(Photo courtesy of the great folks at the Experimental Panel Builder website.)
Yes folks, here's the final panel layout! It's the EFIS Lite panel with the AIM-3 engine monitor. No matter the amount of mental masturbation I've done over the years, I never could break away from wanting an EFIS panel! In the fall of 2004, I flew as a test pilot in a NASA flight experiment using EFIS with Highway in the Sky. (See my EFIS Report.) I was duly impressed at how easy the instrument scan became and how much more accurate I flew as compared to using standard instruments. (5 times more accurate!) After a very thorough reading of the EFIS Lite Pilot's Guide, I was simply overwhelmed by the capabilities provided by these boxes. The kicker was when I compared costs. The costs of two EFIS Lites were actually cheaper than purchasing a full panel of electric gyros, pitot-static instruments, and other round dials. I was SOLD! I signed up for two EFIS LITE Generation 3's and the Digital Autopilot. The Garmin units are handling the communications, navigation, and uplink XM weather. I elected to buy the newest AIM-3 engine monitor from I-K Technologies.
It's been said that the two hardest decisions in building a plane are (1) what paint scheme to use, and (2) what to put into the instrument panel. While I can't speak to the first one (it's a matter of personal taste), it's my belief that the instrument panel should suit the mission statement for the airplane. I knew from Day 1 that I wanted an IFR-equipped airplane capable of flying docile IMC down to my personal minimums. I am instrument-rated and I use the rating every chance I get. I simply love the technical aspects of IFR flying. Almost half of my hours are logged as actual or simulated (hooded) IMC. Heck, I often file IFR on VFR days. I will be using my Cozy for personal travel and for business trips to locations all over the country. I'm definitely NOT into hardcore IMC (lightning, thunderstorms, icing...). I got the ticket to comfortably fly through our hazy summers and to be able to start/complete flights without scud running. My Blue Mountain gear and the Garmin units give me all the IFR goodies that a pilot could want without personally having to own a financial lending institution. :-)
My decisions were aided greatly by the Experimental Panel Builder website . It is extremely valuable in helping to evaluate various panel configurations. Those guys do a great job of keeping the site updated with the most recent avionics choices. I've also used a drawing program to create full-sized "instrument panels" that I can cut and paste into the airplane. That way I could sit in the plane, "test fly" different instrument panel configurations, and work out the ergonomics until I came up with the configuration that suited my wants and wishes. Nothing can be worse than wishing you had put Box X over here and Box Y over there. It also allows you to get a good idea as to how you want things labeled on the panel.
Flight Instrumentation
The left side of the panel is dedicated to the EFIS Lite G3 units. One will be used as the primary flight display for attitude, heading, altitude, and airspeed. The other will be used as the Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI). Each unit has its own, independent attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), and each unit can be switched to show the ADI or EHSI with one touch of the DSP button. So if one unit goes belly up, I can immediately select the other as the ADI. BMA has made the font sizes a little larger on the ADI for airspeed, heading, and altitude for those pilots with over-40 eyes. :-)
To be perfectly honest, I really bought the Lites as practical, conveniently-priced alternatives to the traditional steam gages. At $2795 each, the Lites were actually CHEAPER than purchasing the two electric gyros, a turn coordinator, the pitot static instruments, and the CDI indicator for the GPS. The EHSI serves as the required external CDI indicator, thus saving $1,800 over buying the Garmin 106-A indicator. Have you tried pricing a mechanical HSI these days? Can't touch a new one for less than $10,000! Ouch.
What I didn't count on was getting so much capability out of these little boxes! The VFR pilot will say "that's nice". The savvy IFR pilot will end up salivating like Pavlov's dog at the AWESOME amount of key information and status cues provided on the displays. All the bells and whistles are there. Most notable is that bearing, track, indicated airspeed, true airspeed, ground speed, and the wind vector (direction and speed) are all displayed on the ADI screen. Other cues such as autopilot engage/disengage, ILS/Glideslope capture, and status of navigation information are shown. The ADI display even shows a sky pointer to show which way is up should you need to recover from unusual attitudes. And guess what? Each Lite has its own magnetometer, so you never have to set the magnetic heading. I cannot even begin to explain all the bells and whistles here, so I urge you to thoroughly read the EFIS Lite Pilot's Guide.
The G3's are easier to use than the previous models. Buttons have been added across the bottom for cycling through the pages. The DSP button allows you to cycle through the ADI, EHSI, and moving map pages. (A fourth engine parameters page may be added when the BMA Engine Pod makes it to market in Spring '05.) You set and control the autopilot from the AP page. CKL is for your checklists (user-configurable), and SET is for changing settings. There's less knob-twisting now, and what knob twisting there is very intuitive and becomes second nature in about 10 minutes.
