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  #11  
Old 06-26-2014, 09:52 AM
vic syracuse vic syracuse is offline
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Default turbulence

The comments made here are right on. I was actually in IMC and turbulence the other day. I found that anchoring my hand on the panel and using my thumb worked. As mentioned, the knobs still work, but the touchscreen is so much faster than scrolling through the menus.

Vic
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Built RV-4, RV-6, 2-RV-10's, RV-7A, RV-8, Prescott Pusher, Kitfox Model II, Kitfox Speedster, Kitfox 7 Super Sport, Just Superstol, DAR, A&P/IA, EAA Tech Counselor/Flight Advisor, CFII-ASMEL/ASES
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  #12  
Old 06-26-2014, 10:35 AM
BillL BillL is offline
 
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Location: Central IL
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rleffler View Post
AFS didn't remove any buttons, so you have two methods of making the changes. If it gets rough, just use the buttons and knobs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RV7Guy View Post
This question always comes up. First, the AFS equipment still has all the buttons so the touch screen use is a great option. I fly mostly in AZ where we have 4G turbulence. I have flown several touch screen aircraft and can tell you it is not a big deal. If it is too turbulent for touch screen, it is like too turbulent for dials and buttons also.

Use with confidence!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by N401RH View Post
We have a lot of real world RV flying experience, our RV-10 has almost 1000 hours on it and we have been flying it with large touch screens for a long time.

The touch screen can be an amazing improvement to an operator interface when done right and under the right conditions. Most of the time the touch screen in the RV-10 is an awesome improvement, changing maps, picking airspaces and entering transponder codes is very easy with the touch screen. When it is turbulent the touch screen can be virtually useless and I find it easier to use our standard push button interface rather than fight with the touch screen.

We recently changed the transponder touch interface to larger buttons to make it easier to use. <snip>

Rob Hickman
N402RH RV-10
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vic syracuse View Post
The comments made here are right on. I was actually in IMC and turbulence the other day. I found that anchoring my hand on the panel and using my thumb worked. As mentioned, the knobs still work, but the touchscreen is so much faster than scrolling through the menus.

Vic
Wow, I will consider that question fully answered! Thanks for all the responses, and with experience too! This should certainly satisfy anyone who had any question about operating in turbulent conditions.
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  #13  
Old 06-26-2014, 12:46 PM
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Kelsey-AFS Kelsey-AFS is offline
 
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Default AF-5400 Upgrade Program




Click for AF-5400 Upgrade Program Information
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  #14  
Old 06-27-2014, 08:39 AM
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BGS BGS is offline
 
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Location: Wahpeton, ND
Posts: 167
Default New Software

For us that are already using the 5000 series, with or without the touch screens, will there be a software upgrade available?

Thanks
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#40955 RV-10 - N413BS - Sold
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  #15  
Old 06-27-2014, 09:41 AM
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N402RH N402RH is offline
 
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BGS View Post
For us that are already using the 5000 series, with or without the touch screens, will there be a software upgrade available?

Thanks
Yes, we have been sending it to beta testers and should have a production release very soon.

The new software also has the new interface for the remote audio panel:

Last edited by N402RH : 06-27-2014 at 09:46 AM.
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  #16  
Old 07-18-2014, 04:38 PM
vic syracuse vic syracuse is offline
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Default Update

I know I need to get some pictures up, but we just got back and I am trying to recover from lightning damage to the house from a large storm that occurred while we were gone.

Gone? Yes, we just completed our 3rd trip to Alaska. 52+ hours, and over 9K miles! We went from Atlanta to Cincinatti, Cheyenne WY, Nampa ID, Bellingham WA, Ketchikan, Yakutat, Anchorage, and returned. The overall trip was great, especially ahving another RV-8 for company (Dane Patterson, an RV-8 builder in the Falcon Squadron at Peachtree City, GA, and his wife, Kay).

The AFS screens sure made light work of some tough flying, including solid IMC and approaches to minimums. It almost felt like we were cheating while flying up the coast of Alaska, as the view from the Synthetic vision and hi-res terrain showed the islands and inland waterways as if we were actually looking at them.
And it made flying the inland waterways on the return trip a lot of fun, and added a huge safety factor, as ceilings were quite low, although the visibility was great.

