triple7driver
New Member
Dear Dynon,
This is what I REALLY need added to DEK 180...an amphibious gear warning system. I bet this could be done with just a software mod. Here's how it should work : the DEK 180 already looks at airspeed and I believe it also can be made to look at gear position. Whenever airspeed reaches a user defined limit (near approach airspeed) a "VERIFY GEAR POSITION" annuciation would be boldly displayed and also an aural warning could be made to sound. This would continue to be displayed until the pilot presses a button to confirm that he is aware of the gear position and that it is appropriate for his current type of landing, either water or dry land.
I know it might sound silly but this is a big cause of embarassment for many a pilot. It is very easy to transition to a dry land retractable gear airplane....the gear must ALWAYS be down for landing. But an amphib is a horse of a different color. Sometimes it is appropriate for it to be down and other times it would be disaterous and vice versa. It is painfully easy after making about five or six water landings in a row to come back into a hard surface runway and forget all about it because you have not used it for the last six landings. We are creatures of habit and of muscle memory, if we just did six things in row one way we will likely do the seventh the same way too.
I know that rigid checklist usage would solve this too. But things like EFIS are all about preventing human errors by using technology and not depending on the failings of human discilpline. If you are serious about trying this let me know. I would love to be a beta tester for you.
Cheers,
Randy
This is what I REALLY need added to DEK 180...an amphibious gear warning system. I bet this could be done with just a software mod. Here's how it should work : the DEK 180 already looks at airspeed and I believe it also can be made to look at gear position. Whenever airspeed reaches a user defined limit (near approach airspeed) a "VERIFY GEAR POSITION" annuciation would be boldly displayed and also an aural warning could be made to sound. This would continue to be displayed until the pilot presses a button to confirm that he is aware of the gear position and that it is appropriate for his current type of landing, either water or dry land.
I know it might sound silly but this is a big cause of embarassment for many a pilot. It is very easy to transition to a dry land retractable gear airplane....the gear must ALWAYS be down for landing. But an amphib is a horse of a different color. Sometimes it is appropriate for it to be down and other times it would be disaterous and vice versa. It is painfully easy after making about five or six water landings in a row to come back into a hard surface runway and forget all about it because you have not used it for the last six landings. We are creatures of habit and of muscle memory, if we just did six things in row one way we will likely do the seventh the same way too.
I know that rigid checklist usage would solve this too. But things like EFIS are all about preventing human errors by using technology and not depending on the failings of human discilpline. If you are serious about trying this let me know. I would love to be a beta tester for you.
Cheers,
Randy