Each Lite has its own internal 12-channel GPS receiver that drives its moving map display. BMA recently added the VFR/IFR charts onto the moving map pages. So you can now navigate on the Victor airways to VORs and intersections. Even my high-priced Garmin GNS 530 doesn't show Victor airways. So next time the controller says, "...fly runway heading to intercept Victor 2-3-3...," I'll be able to watch the Cozy intercept V-233 on one of the Lites.
About the only thing the Lites are lacking from their bigger brothers (the EFIS Sports and the EFIS One) is the terrain depictions. Oh well, you can't have everything. :-) But $2795 sure buys a lot of power and capabilities. I thought of upgrading to the SPORTS, but my Garmin 530 isn't compatible with them. If I had the cash, I would have bought the EFIS 1.
BMA Digital Autopilot
Auto-pilots are must-have's on a Cozy. Of the 18 hours or so that I've flown with Marc Zeitlin, he used the autopilot 95% of the time. My choice is the BMA's Digital Autopilot. Since it is already made to be controlled with the EFIS Lites (or the Sports and the EFIS 1 for that matter), getting it was a no-brainer decision. It is cheaper than buying a wing leveler and a separate altitude hold unit. And its capabilities outshine other, more expensive units:
The Digital Autopilot is controlled from the AP page on the EFIS Lite unit. The control box gets stuffed somewhere out of sight behind the panel. No additional holes are required in the panel. The autopilot can be driven by the Lite's own internal 12-channel GPS receiver, or from steering commands from an external radio (like the Garmin GNS 530 in my case). I've added a switch to the left of the EFIS Lites so I can designate which Lite is the navigator for driving the Digital Autopilot.
Redundant Flight Instrumentation
Even though I have built-in redundancy with two EFIS's, I PERSONALLY NEED THE COMFORT of having an electric attitude gyro (w/battery backup) and an altimeter. I'd do this no matter whose EFIS system I had. There are two practical reasons for having the backup gyro. One is when I'm setting the altimeters on the Lites. You have to go into the settings page to do that. So I can look at the backup gyro while doing that. The other is when I'm using both Lites as EHSIs to cross-check the localizer and glideslope signals coming from the Nav 1 (GNS530) and Nav 2 (SL-30).
I also purchased a brand-spankin' new Rocky Mountain micro-encoder at auction, but I haven't figured out yet where to put it on the panel. It was supposed to go where the altimeter is now, but Nick Ugolini convinced me of the altimeter's merits because it doesn't need power to be functional. But I'd like to find a home for the micro monitor in my panel It gives you tons of information including IAS, TAS, speed trending, VSI, OAT, Palt, Dalt, and True altitude. You can set in altitude alerts to remind you of decision height and to lower your gear. It also sends air data to your GPS. These microencoders are well-proven and are fielded extensively throughout the canard community.
The wet compass will be one of those nice SIRS whiskey compasses.
Communications, Navigation, Traffic Avoidance, and Weather
The Garmin equipment obviously satisfies my communications and navigation needs. The centerpiece is the GNS 530. Yes, it is expensive. But situational awareness is everything in IFR flying, and the GNS 530 delivers! Shooting approaches is a no-brainer! It's analogous to taking your college physics exam with Einstein seated next to you. The GNS 530 is an all-in-one box and provides the traditional VOR, localizer, and glideslope functions. VORs are still required for en-route navigation (see AIM, Chapter 1, Navigation Aids). ILS is still the only legal way of shooting precision approaches, unless of course you have a WAAS receiver. (Garmin is coming out with a WAAS upgrade for the 530 soon.) If you file for an alternate airport, you must have an alternate system of primary navigation source should you lose GPS signal.
My #2 radio will be the Garmin SL30. It has the ability to display the course deviation indicator (CDI) on its display screen without needing a separate CDI head. So when the need arises I can use the radio itself to display the bearings of the crossing radials to locate the route and approach waypoints. I will also wire the SL30 radio to one of the Lites so I can use the EHSI page for its VOR, localizer, and glideslope signals.
I chose not to include an ADF receiver in the plane. I personally believe NDB approaches are on their way out. Almost all NDB approaches can now be legally flown with the GPS overlays. The only place where a no-ADF airplane falls short is when filing an NDB-only airport as an alternate. Per the regs, if an airport's only approach is an NDB approach, you cannot file that airport as the alternate unless you have an ADF receiver in the plane. The Feds just want to ensure you can make the alternate approach with traditional equipment in case your GPS goes out or if you lose the GPS signal. So I won't be able to file an NDB-only airport as an alternate. How big a deal is this? Not much. If you can't reach the 200-foot minimums at an ILS airport, it is doubtful you'll make the higher, non-precision minimums on an NDB approach.
The audio panel will either be the Garmin GMA-340 or the plug-and-play equivalent from PS Engineering.
I will probably splurge for the Garmin GTX-330 transponder to take advantage of Traffic Information Services. If you haven't heard, the GTX-330 gets signals from ATC ground stations that give position, altitude, and direction of nearby planes. This information is displayed onto the GNS 530. BONUS!
