William, William, William my friend....you really do need to get some time behind these systems and you will understand that it is in fact a game changer - period. Aside from all the "pretty" stuff you mention that may or may not be part of the game changing paradigm, there is so much technology that goes along with this that truly does cause a paradigm shift.
Things like having an actively dynamic velocity vector that is WAYYY in front of any human pilot when it comes to instantly interpreting winds, aircraft movement, position, etc.. If you have a screen with an accurate runway depiction on it, and you glue the velocity vector to the end of the runway, you'll fly an almost perfect approach in most any condition. Having a system that doesn't fly like us as humans do (see and then react) tell you instantly what is going on with the airplane position, velocity, winds, vertical speed, bank angle, fwd speed, turn rate, etc.. all almost magically combined to keep you on a darned near perfect trajectory is phenomenal.
Looking out the window is #1, but I'll guarantee you I can take you to any class B airspace in the country, have you look out the window and count the targets you find. I'll also wager a large amount of money that you never see at least 75% of the targets that these system will. Your example of traffic behind you is a good one. In an RV10 you have zero possibility of seeing backwards. Your EFIS sees 360 degrees around you in a bubble. Some EFISes indeed only show traffic in front of you, but some have an inset(like the Garmin) which show traffic at 360 degrees. Some have it on other pages as well.
Having weather overlaid on an approach or even your course...sometimes the weather that the controllers have on the scope or the heavy iron has on radar is but a small slice of what you can now have access to in your homebuilt. Many an expertly piloted airliner/GA plane has met their demise this way.
If stronly disagree with your statment that the only people "wow'ed" by Synthetic Vision are "VFR pilots and uncomfortable IFR pilots". First you should know your audience. The person who started this thread probably has more actual IFR time in RV's, Warbirds, antique radial engine birds, etc.. with minimal instruments, etc.. that most of us combined and he is impressed. Second, coming from the heavy iron world myself, I can tell you that almost any heavy iron driver would gladly accept this technology into the cockpit with open arms and could rattle off a LOT of advantages. There have been a number of instances of loaded airliners flying into mountains whilst IFR - flown by pilots more capable in the IFR environment than most of us. Third, the world is going this way whether you think it's good or not, so learning how to utilize this technology and embrace it will make everyone safer. Some of the best pilots in the world have gone west into terrain, bad weather, mid-air collisions, etc.. while the entire time being on an IFR flight plan and in contact with a controller. Many of them arguably would still be here if they had even a small percentage of what we now have access to in our cockpits.
Anyway, in the end this is one of those areas that really shows who has flown behind what. If you get some serious time behind this stuff you'll quickly find that whether IFR or VFR, the Synthetic Vision and it's conjoined technology will blow you away. I'm not flaming you at all, just trying show you that your reference point is somewhat skewed. It wasn't that long ago that we all had an almost identical argument about autopilot....I heard nearly the exact same arguments and in fact I was one of those people who said "I don't need no crazy Autopilot in an RV - they are so easy to fly who needs it". Now, I push people to get one before any other singular piece of equipment in an airplane, be it IFR or VFR. Think about it, most of us old school folks would have laughed you out of the room 15 years ago if you suggested that sport planes and homebuilts (LSA type planes) would all have autopilots installed. Now it's almost a forgone conclusion.
There are other numerous examples of new technology that at first glance appear to some as being "toys" or whatever. Time usually shows that not to be the case. Anyway, I could write many pages on this subject (and in fact am in the middle of working on this years EFIS roundup for Kitplanes) and along with my own experience have a pretty good exposure to a lot of differing opinions. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but opinions are also varied by ones own experience - whether first hand actual flight experience behind the items being opined on, or lots of reading/study of said equipment. I encourage everyone to try and keep an open mind about things until they get to experience it. That's how I try to do things and I've been surprised by many a piece of technology that I poo-poo'd initially after I had the chance to utilize it first hand.
In the end we all win because as new technologies mature, we are presented with so much more than we could have dreamed of even a decade ago!
My 2 cents as usual.
Have a great new year everyone!
Cheers,
Stein
PS William...just glanced over your panel planning ideas. Looks good, except you do realize you can get into a G900X for a LOT less than you have on your page?!? Also, to take advantage of any EFIS you're considering, I'd humbly suggest you upgrade to the TruTrak Digiflight IIVSGV...it'll really make the EFIS and GNS430W shine!
