Complete System Failure In Flight

[jvolkober]

As I reported 10 days ago, my SV1000 screen froze when I accessed MAP/INFO in an attempt to obtain weather information at a destination airport.   My SV700 was unaffected.  I have sent in the log file as requested and am anticipating a diagnosis and fix.

Today I experience a similar event only this time both screens froze disabling, autopilot, transponder (ATC call to ask status since they lost my signal).  Fortunately this occurred during an IFR practice session in VFR conditions.

The failure occurred when I accessed MAP/INFO to obtain an approach chart.  I was able to specify the airport but when I attempted to move the cursor to select CHARTS, there was no response, all buttons ceased to function, the PFD was frozen.  To show my instructor the efficacy of having a second screen, I reached over to bring the PFD up on the left screen only to find it was also frozen. (Note earlier in the flight I accessed MAP/INFO/WEATHER with no problem.  It was this sequence that preceded the failure I reported originally.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have updated to version 14.  From my experience, at this point, the SkyView system, with version 14, is not reliable for flight in IMC conditions.  Hopefully Dynon will be able to identify the problem. 

Dynon, I have the diagnostic log for this flight available. If you can provide my with reference number, I will send it in for your review.  I am available any time to assist with identifying the cause of this problem.  Until these events occurred, I had great faith in the system and my installation with redundant screens, ADAHRS, backup batteries, back up alternator, all for the purpose of reducing the chance of total system failure to a bare minimum. 

John Volkober

 

[jeffa]

I had a similar event yesterday while flying over Sheppard AFB. I was scrolling through the map info to find the Approach frequency when my entire display froze in a gentle turn. Interestingly, my autopilot had disengaged two times shortly before this happened. I was in smooth clear air, and it disconnected for no apparent reason. With the screen frozen, I was concerned about being able to maintain the altitude needed to stay above Sheppards airspace as well as how I was going to get back home below DFWs Class B. I headed southeast away from the area, unable to monitor engine parameters, altitude, change transponder codes, or most importantly to me, find any frequency that I might need to be on. I had never needed to reset my display inflight, so couldn't remember the button sequence to do so. Luckily, I had downloaded the Skyview Pilots Guide into iBooks on my iPhone. After several minutes of searching, I was able to find the info, and reset the display with 1,2,5.

I was very thankful this was a clear, smooth, VMC day. I would not have liked for this to happen in IMC or underneath the busy DFW area I typically fly in/around. Upon my uneventful landing back at KDTO, I pushed the airplane back into the hangar and promptly started disassembling the panel to install the second Skyview display that I had already cut a new panel for. Unfortunately, my concern now is that a second display apparently won't eliminate this problem based on what jvolkober described.

I did not have my USB stick installed during the flight, so not sure if a data file is available....and I'm not sure how to download it anyway.

 

[Garrett]

My SV1000 locked up while turning the heading knob on the auto pilot while in a holding pattern. Powered off to reset the system.

 

[n456ts]

Today, I had a 7" SV freeze updating the monthly Dynon update. Already on v14. I ended up having to disconnect the backup battery, as I didn't remember the force restart sequence. It stuck on 0%.

 

[TRCsmith]

Strange how most PILOTS will not carry a second stand alone GPS yet expect the only one will never fail.  It seems the standard is to blame the equipment for our short falls. The expectation is the system will never fail.. Wow, that says a lot about the pilot in command. What happen to having a paper cheek list with that important information on it. engine start, taxi, before take off, How about an engine out? Is it all done by putting it in electronic device now, again what if that device fails? Take that 1-2-5 for a reset and put it on paper among with other items you may need like glide speed (from another post) and place them in the paper checklist under Failures section.
How about the little knob (joy stick) on the right side, what would you do if that failed? how would you be able to select a flight plan if you needed it??? It's in the manual......put that in the checklist.
There is a lot of information a good pilot should carry in their head, the rest on paper. Maybe I'm just old school... I like independent backups, even an old paper chart hidden in the plane can help. We are trained pilots let's act liked them.
And as soon as the the V14 is no longer being blamed for things I'll up grade. I don't upgrade until all are happy. beta testing is not for me....

Just my 2 cents...

 

[rmtrapaga]

Let's not throw stones here. I have dual SV1000's with independent back-up batteries and dual ADAHRS that I consider adequate, especially since I generally won't fly IMC in a single-engine airplane. Not a good idea to be referring to a paper checklist for engine failure at a time when you should be flying the airplane with memory items that should be indelibly etched in your cranium. And the classic CIGAR-TIP & GUMP checklists are also perfectly acceptable vs. paper checklists for such simple machines with such simple systems. FYI: I'm a B-777 Captain for a major airline and fly the globe, as do all front-line airlines now, with only the electronic tablets that contain all of our approach plates and flight manuals. The other pilot(s) tablet is considered adequate for backup purposes. Except for paper charts, all paper manuals have been removed from the cockpits of aircraft with electronic checklists, with paper charts soon to follow.

 

[Garrett]

I am glad and agree with Steve's input and am thankful that Dynon gave us forum. We live in an imperfect world and there is always going to be problems but what is important is how you handle them.

