Here is my first attempt at videoing an approach. This was shot yesterday when I was testing the new DFC90 autopilot that I had just installed. It is a very precise autopilot and even with pretty decent winds, it tracked the course very well. Much better than the STec 55X!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
DFC90 Flight Test
Today I took the plane up for 2.6 hours to do some flight testing of the new autopilot. This autopilot is capable of many things; however here is the list of things I tested during this flight:
+RW18+KDHN.PNG)
After a few turns, I asked for vectors to the ILS from the east. This approach went very well also. I allowed the DFC90 to fly it coupled and it intercepted the final approach coarse perfectly, as well as the glide slope and tracked it all the way down until we broke out of the clouds at 500’ AGL. The next approach was vectors back to the RNAV (GPS18) again with similar results. The final approach was for vectors from the west to the ILS RW14 and I hand flew this approach using only the Flight Director for guidance. This approach didn’t go as well, since it seemed like the FD was slow to react, so I just followed the needles to get me though the clouds. I’m not sure if it was the FD or if maybe I didn’t have something set up correctly, so I can’t say if the FD was having issues or not. I guess I’ll have to go out and try that one again.
· Take Off Settings – AP set armed but not active
· Flight Director on and Vertical Speed set to 1000 FPM climb
· Turn to assigned heading (070), switch to Indicated Air Speed Mode (IAS) (115 knots Indicated)
· Straight and Level – Put aircraft into an unusual attitude and push S&L Button
· Underspeed Protection
§ Stall aircraft COUPLED – “Speed protection active” should engage
§ Stall aircraft UNCOUPLED – “Caution underspeed” should be announced
· Overspeed Protection
§ Dive aircraft COUPLED - “Speed protection active” should engage
§ Dive aircraft UNCOUPLED – “Caution overspeed” ” should be announced
· Test Bank Angle
§ Exceed bank limit – “Caution, excessive bank” should be announced
· Course Intercept – Set up a 90 degree intercept (V-Airway). Fly heading mode and GPSS steering should allow a smooth intercept of the navigation course line
· Test automatic Baro Setting – Fly level AP COUPLED and change Baro settings. Should automatically adjust altitude with pressure changes
· IAS - Set 88 knots for best glide and cut power. Aircraft should set up for 88 knots and stay there
· RNAV (GPS) Approach with published miss and hold.
· ILS Approach, both coupled and by hand with flight director.
Before I could even start my testing, the weather was quickly deteriorating. At the time of take-off, Dothan’s weather was MVFR, 5-mile visibility with mist and a broken layer at 1800’, overcast at 11,000. I departed in the rain and headed to the south east, where several airports were still showing VFR. To the west a front was moving in and bringing with it lots of rain. Just south of the field, the weather was VFR, so I did some maneuver work to test the S&L button and envelope protection. All worked as advertised and the S&L button is a really amazing feature! The one thing that didn’t work was the uncoupled envelope protection. I tried this several times and even confirmed that my software was update, so it must be a setting that needs to be turned on. Next I set up a flight plan and did some 90 degree interception work. As advertised, the DFC90 interception and turned onto the course with no issues.
After about an hour of flying, the DFC90 started to have some issues. After two successful attempts to intercept a course, the heading feature stopped working or at best barely worked. The PFD started to show a yellow message stating SERVO LIMIT and the plane would barely begin turning. I disconnected the AP and tried to re-engage, but got similar results. On a couple of attempts, it would slowly begin to turn and then completely overshoot the heading and just keep on turning. I decided to change it up and try something else to see what it would do. I changed my GPS to a close by airport and programmed in an RNAV approach. The AP did as commanded and all seemed to be fine. I’m not sure if something wasn’t programmed correctly or what, but from that point on, everything worked great.
Since the weather was quickly deteriorating, I called Cairns Approach and filed IFR and asked for the RNAV (GPS18) approach into Dothan with an initial fix of IKIQU. This approach was done completely coupled and the DFC90 executed it perfectly! I even tried the IAS mode set at 100 knots and it all worked great. The approach was picture perfect with a breakout at minimums. AWESOME! After going missed, I flew to the hold and hoped that maybe my non-WAAS G430s would now be able to fly the hold, but unfortunately that is not the case. I entered the hold in a teardrop fashion and flew the hold using the heading bug.
+RW18+KDHN.PNG)
Overall, I am extremely happy with the performance of the new DFC90. I did have a few glitches, but I’m not sure that it is anything to worry about at this time. I really like the preciseness of the unit as well as the envelope protection. It just provides my Cirrus with even more safety features that make me love my Cirrus all that much more.
DFC90 Autopilot Upgrade
One of my biggest gripes with my Cirrus, was the autopilots inability to track straight on any sort of navigational aide, especially an ILS. Especially if it was windy or even gusty, the S-Tec 55X was incapable of accurately intercepting or tracking these signals and would wander back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Now there is an option that will not only provide digital preciseness, but also add more safety to boot!
The Avidyne DFC90 was released a little over a year ago with the primary flight ship being the Cirrus SR2X. They marketed this autopilot directly at the S-Tec 55X in hopes to lure a fairly large market of aircraft owners to upgrade to a far superior and safer autopilot.
The Avidyne DFC90 is an attitude based autopilot, whereas the S-Tec it replaces is rate based. The DFC90 follows the attitude indicator and the AHRS. Rate based autopilots like the S-Tec, use a turn coordinator for reference. This makes the DFC90 extremely precise and far more accurate than the S-Tec. Turns are exactly standard rate, intercepts are way more precise, level offs from climbs and descents are also much more smooth and right on target. The DFC90 flies approaches beautifully, and extremely precise. An ILS approach is flown straight and true all the way to minimums. No more back and forth drunken sailor effect like the S-Tec did. It now truly flies like it’s on rails!
