Trutrak EFIS GP

[baron581]

Here we are again a newcomer to the RV world after retiring from much larger equipment with big EFIS and have just installed a Trutrak EFIS GP in my recently purchased RV-7.

For budget reasons we ran with the EFIS GP as opposed to the EFIS SG and the installer on the project is now telling me that the EFIS GP ?ttitude indicator" is not a true attitude indicator, but a "pitch change"indicator that "redatums" the horizon in a climb or descent.

Having just dealt with the lack of GPS and a few other shortcomings we should have researched further - just wondered if anyone has any experience with recent installation of the Trutrak EFIS systems and the pros-cons etc.

[Alan Carroll]

Welcome to VAF!

I recently installed an EFIS SG. I plan to post a more detailed review when I have more experience with it, but the short version is that I'm very happy with it. Regarding the pitch display, it sounds like the installer is half right. The TruTrak ADI and EFIS use a different approach than all the other units out there, in that they primarily display climb/descent rather than attitude. The idea is that you see a depiction of where the airplane is actually going, rather than just where it is pointed. It works very well indeed in my experience. Its not without controversy however; if you search for "ADI" you'll find a number of previous threads on this.

The EFIS also has a setup option to display pitch attitude if you'd prefer a more traditional representation. I've tried it and it appears to be very accurate.

[pokey]

We just did this install in my rv4. When it was complete I found the attitude indicator to be " slow". By that I mean the attitude when completing a roll or even a steep climb or descent was not depicted correctly. I did not spend much time with tru trak on this issue resolution partially because they advised to try it in the vertical velocity mode and see what I thought.

The short answer is that I liked it, left it there and the depiction is quick and accurate. This is also after years of flying big Efis in big planes.

I also installed the two axis autopilot and found it to be good.

The only minor frustration at this point with 20 hours on the equipment is getting the fuel "gauges" to indicate properly. I am confident we will get this resolved when we calibrate again. Uggg.

Come on in the waters fine, the depiction clear, install straight ahead.

Bill

[TrutrakTech]

You can change between velocity vector mode (like our ADI) and true pitch attitude pretty easily. Press and hold the right knob until the middle softkey shows SETUP. Press that key while still holding the right knob. Now the leftmost softkey will show ATT. Press that. You'll see the leftmost softkey now show OFF and one to the right showing ON. Press ON to change to pitch attitude mode, press OFF to go to velocity vector mode.

I hope this helps!