I really wish we could have taken a picture of this particular event, but we were rather focused at the time. I was on the GPS approach to runway 11 at Ketchikan (Carol called the runway lights at minimums) and couldn't help but notice all of the seaplane traffic in the EFIS from the ADSB. There were 13 targets all lined up to land in the channel, and all of them had the distance markers displayed. It was really cool, and not something you see everyday (at least not in Atlanta!).

Flying down the coast of Alaska to Ketchikan on the return was breathtaking. And the lessons in meteorology were certainly on a grand scale. You could see the cold air from the glaciers sliding down and making fog over the ocean water, just like it does when you open your freezer. There were a couple of areas that forced us down to 200 feet because of this (great visiblity underneath), and during one of these times we saw a huge whale do a complete vertical breach. It was really awesome. And I was thankful he/she was off my right wing and not in front of us, or we might have met each other.

The sophistication that we have in the cockpits anymore from people like Rob's team (and others) is truly amazing, and makes trips such as this one a lot of fun and certainly much less stressful.

Vic
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Built RV-4, RV-6, 2-RV-10's, RV-7A, RV-8, Prescott Pusher, Kitfox Model II, Kitfox Speedster, Kitfox 7 Super Sport, Just Superstol, DAR, A&P/IA, EAA Tech Counselor/Flight Advisor, CFII-ASMEL/ASES
Kitplanes "Unairworthy" monthly feature
EAA Sport Aviation "Checkpoints" column
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  #17  
Old 11-15-2014, 01:49 PM
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SmilingJack SmilingJack is offline
 
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Location: Hilton Head Island
Posts: 1,089
Default AFS Auto Pilot Arinc question

I just completed the upgrade from the 4500 to 5400 and can't get my auto pilot to work in EFIS mode. It works in Alt and heading mode, but not with the Arinc mode.

I have all my other settings are correct after the upgrade, but can't figure this one out.

Anyone have any idea's? I did email AFS, but was hoping to fix it during the weekend.

Thanks!
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RV-8
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  #18  
Old 01-31-2019, 11:56 AM
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akschu akschu is offline
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Houston, Alaska
Posts: 292
Default

I'm curious to what is involved with the upgrade.

Suppose I have a 4500 with an arinc 429 interface to talk to a trutrak autopilot and a 430W, and that 4500 has the built in ahrs.

If I upgrade to a 5400 will the new box use the existing arinc 429 interface, talk to the same engine probes, and also have a built in ahrs or will I need to buy more stuff than just the 5400 box?

schu
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  #19  
Old 01-31-2019, 01:07 PM
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SmilingJack SmilingJack is offline
 
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Location: Hilton Head Island
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by akschu View Post
I'm curious to what is involved with the upgrade.

Suppose I have a 4500 with an arinc 429 interface to talk to a trutrak autopilot and a 430W, and that 4500 has the built in ahrs.

If I upgrade to a 5400 will the new box use the existing arinc 429 interface, talk to the same engine probes, and also have a built in ahrs or will I need to buy more stuff than just the 5400 box?

schu
Matt, You will need a few things. AFS can tell you more of the specifics:

1 - TCW Backup Battery (the 5400 no longer has a backup battery installed)
1 - AHRS (Redbox that replaces the Magnotometer you currently have) or add an ADAHRS (again, 5400 no longer has that installed inside the unit)
2 - Kalvico sensors that need to be powered by the 5400 and replace your old Oil and fuel sensors.

In my 8 I didn’t have the space to add the ADAHRS, so I just swapped out the magnetometer with the AHRS redbox.

It wasn’t a hard upgrade and I do like the touch screen.
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  #20  
Old 01-31-2019, 01:24 PM
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akschu akschu is offline
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Houston, Alaska
Posts: 292
Default

Jack,

Thanks for the response. Few more questions:

What do you mean by Kalvico sensors? Would my existing EGT and CHT probes work?

And by fuel sensors you mean fuel flow? That would need to be replaced?

As for the battery backup box, if I have redundant alternators and a decent ship batter, so I really need this?

Thanks,
schu
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