auto-feather propeller, a 10.9 – 1 glide ratio, the Seawind’s ability to land on water, and a global SARSAT 406 MH ELT, I have few worries. Safety is the fabric of my Seawind.
Checklists
are just a pushbutton away in the G900X, the GRT EFIS, and my IPAD and iPhone with a Foreflight or Garmin Pilot App. That is truly reassuring should there be any system failure. Emergency procedures are the first part of my checklist. With Foreflight and a Garmin Pilot App, they are easy to review and easy to edit. Now when I am sitting in a waiting room somewhere, I never make an excuse that I have nothing to read!
My all-glass 3D vision allows me to see far ahead. It has enhanced my safer flight capabilities and safety. With synthetic vision and Highway in the Sky, HITS, (click item #2 below) I am reassured that I never fly alone. I always have my trusted digital coordinators to watch over and guide me during every phase of the flight. For those who fly with 3-D vision, you are no longer just a pilot, you are a visionary leaping over formidable obstacles – seamlessly.
- My Seawind Saga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZHdJv2MfjM
Read More: Flight Safety: Lessons Learned Through My Military Service