 

[TRCsmith]

Sorry Ralph, I guess this doesn't apply to you, and I think you knew it. But it does to a very few on this board. Garrett, you are so correct! The skyview is a fantastic piece of hardware and like most things it will occasionally fail, so just be prepared is all I trying to say.
Sorry if I upset a few of you, not my intention. Safety is.

 

[jvolkober]

Yesterday I had another event.  My SV1000 screen froze when I selected SCREEN to add the EMS screen to my SV1000 display.  The screen froze.  The SV700 screen in this event was unaffected.  However, when executing 1,2,5 restart, I lost the autopilot and transponder until the SV1000 came back on line, I estimate 30 seconds to a minute. Until this event, I had assumed having the SV700 on line would be sufficient to keep the autopilot and transponder on line.

Regarding the discussion above, I agree that paper should be carried as backup.  My process is to use paper charts as my primary reference. That said, I have been, and hopefully with a fix, will be comfortable with relying soley on the Skyview setup I have for IMC supported with paper charts. However, a second GPS is not the real issue here. Lack of primary flight instruments is. Because of my recent experience, I will now install the D1 unit that I have had sitting on the shelf.

Dynon, I have a log file for yesterday's event.

John

 

[Pegaz]

   
My SV1000 locked up while turning the heading knob on the auto pilot while in a holding pattern. Powered off to reset the system.

I had exactly the same problem yesterday :-?

 

[DHeal]

My RV-12's SV 1000 screen has frozen up in-flight twice now. My AP also has occasionally disconnected without my input. I am communicating with Dynon as to possible cause. Never had this problem before V14 so there may be a connection there. Pushing buttons "1-2-5' together gets the system rebooted and the screen up and working within seconds.

 

[larrynew]

Add another to the chorus. Both screens (SV1000) froze about 20 minutes into the last 2 flights after upgrading to 14.0. No changes to and no problems with the Skyview network in the last 150 hours.

 

[Garrett]

My AP has also been disconnecting thought it was me hitting the button on the stick but when it quit I never got a AP disconnect message.

 

[60av8tor]

Another with the AP disconnect... :-?

 

[krw5927]

Over the weekend I was shooting some approaches with a safety pilot when I noticed the roll mode wasn't responding on my autopilot.  I had just changed modes from NAV to TRK.  The autopilot didn't respond.

I turned the autopilot off and back on, and everything came back online.

I didn't notice if the pitch was off or not.  I had assumed the AP was still controlling pitch, but maybe the aircraft was trimmed out well enough it didn't vary by much.

So chalk up another with random "autopilot turning off" issues. No notifications (visual or audible) were given.

 

[airguy]

Sounds like we've got a trend forming, and pointing at a bug in the 14.0 software fairly strongly.

Dynon?

 

[Dynon]

First, this thread has reports of a couple of different issues here that we don't think are related. This post is addressing the reports of SkyView displays becoming completely unresponsive. If you're experiencing another issue with SkyView (like reports of uncommanded/un-reported autopilot disconnects), please reach out to our technical support teams directly at support at dynonavionics dot com or 425-402-0433 so we can learn more about your particular situation.

As for the unresponsive displays that have been reported: we do think there's something going on here, and it's likely tied to version 14. What we know so far:

-Diagnostic logs don't have the right bits of code instrumented in the right way for us to pinpoint the cause.
-In addition to you guys reporting your experiences here, there are a few people that we're in touch with directly via our normal email/voice technical support system. There's probably some overlap between these two populations.
-We think the presence of a USB memory stick may have something to do with this issue. We think not having a stick in your display(s) (both at boot time and throughout operation) may inhibit this issue. We don't think this has anything to do with any particular provider's data on the stick, but we think there might be something tied into the presence and access of charts/airport diagrams on memory sticks that have something to do with this.

We're preparing a version of v14 that will give us the ability to chase this issue down to root cause. When that's available, we'll reach out for people to try it. Additionally, we may be in touch with some of you individually to learn about the circumstances of when/how your system stopped responding.

Finally, as many of you know - pressing buttons 1/2/5 simultaneously will force a reboot of a display no matter how stuck it seems to be.

 

[RV9APlane]

I had my D1000's freeze up also on Saturday, first the PFD and then the MFD. I was knob twisting in the Map at the time as well as having the AP on. I can't remember the exact sequence of knob twist or button pushing but it involved the Map and possibly the Info. It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened. After reboot things worked fine except the AP was offline. I flew Sunday for 3.5 hours using the Map, Info, and AP, and had no problems.

 

[Tigermoth]

"We're preparing a version of v14 that will give us the ability to chase this issue down to root cause. When that's available, we'll reach out for people to try it. Additionally, we may be in touch with some of you individually to learn about the circumstances of when/how your system stopped responding."

Dynon,

Do you recommend now waiting for an updated version of V14 which addresses these bugs?
  Should we still load the monthly updates or are they dependent on whether I've uploaded V14? (for example the latest one has 14.0 due in the name).

I haven't yet upgraded to V14, I usually wait till Vans reviews an update for any issues that might affect the airplane, and then posts the software update along with any settings files. I have an RV-12.

Thanks!

 

[rlallen1]

pretty disappointing so many reports with problems in V14.  I haven't had any, but will monitor dynon resolution.  I know the tech guys at dynon are working hard to figure it out.