Digital instrumentation has it's uses, but sometimes all you need is a quick glance. I don't know if this is true or not, but I was told that in WW II bombers such as the B-17, 24, and 29 the engine panel was designed so that when things were normal in cruise, all the needles would be at the 12:00
position. That way a quick glance would show
the instruments to be either at 12:00 and nominal, or not at 12:00 and
there was a problem.
Let's face it: there are times when you don't need to know that your altitude is 2,451', when all you want to know is that you're within 100' of your assigned altitude of 2,500' when passing through the Seattle Class B VFR corridor, and are busy aviating, navigating, and communicating.
Because of this, when the problem of having the compass too close to the radio came up it gave me an opportunity to rethink my panel. While most of my flying will be in a non-radio/ATC environment at low level (below 1,0'), occasionally when going across the border or transiting other airspace under ATC control, I may be assigned an altitude and need to stick to it. In that situation the Skyview would have a split display of engine instruments on one side and airspace on the other, leaving me with a small digital readout of altitude mixed into the airspace display. If I was flying with another pilot in the left seat and I was in the right seat, it might be difficult to see.
The end result is that in order to minimize electrical interference with compass, I've decided to add an analog altimeter to my center panel. I'm really liking this version of the panel, and consider it final. Can't wait to start building it.
Let's face it: there are times when you don't need to know that your altitude is 2,451', when all you want to know is that you're within 100' of your assigned altitude of 2,500' when passing through the Seattle Class B VFR corridor, and are busy aviating, navigating, and communicating.
Because of this, when the problem of having the compass too close to the radio came up it gave me an opportunity to rethink my panel. While most of my flying will be in a non-radio/ATC environment at low level (below 1,0'), occasionally when going across the border or transiting other airspace under ATC control, I may be assigned an altitude and need to stick to it. In that situation the Skyview would have a split display of engine instruments on one side and airspace on the other, leaving me with a small digital readout of altitude mixed into the airspace display. If I was flying with another pilot in the left seat and I was in the right seat, it might be difficult to see.
The end result is that in order to minimize electrical interference with compass, I've decided to add an analog altimeter to my center panel. I'm really liking this version of the panel, and consider it final. Can't wait to start building it.
