Flying Snafu

[frankh]

This incident was totally my fault and it was just bad enough to get my attention.

To the more experienced pilots don't even bother reading this, to those of us mid rangers and below you might get something out of this. I have a total of 20 hours RV time and 500 or so TT.

I have a Dynon EFIS and engine monitor. I had just figured out how to display the engine monitor on my flight display...very cool except I had not swapped it back before I entered the pattern, new engine, break in I was more flying the engine monitor than anything else....Not even thinking about it.

When I came to make the turn to final with a stiff X (the way that forces you to make a steeper turn base to final)wind I looked down my slip indicator was not where I expected it to be..I.e on the screen right in front of me. Knowing that a lot of RV accidents is the classic stall/spin made worse by being uncoordinated I instinctively shallowed the turn and got blown way off the wind line.

I would'nt mind but the Pictorial pilot was the next instrument over and it has a mechanical slip guage, but I wasn't used to looking for it there.

A go around was in order but I fed in the power very gently because I was afraid of ripping the flaps off...This was also a mistake...I kept 80 kts the whole time I was never in any real danger but it was enough that I thought it worth sharing.

Frank

[Paul Eastham]

Thanks for the report.

I have been anticipating a similar dilemma with the new DG/HSI screen that is coming available. I have a dynon EFIS/EMS pair, mounted one above the other, and it will be very tempting to keep the HSI on the bottom (EMS) display, hiding the engine screen.

Perhaps we need a new feature... a button-combination that will quickly bring up the default views on both screens? Or a way to configure a return to defaults once certain engine or EFIS or EMS conditions are met (RPM dropping, nose-down attitude, EMS alert, etc)

Paul

[David-aviator]

Originally Posted by frankh

This incident was totally my fault and it was just bad enough to get my attention.

Frank

Something was not right, you recongnized it, and did something about it. Good flying and good report on how the situation was handled.

Frank, you have the instincts of a good pilot. Chalk it up as a learning experience. You will be OK.

dd

[frankh]

[quote=Paul Eastham]Thanks for the report.

Perhaps we need a new feature... a button-combination that will quickly bring up the default views on both screens?

For now it will be added to my pre-landing checklist...I.e flight screen on the EFIS. Also a mental note of where else to look for the slip guage if the EFIS goes blank.

I think the whole incident is more of a fear of getting older, Fact of life, I find I make more bonehead mistakes now in my mid 40's than I did in my 30's...Little things that in normal life is no big deal...trouble in flying a little senior moment can be a big deal.

Oh well if Chuck yaeger can do formation aerobatics in his 80's I got years left...

Frank

Frank

[Jamie]

I think Dynon could handle this easily by displaying RPM and MP on the DG screens. Text-only would be OK for this screen -- no need for bars/needles/etc.

[Paul Eastham]

Originally Posted by Jamie

I think Dynon could handle this easily by displaying RPM and MP on the DG screens. Text-only would be OK for this screen -- no need for bars/needles/etc.

That's a good idea. I'm going to go over to their forums to suggest this...others should post too to help motivate them