In addition to the increase preciseness of the DFC90, Avidyne incorporated its “Envelope Protection.” One of the major safety issues using the S-Tec, is that you could stall the aircraft with the autopilot. There have been several accidents in the Cirrus fleet alone, where pilots get busy and aren’t monitoring the aircraft and the aircraft is set up to climb at a rate in which it cannot keep up with. The end result is that the autopilot flies the plane into an autopilot induced stall. The envelope protection of the DFC90 eliminates this issue. If you command a climb that the aircraft is not capable of, the autopilot will allow the climb until the airspeed bleeds off and then the autopilot will hold a safe speed, not allowing a stall. When this takes place, a voice will sound off in the headsets stating “Speed Protection Active.” The same applies on the over speed side if you command a vertical decent that would result in exceeding Vne, the DFC90 will intervene and not allow an over speed to occur.
Another one of the major improvements of this system is the “Straight and Level” button. This is a great safety feature for a pilot who might be in IMC or flying at night and become disoriented and put the plane into an unusual attitude. If the pilot becomes disoriented, all he has to do is push this button and it will bring the plane back to straight and level.
The DFC90 is a VAST improvement over the S-Tec 55X autopilot. This upgrade gives Garmin Perspective precision to your Avidyne Entegra plane at a significantly lower cost. If you own an older S-Tec 55X autopilot, I highly recommend you upgrade to the DFC90. It is the best money spent on an upgrade for your Cirrus!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
CAPS Save!
On 7 JAN 2012, Richard McGlaughlin and his daughter were flying their 2004 Cirrus SR22 to the Bahamas, when they lost all oil pressure, completely seizing the engine at 9500’. Richard declared an emergency with Miami Center and turned directly towards the closest land. After configuring his aircraft for best glide, and at about 2-miles from Andros Island realized that he wasn’t going to make it. At around 2300’ he pulled his aircraft parachute (CAPs or Cirrus Airframe Parachute System), which is standard equipment on every Cirrus aircraft. Both Richard and his daughter survived without injury.
It’s situations like this that make me happy to be flying a Cirrus! If it wasn’t for the chute, the outcome most likely wouldn’t have been as good!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
How Do They Do It - Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS)
Here is a great little video on how the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) came to be and how it works. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest inventions ever and should be standard an ALL small aircraft!
My First Angel Flight
On Wednesday 28 December 2011, I conducted my first Angel Flight mission. This is something that I had wanted to start doing for a long time now, since Angel Flight provided my wife and son with the same great service back in 2003 when I was deployed. Angel Flight is a non-profit service that provides children and families in need air transportation. Pilots donate their time, skills and a plane, to fly patients for free to help support their respective situations. I was very lucky to have this support and now it feels great to give back and provide the same support others.
On this day, I flew my SR22 to St. Mary’s, GA and picked up my first passengers. It was a young husband and wife that needed to be flown to Augusta, GA to the burn unit there. The young gentleman tried to put out a grease fire in his kitchen and ended up getting third degree burns all the way up his right arm. What made this even more special was that neither of them had ever flown in an airplane at all, so they were thrilled to see our beautiful country from the air. I flew them to Daniel Field in northern Augusta and then waited for them while he was at his appointment. About an hour later, they returned and we flew back to St. Mary’s. Flight time was approximately an hour each way, but still significantly shorter than driving all the way from southern Georgia. The weather was perfect with smooth air and very little wind. I really couldn’t have asked for a better first flight and it was extremely special to share my passion with them. For any pilots out there reading this, I very highly recommend signing up to do Angel Flights. It’s an extremely rewarding way to give back, and a great way to add flying time instead of just burning holes in the sky for no reason. If you don’t own an aircraft that is fine, rentals work great too. There are many organizations out there that provide this type of support. For those in the south eastern United States, check out: http://www.angelflightsoars.org/
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Fantastic Airport!
Every pilot has a favorite airport. Some like the scenery, some like challenging conditions or approaches, and some like the amenities. This past weekend I found what has become one of my favorite airports of all times. Dekalb-Peachtree(KPDK) in northern Atlanta. KPDK is a large, busy feeder airport that supports northern Atlanta in Georgia. What has made me fall in love with this airport is its charm, in that it’s a pilot’s airport. First off, we stopped and parked at Epps Aviation on the West side. The service was fantastic to say the least. They are located right off the runway (very close to the runway, which I will discuss shortly) and they had our rental car waiting for us before we even got to our parking spot. The ground crews were super friendly and helped us to unload the plane, so that we could quickly depart. The facilities were clean, updated and homey. All of the staff was fantastic. After arriving we decided to get a bite to eat for lunch. We were directed to go eat at the “Downwind Café” at the other end of the building. Little did we realize that it was right next to the runway, overlooking the approach end of RW34. The food was really good and the view was awesome. To be able to sit that close to the runway, watch jets and small planes land while eating a burger, is paradise for a pilot! Right next to the restaurant, the airport has a viewing stand that overlooks both runways and also has a really nice playground for the children. This is a fantastic stop for those cross country trips since everything is right on the field. There are also plenty of instrument approaches as well.
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| Part of the ramp in front of Epps |
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| Downwind Cafe |
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| Epps Aviation |
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| The deck overlooking RW34 from Downwind Cafe |
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| Playground |
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