The most difficult thing about going to glass is the amount of data that is avalable in a small space and de-cluttering this in your mind to avoid information overload.
The Aspen is a very clever bit of kit but the very act of fitting it into two conventional instrument holes has resulted in what looks at first glance a very cluttered display, this not being helped by the fact that most of the instruments it is intended to replace being moved around the panel. There is no doubt that with practice the Aspen would become easy to use but achieving the ability to use it instinctively and without error will take time.
The G500 in the TB20 ( photo on page 1 ) is much less cluttered and is likely to be much easier to use from day one as it does not have the other old instruments to destract the eye.
As illustrated above the Aspen has a very good resolution quality but the photo was taken from much closer to the panel than one would normally veiw it when flying, with such a small display area it is not the display resolution that I have issue with……… It is the ability of my 58 year old eyes to veiw it especially at night after 5 hours of flying.
An Aspen fit is much cheaper than a G500 so I guess that you gets what you pay for in terms of ease of use and size of display.
The most difficult thing about going to glass is the amount of data that is avalable in a small space and de-cluttering this in your mind to avoid information overload.
The Aspen has four declutter levels which can be accessed trough the menu button. Changing from 360 degrees HSI mode to ARC HSI mode will also improve readability.
The VSI is by default only visible when VSI is active, but can also be set to be fixed ON for those who find this annoying.
I have the speed and altitude tapes hidden on mine as I have these independently shown on separate analog instruments and find using the Aspen much less cluttered without them.
I have approx 1,500 hrs behind my EFD1000 and rate it very highly. I have had one ACU fail and one antenna in 7 years, both of which were replaced under good grace by Aspen after the warranty had run out. They do appear to stand behind their product, and are a real pleasure to deal with as a company.
I have just ordered the new AOA upgrade, and would certainly buy from them again.
E
