RVers,
I'm doing some thinking about my panel and am considering setting it up
for light IFR. I don't currently have my IFR ticket so I'm completely
ignorant about what I would want, however I do have an idea of what is
legal according to FAR 91.205:
VFR:
Airspeed
Altimeter
Compass
Tach
Oil pressure
Oil Temp
Fuel gauge
Anticollision lights
seat belts
ELT
Night VFR:
Position lights
Landing light
IFR:
Radio
Turn Indicator
Slip-skid Indicator
Adjustable Altimeter
Clock
Good Alternator
Attitude Indicator
Directional Gyro
Several other FARs talk about VOR and nav requirements for operating in
IFR conditions near the airport.
Now that is a lot of instrumentation, cost, and weight. I see many are
now installing glass panel systems such as the dynon and getting them
IFR tested, which would be much cheaper and lighter. I suspect that
doing so would be dangerous for extended IFR use given the dependence on
a single instrument or electrical system, but I wonder if a simple glass
setup would be good enough to train in and cut though occasional layers.
The reason I ask is because setting up my airplane for IFR would
probably be cheaper than renting when doing IFR training, and if it was
IFR ready, I could use it to get in to an airport without a special if I
ever find myself in that situation.
Anyway here is what I'm thinking:
MGL voyager (http://www.mglavionics.com/html/voyager.html) 4lbs
Sigma-tek Vacuum Attitude Indicator 1.9lbs
Garmin SL-30 nav/com 3.3lbs
Garmin GTX-327 transponder 3.1lbs
Garmin 296 GPS in panel doc 2lbs
The idea is that the voyager would provide the airspeed, altimeter,
tach, oil pressure, oil Temp, fuel, turn indicator, slip-skid indicator,
attitude indicator, and directional gyro. For backups I would have the
sigma-tek for backup attitude, and garmin 296 for altitude, ground
speed, VOR, and DG. I would have my backups if I had electrical failure
due to the vacuum on the AI and battery on the 296.
The SL30 and mgl will work together allowing me to use the mgl as the
HSI and the mgl can send radio channel change requests to the sl30 which
is kinda neat.
This setup weighs 15lbs which is pretty light for what it can do, and it
also meets the letter of the law given that it will certify, but want to
check with others and confirm that this setup is sane before I go any
further planning it. So now the question does this look like it will
work?
Thanks,
schu
I'm doing some thinking about my panel and am considering setting it up
for light IFR. I don't currently have my IFR ticket so I'm completely
ignorant about what I would want, however I do have an idea of what is
legal according to FAR 91.205:
VFR:
Airspeed
Altimeter
Compass
Tach
Oil pressure
Oil Temp
Fuel gauge
Anticollision lights
seat belts
ELT
Night VFR:
Position lights
Landing light
IFR:
Radio
Turn Indicator
Slip-skid Indicator
Adjustable Altimeter
Clock
Good Alternator
Attitude Indicator
Directional Gyro
Several other FARs talk about VOR and nav requirements for operating in
IFR conditions near the airport.
Now that is a lot of instrumentation, cost, and weight. I see many are
now installing glass panel systems such as the dynon and getting them
IFR tested, which would be much cheaper and lighter. I suspect that
doing so would be dangerous for extended IFR use given the dependence on
a single instrument or electrical system, but I wonder if a simple glass
setup would be good enough to train in and cut though occasional layers.
The reason I ask is because setting up my airplane for IFR would
probably be cheaper than renting when doing IFR training, and if it was
IFR ready, I could use it to get in to an airport without a special if I
ever find myself in that situation.
Anyway here is what I'm thinking:
MGL voyager (http://www.mglavionics.com/html/voyager.html) 4lbs
Sigma-tek Vacuum Attitude Indicator 1.9lbs
Garmin SL-30 nav/com 3.3lbs
Garmin GTX-327 transponder 3.1lbs
Garmin 296 GPS in panel doc 2lbs
The idea is that the voyager would provide the airspeed, altimeter,
tach, oil pressure, oil Temp, fuel, turn indicator, slip-skid indicator,
attitude indicator, and directional gyro. For backups I would have the
sigma-tek for backup attitude, and garmin 296 for altitude, ground
speed, VOR, and DG. I would have my backups if I had electrical failure
due to the vacuum on the AI and battery on the 296.
The SL30 and mgl will work together allowing me to use the mgl as the
HSI and the mgl can send radio channel change requests to the sl30 which
is kinda neat.
This setup weighs 15lbs which is pretty light for what it can do, and it
also meets the letter of the law given that it will certify, but want to
check with others and confirm that this setup is sane before I go any
further planning it. So now the question does this look like it will
work?
Thanks,
schu