I will probably buy the Garmin GDL-69 weather receiver so I can have the NEXRAD weather data displayed onto the GNS 530 too. Garmin has recently made a deal with XM Satellite Weather to provide uplinked weather data. It is a much nicer product.
I don't think I'll be able to afford the upgrades to the 530 for terrain avoidance and WAAS. My understanding is the upgrades are close to $8,000. The Garmin 296 handheld GPS has the same terrain software in it, so I will probably just do that.
Engine Monitor
The AIM-3 Aircraft Information Monitor solved the last piece to my instrument panel puzzle. (Note: A picture of the AIM-3 is not yet available. So the AIM-2 is pictured above.) Ralph and Helene Krongold at I-K Technologies unveiled their AIM-3 monitor at Sun N Fun '05. It is selling like hotcakes. It combines the best features of their AIM-1 and the AIM-2 into one simple yet elegant unit. The AIM-3 takes the large-character, back-lit, sunlight-readable LCD screen from the AIM-1 and combines it with the bright, color-coded, vertical LED bar graphs from the AIM-2. The LCD display can be cycled through a number of engine parameters pages (including separate pages for comparing the four CHTs and four EGTs), flight parameters pages, fuel endurance, and engine timers. The vertical LED bar graphs consist of green (normal), yellow (cautionary), and red (warning) LEDs that give you quick-look confirmation and trending for the engine parameters, instantly alerting you to out-of-limit conditions. With one quick glance you can tell if you're "in the green". The AIM-3 provides an signal output that can be connected to a "big red button" mounted elsewhere in the plane. (Mine is mounted between the EFIS Lites.) Or, it can be wired to produce a tone in your headsets.
I initially was going to wait and see what Blue Mountain came up with. But time marches forward for me and I was in a "purchase now" mode. :-) The AIM-3 sits conveniently in the my second avionics stack. That's a prime motivator for me because with its slender size, I can now cut out more of the instrument panel and raise the height of the leg openings. Another advantage to the AIM-3 is that you don't have to run all the wires to the instrument panel. A small data acquisition module is mounted on or near the firewall. All wire connections from the sensors are terminated at the data module. A ribbon cable then runs forward to the display unit on the instrument panel. This saves the trouble and the weight of routing large cable bundles to the instrument panel.
The AIM-3 provides other features like checklists and two other user-specified alarm indicators. Check the I-K Technologies website for more details. A picture and text about the AIM-3 should be available soon.
Electrical System
I am planning on an all-electric airplane with a split electrical configuration (primary and essential buses) like the one shown in Bob Nuckolls' "The AeroElectric Connection". This split bus scheme is of utmost importance since I'm going with electronic instrumentation and electronic ignition. The disadvantage is the added costs. Going all-electric means going with a two-alternator and/or two-battery system. The traditional electric/vacuum approach as shown in the plans is certainly cheaper, but a single-bus system would have locked me into using magnetos and vacuum gyros. Who wants to risk losing their electronic ignition system and flight electronics because your one and only electrical bus failed? I do like all the B&C Products, like their 60-amp primary alternator, and their 8-amp backup alternator that's driven by the accessory pad on the engine.
Electrical Switches
The nose gear switch is located on the center post. The usual switches are found on "switch row".
Clock
The FARs say you must have a panel mounted clock for IFR flying. I can side-step this because I have FIVE digital clocks on board! They are built in to both EFIS Lites, the GNS 530, and the GTX-330 transponder.
Trim Systems
I'd say electric trim is a very-very-nice-to-have (some say essential for IFR). I'm using the Hanka system for roll trim and the Davenport system for the pitch trim.
Control Sticks
I purchased two Infinity Stick Grips from Infinity Aerospace. I have the switch assignments as follows:
Switch 1. Coolie Hat for pitch and roll trim
Switch 2. Comm Transmit
Switch 3. Auto-Pilot Disconnect
Switch 4. Fuel Pump On/Off
Switch 5. Engine Starter Engage
Switch 6. Speed Brake. I may change this to Altitude auto-pilot disconnect and put the speed brake back to a toggle switch on the panel.
Throttle Quadrant
I bought a 3-lever reversing quadrant from Wicks Aircraft.
External Lights
Navigation/Position lights (red/green/white)
Wing-tip strobes
Landing light in nose
Would really like to have recognition lights in winglets or in the strakes, but I can't find lights small enough and powerful enough to make this happen.
Interior Cabin Lights
Maybe include an eyebrow lighting strip and the LED "eyeball" lights mounted on fuselage sidewalls.
Overhead console lighting
Small strake lights, possibly battery powered
Emergency cabin flood lighting, possibly with battery backup mode (similar to dual system lighting in pop-up campers).
Handheld spot beam stored under the seat (for directional lighting when trying to find poorly lit taxiways at a strange airport at night.
Flashlights and holders under pilot's seat.
Kitchen Sink
Might as well throw one of those in there too.