ForeFlight Weather Icons
Anyone know what these symbols represent?
and 
Main BATT Amps Warning Light on the G1000
Over my last two flights, I started getting a warning light about too much draw (or discharge) on the Main BATT indicator. Normally it is showing -1 AMPS, but occasionally it dips to -1.5 AMPS, and when it does that, it goes yellow. I’ve got a query out to try and figure out what this is, but obviously seems like something that needs to be taken care of. Everything else was normal and shedding load didn’t seem to make any difference.
Aviation and the iPad
Here’s a good report on the utility of the iPad for aviation use. If you have interest in potentially using or buying an iPad for use in flying, this is a must see.
New v563.18 Software for Garmin G1000 is Ready
The new v563.18 software for G1000 is getting ready to be released. I hear should be out in July. You can download the new documentation here. Features include:
- Pathways for SVT
- Engine data logging (see this post)
- Flight plan SD card upload and download
- AOPA info
- New XM features including PIREP’s, AIRREP’s, and TURB
Next G1000 Software Version to include Flight Data Logging
I’m pleased that we’ll soon have Flight Data Logging for the G1000. This will greatly enhance preventive maintenance capabilities, not to mention allow for a wide variety of post flight analysis. The software is already out for the Diamond and I’ve heard coming to Cessna aircraft soon.
Here’s what the latest Diamond manual says:
“The G1000 has the ability to record certain flight and engine parameters on an SD card with a maximum size of four-gigabytes. A two-gigabyte SD card containing no other data, is capable of storing 2,000 hours of data. The following data will automatically be recorded once every second as long as the system is operating and an SD card resides in the top card slot of the MFD.”
Here are parameters that are included:
• Active Waypoint
• Attitude Pitch Angle
• Attitude Roll Angle
• Autopilot (AP) Engaged
• Baro Adjustment/Correction
• Baro-Corrected Altitude
• Battery AMP
• Battery Volts
• Bearing to Next Waypoint
• Carburetor Temperature
• COM1 Frequency
• COM2 Frequency
• Current Position
• Cylinder head temperature, cylinders 1 – 4
• Distance to Next Waypoint
• Engine RPM
• Exhaust Gas Temperature, cylinders 1-4
• Fuel Flow
• Fuel Pressure
• Fuel Quanity Left
• Fuel Quanity Right
• GFC 700 Pitch Command
• GFC 700 Pitch Mode
• GFC 700 Roll Command
• GFC 700 Roll Mode
• GPS Altitude
• GPS Altitude Relative to Mean Sea Level
• GPS Fix
• GPS Horizontal Alert Limit
• GPS Horizontal Protection level
• GPS vertical alert limit
• GPS Vertical Speed
• Ground Speed
• Ground Track Magnetic
• Horizontal CDI
• HSI Source
• Indicated Air Speed
• Lateral/Y/Right Acceleration
• Local 24hr Time
• Local Date
• Magnetic Heading
• Magnetic Variation
• Manifold Pressure
• NAV1 Frequency
• NAV2 Frequency
• Normal/Z/Up Acceleration
• Oil Pressure
• Oil Temperature
• Outside Air Temperature
• Selected Course
• True Airspeed
• UTC time
• Vertical CDI
• Vertical Speed
• WAAS GPS horizontal protection level
• WAAS GPS vertical protection level
• Wind Direction
• Wind Speed
Finally something that starts to get us JPI like engine performance data……
Other G1000 changes are covered here: http://bit.ly/diamond-g1000
Military Escort
Nice company on the ramp at KJKA.
Velocity Azimuth Display (VAD) Wind Profiles for Pilots
The VAD is a nice tool that can be used to get a ROUGH idea on where area cloud tops are. But all the VAD tools I could find online had pretty abysmal user interfaces. So I hacked this up – maybe some of you pilots will find it useful as a preflighting tool.
Fltplan.com on Mobile Devices
Anyone else having issues using fltplan.com on a Blackberry?
In this image, you see how unreadable and difficult to deal with a flight plan is using their web site. On a computer it’s great, but very difficult on the Blackberry. And this is using their mobile device portal – so that doesn’t seem to help much.
And while I’m on the topic of fltplan.com, I sure wish they’d have someone who knows anything about ergonomics and user interfaces look at their web site. While it’s very functional and feature rich, it is aesthetically a disaster. There’s no rhyme or reason to how they use color, so the whole thing looks like angry fruit salad. Don’t get me wrong – love the site. Just wish they’d give the UI an overhaul.
Doc’s New Web Site
I helped my CFI “Doc” get a web site stood up. It’s up and running, and you can view it here.
Flight Down to Ft. Lauderdale Executive (KFXE)
A few pictures of our trip down to Ft. Lauderdale. From Atlanta, a four hour flight. We had some hefty tailwinds on much of the route – with long periods of making 165kts ground speed.
[nggallery id=13]