Tom Martin
Well Known Member
I have been flying the AFS3500 for two seasons and during the winter I had it upgraded to 4500 status. Over the last month I have had a few short flights and wanted to pass along my first impressions.
1. Wow, does the system ever boot up fast. I do not have time to do up my seat belt and get my headset adjusted!
2. Wow, is it ever bright. I find it much easier to see and it might be my imagination but the two key numbers, AS and Alt, seem to be larger. At least they stand out for me more then previous.
3. I really like the presentation of sky vs ground, the horizon line is easier to follow and things just seem to make sense. I was quite surprised the first time I descended to circuit height at my destination airport that the "green" lower portion of the screen changed to yellow. What a nice feature. Also a faint grid became visible. Apparently this represents lat and long lines.
4. The bouncing green ball, the flight path marker, FPM, tells you where the aircraft is actually going. That tied with the wind indicator really helps to make sense of what the wind is doing with your aircraft. Point the nose down a bit you can see where you will contact the ground unless the pilot makes some changes! (follow the bouncing ball, does any one else remember sing along with Mitch?)
5. Wow, The engine monitor section, EM, is "superimposed" on the lower part of my favorite screen. What this means is that the map area features extend into the EM area. Effectively this makes your screen 20% larger.
The first time I flew I thought to myself "****, the lower corner of the screen has a crack in it! Closer observations showed that the crack was actually the international US/Canada line through Lake Erie. How cool is that.
1. Wow, does the system ever boot up fast. I do not have time to do up my seat belt and get my headset adjusted!
2. Wow, is it ever bright. I find it much easier to see and it might be my imagination but the two key numbers, AS and Alt, seem to be larger. At least they stand out for me more then previous.
3. I really like the presentation of sky vs ground, the horizon line is easier to follow and things just seem to make sense. I was quite surprised the first time I descended to circuit height at my destination airport that the "green" lower portion of the screen changed to yellow. What a nice feature. Also a faint grid became visible. Apparently this represents lat and long lines.
4. The bouncing green ball, the flight path marker, FPM, tells you where the aircraft is actually going. That tied with the wind indicator really helps to make sense of what the wind is doing with your aircraft. Point the nose down a bit you can see where you will contact the ground unless the pilot makes some changes! (follow the bouncing ball, does any one else remember sing along with Mitch?)
5. Wow, The engine monitor section, EM, is "superimposed" on the lower part of my favorite screen. What this means is that the map area features extend into the EM area. Effectively this makes your screen 20% larger.
The first time I flew I thought to myself "****, the lower corner of the screen has a crack in it! Closer observations showed that the crack was actually the international US/Canada line through Lake Erie. How cool is that.
