D-100 very nice, but ...

[An-2]

Hi,

we are considering installing the EFIS / EMS D-100 suite in our big 1000 Hp radial engine Antonov An-2 (russian, so: Km/h, meters, Celsius, ...), but a few software way of presenting some informations are holding us from buying:
1) digits of different sizes for the altitude is pretty confusing. Most EFIS's are showing altitude with digits of the same size: this is straightforward, no guessing, no mental reconstitution, just read.
I prefer to see 1850 rathen than 1850
2) I like to check in a fraction of second my heading, without first having to localize the middle of the heading tape, then look for the little triangle showing the heading: the actual heading should be bold, or (as most EFIS's) in a box.

In our mind, these two ways of showing critical informations should be enhanced before considering buying.

One more nice thing: the possibility to display altitude in FL, if needed. But this might be too demanding maybe.

Cheers.

Phil Clarke, South France

 

[dynonsupport]

Thanks for the feedback about our display software.

Note that we don't have an engine probe package explicitly designed for your radial engine at this time. If you can adapt our Lycoming sensors for your engine it might be workable, but also note that our software currently only supports 4 and 6 cyclinder configurations (I'm assuming your radial has more than 6).

 

[dynonsupport]

Also:

We display altitude as 02050, not 2050. Thus the large number is effectively your flight level and the small number is the sub 1000 indicator. I'm not even sure how you would display flight level in any other way- you have to have resolution beyond the 1K level! I think what we display is a pretty good mix of the different requirments for different customers. I fly the D-10A all the time and it is quite readable from the copilot seat and easy to pick out each number. It will be even easier on a D100.

As for heading: The EFIS-D100 software basically came from a D10A. We didn't have screen space on the D10A for a seperate heading number. As we write more software for the D100 we will be adding more things that take advantage of the screen size, and an option to display a heading number will likely be one of these improvments. This will be a free software update as all of our updates are.

 

[An-2]

Hi,

our russian radial engine is indeed a 9 cylinder, 30 litre, 1000 Hp (the exact same as the Beaver). At this time, original gages are providing the CHT for the top two cylinders only (considered as the "critical" ones); therefore having the CHT for 6 or even 4 cylinders would still be a plus.

About the altitude display:
1) In my mind leading zeros could be confusing. This is the reason why technical numbers are often presented as: .7 and not 0.7
In the same way an altitude displayed as 02050 is not as clear as 2050, right?
2) Informations provided must be clear: digits of different sizes are always leading to a mental work of "reconstitution" or at least "identification". i.e. "the big digits are the thousands, the middle size ones are the hundreds, the small ones are the tens, ... so our altitude is ..." I really consider that this work is not enhancing safety.
3) How can you display flight levels? turn 12500 to FL125 with a +/- 50 ft range (user adjustable). If more, the display would then reverse to altitude and will come back to FL display when altitude is in range (12540 Ft as FL125 and 12570 Ft as 12570 Ft, thus reminding that we are no more flying a regular flight level).

I'll keep in mind that SW upgrades will be free of charges.