USFlyer wrote:
And I started as a mainframe software engineer and ended my career as a chief information officer in a 90k employee multinational. I am not just an expert in IT, I was also a software engineering contractor that worked on first versions of TCP/IP, storage systems (today’s cloud computing), was Intel’s Ethernet product manager, coded for the Mac, the PC, and was an Oracle database expert.I even worked on early computing security having created sections of the CompSec Orange book and later DoD secure networks for the battlefield.
Some of your previous postings don’t resonate very well with these claims.
Remember when Al Gore invented the Internet?
A half decent pilot could find his way around G1000/Avidyn in a few hours. However, there’s a huge difference between muddling through and using the system to its maximum capability.
Nobody was there in the cockpit with the German pilot flying the Cirrus SR20 over the North Sea. So, who knows what happened?
I personally doubt “severe ice” was the issue, but it could have been due to the severe ice SIGMET for the lower altitudes up to 2500 feet that was published for that area and time. At the same time, the freezing level was at around 2500 feet as well. He was flying at around 2000 feet (625-700m) below the freezing level, then started to make turns. I would assume that he tried to avoid IMC weather conditions ahead but still wanted to get to his destination? I would assume he was not using the autopilot at that time and ended up in a spiral dive due to the IMC conditions he ended up with and lost control. But that is wild guessing.
From his age, I would assume that he did not use the autopilot and was not very good in handling the Avidyne glass cockpit / G430. I do not meet a lot of older pilots that are very proficient with modern avionics or mobile devices like smartphones or iPads. Exceptions are there of course. The STEC55 is nothing special but you still have to see what it is doing in relation with the PFD when flying it in the SR20 now. One other issue to mention in the Cirrus. When I started flying the Cirrus I once told my wife that I was afraid it could kill me with low hours on type due to the delay in response. Then you reduce power, due to the slick composite design, it takes seconds for the plane to settle in at that lower power setting. In the meantime you could be busy with something else in the cockpit and thus might forget that the plane is stalling. There is no envelope protection in the SR20 with the STEC55. Now I have more hours in the Cirrus, I find it a very nice aircraft, but not very forgiving at low speeds.
As for flying glass cockpits: I personally first flew a class cockpit Cirrus (the Avidyne system) in the SR20 and after that the SR22 before finally migrating to the Garmin Perspective in the SR22T. In had a choice to learn this new and more complex Garmin Perspective avionics system together with a Cirrus Instructor flying the SR22T, but opted to buy a Cirrus Touchtrainer simulator (see picture of me behind the simulator below). I seriously “played” with this sim for quite some nights, followed an online course on the Perspective before finally doing a first real light with a Cirrus Instructor in a SR22T with this system. It was a first flight for me in the SR22T and the instructor did not know I had no previous experience with the Garmin Perspective. We did a trip together to France and back home. After the first long night flight inbound France I told him I had never flown with the Perspective system before. He did not believe that. So … you can learn the G1000 or Perspective behind your desktop.
I would find it hard to believe that the older German pilot became proficient in it in just 10 hours of transition training in both the Cirrus and a Glass Cockpit. In any case, it took me some effort and it still is a system with lots of options (and I am developing software by profession).
P.S. The Touchtrainer could be set in Avidyne mode (as in the picture) or Garmin Perspective mode. By the way, after that first flight I sold the TouchTrainer to a Cirrus Instructor (not the same one) and thus learned to transition to the Garmin Perspective system with little investment moneywise.
@Flyer59
The guy is over 70! and if he wanted to use the STEC55 AP as a VFR pilot, he would still have to play/look/turn knobs on the PFD together together with the STEC55 buttons. Not a good combination for someone that age (in general). I would suspect he turned it off and did not feel comfortable with the AP in this setup being of his age.
No, I don’t have the TouchTrainer anymore. After doing the transition training on it for Garmin Perspective, I sold it.
Ok, we don’t know how good he was. All speculation anyway.
Of course, if you panic and haven’t still flown it a lot you can easily make a mistake … OTOH with the Avidyne system it’s really only pressing one key (HDG) and turning the heading bug, and/or pressing the ALT key on the A/P.
It is exactly that with the STEC55: pressing the heading key, then turning the heading bug and then the ALT stuff. The heading bug is on the PFD. I think he would possibly not be able to handle that as well under stress and would go to fly by hand. But true: it is all just guessing, isn’t it.
Does it say anything new?
Re PIT+HDG+ALT etc, that works only if pitch+roll are within limits, so usually not usable if you have lost control.
