Jay & Walt,
When I started at GRT a year and a half ago, our manuals were years behind and written in a language that Mike Starkey likes to call "Techno-Geek." Our tech support lines rang constantly. The HXr didn't even have its own manuals. I've worked my tail off over the past year and a half to produce the HXr Installation Manual; Equipment Supplements for ADS-B receivers, remote avionics, Garmin units, etc. with installation, setup and user information for each thing; the HXr Pilot's Guide, still in split chapter format but slowly becoming one cohesive book. I recently turned a 3-page autopilot handout into a 34-page step-by-step illustrated guide on installation of servos, flight testing and troubleshooting the GRT autopilot. I think writing manuals is the most enjoyable part of my job and I wish I had more time to devote to it. I have a background as a writer and flight instructor with several hundred hours flying GRT equipment, and nothing pleases me more than to help our customers learn and overcome challenges.
If you or anyone else has a question or can't find what you need,
please ask me. If something is unclear or confusing, I would like to clarify it. I am always willing to help you find what you need, and if it doesn't exist, we will create it and post it for the benefit of everyone. In fact, most of our new material is created in response to customer tech questions. I prioritize my projects according to our customers' needs. In the past year, our tech support call volume has dropped off dramatically-- I take this as my main compliment.
As for the website, it is a work in progress, shaped by complaints and compliments alike, and an improved version is actually almost finished. My goal is to post it before SNF. It has a dedicated HXr documentation page, customer gallery, and improved flow of product & support information.
Jay, I suggest reading each of the HXr user manual chapters page by page. It won't take long, and you will learn everything you need to know to fly it. It's not as boring if you sit in the plane with the trickle charger on and push buttons as you do it. Load the manuals onto your Nexus tablet and you'll be all set. As for a computer simulator, yes that would be cool but if we took the time and resources to create and maintain one, we would quickly fall behind in what we really need to do, which is keep creating great avionics.