[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

I know that the spiffy monitors and EFISes are all the rage, but there's a certain beauty in the round gauge. I was thinking about this yesterday while installing an EI fuel level indicator in the project.

I stuck a short video of the pretty lights on the blog.

This instrument has always been my favorite -- I think because it was shown when they "lit" the panel on the From the Ground Up series and I just always wanted one.

What's your favorite round gauge (design wise, not function wise)?

 

[robertahegy]

I used that one too, Bob. Nice gage and easy to calibrate. I also used the tach, Manifold and the Oat-CHT- EGT gage. Nice instruments.

Roberta

 

[Ironflight]

Prettiest - or coolest?

Seriously, I (like Bob) like round gauges with lots of color!

 

[videobobk]

A few years ago I stopped by a museum in Kansas (don't remember the town) that had a collection of gauges. Some of the old stuff was beautiful! Before everything was standardized, there were nice, arrowed pointers, serif type numerals, even black-on-white. There was a touch of class there that is really lost on even the the gauges we grew up with. Form, function and beauty don't necessarily follow if there are regulations involved.

A Waco restorer near here tells of having gauges restored by an old fellow back in the early 1990s. The old man asked if the owner wanted the Waco logo on each gauge. The owner said he would call back. After considerable research, he determined that the logo was in fact on the gauges of that year and model Waco. He called with the explanation and go-ahead. He said there was a long pause on the phone. The old man finally asked, "Just who do you think originally installed the gauges in your plane anyway?"

Bob Kelly

 

[BlndRvtr]

"The old man finally asked, "Just who do you think originally installed the gauges in your plane anyway?" "

You gotta love it! Thanks for starting my day with a smile.

George

 

[hendrik]

Some of the old stuff was beautiful! Before everything was standardized, there were nice, arrowed pointers, serif type numerals, even black-on-white. There was a touch of class there that is really lost on even the the gauges we grew up with.

Bob Kelly

Winter still offers instruments with anodized aluminum or light ivory color background, and yes, they are beautiful:

 

[Brantel]

Very Nice!!!

 

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Those are gorgeous. You watch. The next big thing is going to be retro round gauges.

 

[RV8R999]

I gotta be honest...that panel makes me regret going with all glass! wow very nice...

 

[Scott Hersha]

I agree with Bob... that is beautiful. I think we should all leave space for a round gage or two. Kind of like putting antiques in your house. It gives your panel that 'eclectic' look.

 

[Snowflake]

Those are gorgeous. You watch. The next big thing is going to be retro round gauges.

The next big thing will be a single organic LED panel overlaid on your entire panel from top to bottom and side to side, with full-coverage capacitive multi-touch touchscreen.

There will be an app that draws steam gauges on it, and you'll be able to tap on a gauge to zoom in to it. Perfect for the aging flyers with bad eyesight. Or maybe you can reconfigure to a full-screen EFIS display, that runs all the way across the panel. Switches can be in a pop-up window, as can traffic, weather, engine instruments...

Sorry, did I fall asleep for a minute? Felt like I was dreaming there...

 

[robertahegy]

Rob, you're probably not far off on that, with the technology we have already. If there is a market for it, it will be done.

Roberta

 

[yakdriver]

I have been doing an old school panel on my Cub. It is a RAAF L-21 replica so has the English T&B. We also had the instruments refaced so they have identical colors and fonts and for fun have our own logo on the faces. Panel is laser etched. Don
photobucket.com/chapton[/URL]

 

[jbDC9]

How's this for round gauges?

There will be an app that draws steam gauges on it, and you'll be able to tap on a gauge to zoom in to it.

We kinda already have that on the New Gen 737s, except for the touch screen part. Seems a bit silly to have a 6 tube EFIS setup showing a steam gauge display, but that's due to my airline having a fleet ranging from old round dial -300s to sorta EFIS -500s to full EFIS -7/8/900s. Need a similar display to help with the different fleets; fly one leg in a 25 year old -300, then jump in a brand new -900 for the next leg, it helps the scan...

Sorry for the lousy pic quality, we were descending into Anchorage on a bright, sunny day with sun shining on the camera lens. Note the green shading on the map display; that's the terrain display, lotta cumulogranite on the SE arrival into ANC.