AGL box

[Atanyspeed]

Any chance of getting an AGL box in the Skyview similar to your Advanced Flight displays? I like flying at lower altitudes and sometimes am over sensitive areas and would like to know how high I am over the ground. Thanks

 

[Dynon]

This isn't the persistent box you're looking for, and doesn't automatically follow you around, but if you nudge the map cursor off the aircraft you'll get a readout in the info bar of the elevation of that point on the terrain and your current delta from it.

 

[Eric_Greenwell]

Any chance of getting an AGL box in the Skyview similar to your Advanced Flight displays?  I like flying at lower altitudes and sometimes am over sensitive areas and would like to know how high I am over the ground. Thanks

Could you set the terrain warning parameters to show yellow when you are lower than intended?

 

[xprsav8r]

Evening Dynon. Wanted to follow up on this thread and see if you've given this any further consideration. AFS (owned by Dynon) offers this. Why not Dynon? This is an incredible marketing tool for safety -- especially to those who spend 80% of their time flying coastal areas (Gulf and Atlantic). MSL and AGL might as well be the same. Now, night and IFR cross country in psuedo or actual IMC while in unfamiliar terriotry and having to calculating height over obstacles, tapping off course while distracted from flight tapes, and/or remembering runway height (MSL) while task saturated are unnecessary distractions. It'd be a shame to have preventable, accident reports when you have modern marvels like SkyView HDX units.   

 

[Dynon]

It's definitely still on our list and something we're planning on.

However, we do think that there is already substantial safety-enhancing and accident-prevention capability between the forward-looking predictive yellow and red terrain alerts and the configurable altitude-based yellow and red colors that you can add to the map. The latter can be additionally tailored to your specific mission and flying style so that a glance at the map tells you a lot about your AGL situation both at your exact location and the terrain around you in all directions.

 

[swatson999]

Evening Dynon. Wanted to follow up on this thread and see if you've given this any further consideration. AFS (owned by Dynon) offers this. Why not Dynon? This is an incredible marketing tool for safety -- especially to those who spend 80% of their time flying coastal areas (Gulf and Atlantic). MSL and AGL might as well be the same. Now, night and IFR cross country in psuedo or actual IMC while in unfamiliar terriotry and having to calculating height over obstacles, tapping off course while distracted from flight tapes, and/or remembering runway height (MSL) while task saturated are unnecessary distractions. It'd be a shame to have preventable, accident reports when you have modern marvels like SkyView HDX units.   

Maybe I'm missing something, or you're asking for some sort of look-ahead capability, but of what value is knowing AGL *at the point you are at*? You're there already, so if you were going to hit something, you'd have it it already, and it tells you *nothing* about what your AGL *will be* in the near future, which is what you really care about....

 

[CGameProgrammer]

The point is to maintain legal clearance over ground. For airplanes and gyroplanes that is usually 1000+ feet AGL in congested areas and 500 feet in rural areas, to oversimplify a bit. It's not about hitting obstacles but about not being high enough over them to be legal.

I would love an AGL display and have suggested in the past that it be added as an option on the Map Info sidebar, though the PFD somewhere is fine too. Ground elevation is highly variable where I am so I can be 1000 feet above ground and then the ground gradually rises 300 feet without me realizing it.

 

[swatson999]

The point is to maintain legal clearance over ground. For airplanes and gyroplanes that is usually 1000+ feet AGL in congested areas and 500 feet in rural areas, to oversimplify a bit. It's not about hitting obstacles but about not being high enough over them to be legal.

For real?

 

[Dynon]

In non-US countries, this is actually a real concern. There are some airspaces that have AGL floors, so this number is useful there for sure. Also, as a self-training aid, having an AGL number at a quick glance can be useful just to cross-check your perception of how high you are for situational awareness (how far can I glide, how far off of pattern altitude am I right this moment, etc).

 

[CGameProgrammer]

There are airspaces in the U.S. with AGL floors. The class E floor is typically 700' AGL near cities, protected wildlife reserves are obviously 2000' AGL floor and definitely should not be violated, and there are MOAs with AGL floors in some places too.

 

[swatson999]

But that still sort of begs my question...it's all well and good to know that I'm 700' AGL at that moment in time, but what I really need to know is what altitude AGL I'll be at in the near future, and since the terrain can change (sometimes dramatically) in a short distance, I can be quite safely 700' (or whatever your requirement is) right *now*, and considerably below that in just a few seconds or minutes.

And regulatory is one thing, but using it for terrain avoidance is even worse, I think. Imagine flying around the western U.S., and thinking you're safe because your *current* AGL is 1000' above the ground. There are zillions of places where the ground will rise up sharply in just a few short miles and smite thee.

I guess I'd say...learn what 500' or 700' or 2000' looks like, and then use an actual aviation chart (available on SV) to select your altitudes accordingly. YMMV, but I'd prefer not to fly along watching a constantly-changing number to make sure I'm legal or safe

 

[lgabriel]

learn what 500' or 700' or 2000' looks like

Say perhaps by referencing an AGL readout on your panel? 

 

[swatson999]

learn what 500' or 700' or 2000' looks like

Say perhaps by referencing an AGL readout on your panel? 

If you must.

 

[Schorsch]

I’d love the AGL box! Most motorgliders use about 1500 ft AGL as the reference point to start thinking about restarting the engine, allowing time for identifying a good field in gliding distance and for multiple restart attempts without breaking too much of a sweat  :-X

 

[RV8JD]

Just wanted to add my voice to the request to add the display of "AGL Altitude" to the MAP display.

It would be very handy to have the option to display “AGL Altitude” as one of the Map Info Items along the side of the Map display.  This is handy in an engine-out emergency where height above the ground needs to be known quickly.

 

[Ccandrews]

I too would like an AGL box. I routinely use the AGL displayed on foreflight and it is very useful when taking photographs or sightseeing around sensitive areas

 

[stede52]

AGL Box would be a great tool for the back country