Avionics in your plane (owned or rental)

[gismo]

One airplane has virtually nothing but an old ELT. I use a handheld radio and portable intercom in that one and occasionally take along a portable GPS of some sort.

The other has a bit more:
PM8000 audio panel, EX600 MFD, GNS480 WAAS GPS, KX155 w/GS, KN64 DME, GTX327 xpndr (remotely controlled from the GPS), WX1000 Stormscope, ICARUS SAM (GPSS and audible alert), KCS-55 HSI, and Century III autopilot with GS and Radio coupling. Engine instruments were replaced with an Auracle 2120. Up in the nose there's a RDS81 radar, TAS 610 active traffic system, and a XM Wx receiver, all displayed on the MFD. For backup there's a GPS496 on the yoke and a spare electrically driven horizon in the panel.

There's not much I'd be willing to give up although I almost never use the VOR function of the KX155 or the DME (they're there in case the GPS system goes down). Of all the things I've added the GNS480, the MFD, and the SAM get used the most.

 

[Ted]

Lance, how do you like the Auralcle? I'm curious to see one.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

a Nav-o-matic autopilot that actually works.

Wow! That's rarer than a flying Duke!

 

[gismo]

Lance, how do you like the Auralcle? I'm curious to see one.

I like it but I'm not "in love" with it if you know what I mean. Most of the downsides are minor and could be resolved with better firmware but the company doesn't seem to be putting any visible effort into improvements. The did provide one update that allows you to display the fuel consumed by each engine separately (first version would only display total fuel used by both engines).

My complaints are:

Entering fuel with a partial fill is very time consuming and error prone unless you happen to fill to one of three pre-set levels. I tried to explain to them why that doesn't work for me because more often than not I either top just my mains or add a specific amount of fuel (e.g. 20 gallons). In such cases you have to add the previous quantity to the amount added and then enter each digit (of four) with a tedious sequence of rotating a knob one click, pressing a button, rotating the knob for each increase in the digit's value, then pressing the button again. After each knob rotation or button push you must wait 1-2 seconds for the unit to recognize your input and update the display or your action will be ignored. To complete the update requires on the average 24 such knob rotations plus 12 button presses and that's assuming you didn't forget to wait until the display updates between each press or rotation. And if you make a simple addition error it's likely you'll end up with the wrong total fuel indication which could lead to a fuel exhaustion issue IMO.

Other than that the only gripes I have with the functionality are the aforementioned significantly slow reaction time to any user input and the instability of the displayed quantities, particularly fuel flow which tends to wander +/- .3 to .5 gph.

Some minor nits:

The display comes up at half brightness when you power it up and at that level it's difficult to read the display. It only requires turning one knob to go to full brightness and then it's plenty bright. I wish it would come on at full brightness or better yet automatically determine the light level required.

There is no numeric information on the "analog" displays, you must refer to the digital presentation for that. As a result I'm finding it difficult to rapidly set MP and RPM to some arbitrary values. The unit does allow you to set "bugs" on those scales but the mechanism for setting the bugs is tedious (many knob pushes and rotations with 1-2 second delays per action) and you can only have one bug per scale.

Downloading logged information takes a very long time (5-15 minutes) and you can only do one engine at a time. Given the amount of data transferred this shouldn't take more than a few seconds.

My engine controls block my view of the EGT/CHT data pretty badly, especially when everything is fully forward (max RPM, MP, and FF). This isn't exactly an Auracle design issue and probably wouldn't be a problem on a 310 (or post 84 Baron).

The first firmware update required that I send all four boxes back to the factory. They did offer the option of sending me a refurbished unit for me to swap out which minimized the downtime. Hopefully, future updates won't require this.

Other than one early failure the unit has been flawless.

 

[N747JB]

Wow! That's rarer than a flying Duke!

I didn't say it worked all the time!
Actually, it's not too bad on nav mode, heading wanders a little.

 

[Ted]

Lance, thanks for the detailed report. I've found the Auracle to be an intriguing concept, and I'd be interested in seeing it in your plane next time we're in the same area. Sounds like they need to make a few firmware changes to really work out all the bugs, though. I would find the complaints you have to be annoying as well.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Lance, thanks for the detailed report. I've found the Auracle to be an intriguing concept, and I'd be interested in seeing it in your plane next time we're in the same area. Sounds like they need to make a few firmware changes to really work out all the bugs, though. I would find the complaints you have to be annoying as well.

I was talking with a guy from JPI at Oshkosh, and he admitted that the FAA guy who was in charge of reviewing their equivalent products (the 930/960) gave them a LOT of really good feedback and they made some major changes to it, mostly in terms of usability. It sounds like maybe the Auracle didn't have that benefit.

 

[N801BH]

...... It sounds like maybe the Auracle didn't have that benefit.

What it really sounds like is the Auracle team didn't have a good game plan, A logical concept and a functional working platform to be user friendly... To take 36 steps just to add make up fuel is downright dangerous and should have not made it out of the very first design meeting and into the final product... IMHO.

What were they thinking.

 

[Topper]

Losing the kln90b and a kx155 next month, putting a gtn 650 in there place. Keeping the kx155 w/gs, but not adding a second gs unless the existing one will not work with the 650. I use an ipad also. I assume I will keep using it for the chart, size, backup, etc., but maybe I won't feel like it is neccessary. Don't have the 650 yet so I can't tell you what I like about it.

Anyone looking for a kln90b?

 

[poadeleted21]

GNS530 w/WX500 coupled to an STEC 50 with GPSS, KN64, KX155, 6 cyl EGT/3 cyl CHT monitor, davtron DA/OAT/ammeter and I think genuine oak mixed with some veneer

 

[N801BH]

GNS530 w/WX500 coupled to an STEC 50 with GPSS, KN64, KX155, 6 cyl EGT/3 cyl CHT monitor, davtron DA/OAT/ammeter and I think genuine oak mixed with some veneer

Nice panal...

Is that FAA APPROVED, non-flammable Oak Wood ?

 

[flyingcheesehead]

and I think genuine oak mixed with some veneer

That reminds me of my parents' first TV, which had a case made out of "GENUINE IMITATION WOOD!"

 

[flyingcheesehead]

What it really sounds like is the Auracle team didn't have a good game plan, A logical concept and a functional working platform to be user friendly... To take 36 steps just to add make up fuel is downright dangerous and should have not made it out of the very first design meeting and into the final product... IMHO.

What were they thinking.

True - I'm just saying that JPI admitted to starting out with a relatively bad product and getting to a much better place thanks to the FAA, of all things.

This is what happens when back-end developers build user interfaces - Once the capability works, who cares? Their job is done, the box in the brochure is checked, and everybody's happy except the customers.

 

[spiderweb]

GNS530 w/WX500 coupled to an STEC 50 with GPSS, KN64, KX155, 6 cyl EGT/3 cyl CHT monitor, davtron DA/OAT/ammeter and I think genuine oak mixed with some veneer

I don't know why, but I love wooden panels. Maybe it is because it looks like a classic 1920s luxury car.

 

[poadeleted21]

Nice panal...

Is that FAA APPROVED, non-flammable Oak Wood ?

I believe the real wood is beechcraft issued. I'm not really a fan, looks better in the picture than in person.

 

[Ted]

One challenge Auracle might have going forward is that any software changes need to be DO-178 checked, then certified, etc. So it's harder than just issuing a firmware update for an iPhone.

That said, hopefully they'll make some changes. Garmin and Aspen have made firmware updates that improve functionality. The Aspen change even improves reliability.