Quote:
Originally Posted by tadpole rider
Are the knobs and AP panel a ...
a) a nice addition to a Skyview Touch panel?
b) an unnecessary addition/expense to the Skyview Touch?
or c)?
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I bought an SLSA with touchscreen and both the the A/P panel and the Knobs panel so I've always used them all.
I like the Dynon combo of buttons and touch screen. I did a demo with Mitch in his SLSA which had the new Garmin G3X Touch. I really liked it but now having used the SkyView a lot I think the Garmin had more on-screen menus to work through.
I use the Knobs panel more than the A/P but then I don't use the A/P as much except on longer flights. I find I use the knobs panel a lot for heading bug and baro setting, not ever really for airspeed.
Once you've flown the a/p you can finesse it so that you don't have abrupt banks as it hunts for track or heading. The auto-trim feature is nice. Before it would indicate a need for trim up/down and if you did nothing it would provide a voice alert to do it. Now it might announce a need for trim but then it just does it. Again giving the a/p a plane in trim avoids workload and abruptness. Maintaining a fairly constant power setting helps the a/p do it's job too. I mostly use the a/p in cruise and haven't used the vertical modes much at all. Much easier to just fly it myself. I use the a/p when I want to have a drink/sandwhich or in long cruise segments.
BTW you have to enable and calibrate SkyView to make auto-trim work. Once you know where it's found it's straightforward to do.
The a/p panel is nice and easy to use.
Dynon offer both panels in vertical or horizontal modes. I mention this because I asked for the horizontal to make better use of the panel space but I have an SLSA so it goes where Vans say it goes. No problem for me but if you're a builder and want this and are still thinking your panel layout you might want to consider vertical/horizontal. The standard SLSA panel won't allow for other than vertical.