Tell me why you like the HSI

The HSI is such a brilliant instrument that even with glass cockpits it has pretty much been reproduced pretty much as is. I also wouldn't fly IFR without one, not without complaining anyway!
 
Henning said:
Kinda, HSIs are completely relevant with GPS. It is the fact that you can buy a glass PFD from Aspen cheaper than a good HSI, and it will cost less to keep working, that is what has brought about their fall.

To be noted, both the Aspen and Garmin displays still carry HSI displays, so it is only the mechanical instrument that has fallen, not the HSI's informational display or the relevance of the information on the test.
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The HSI is still the golden standard, be it a mechanical king unit, a representation of a one on a G1000 or Aspen, or a standalone EHSI like mine. Also most are slaved so you don't have to re sync it with the compass.

For real IMC flying a DG and nav head is crap, all that info that your fancy GPS puts out is wasted on a single basic nav head.

Biggest thing in IFR work is to simplify, I can look at my EHSI on my scan and avoid looking at 3 separate instruments, even more if I select additional options.

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I'm not an IFR pilot, yet....but we have one and I've learned to really love it. I can use the autopilot and use it sync'd to the heading bug or the GPS track. I also like using the yellow arrow to align with the position of the runway when I've got visual but can't exactly see the runway alignment just yet. I know when I start IFR, I'll be glad we have it.
 
I just feel like I hit a brick wall with IFR prep today and this was the killer.
I hit this stuff and CFRs today and started feeling defeated.

Moving forward, I am attacking this like I do my job, break it down into chunks so small that they are not overwhelming. Believe it or not, I am really good at my work and my work is all about simplifying things for people and solving problems.

Honestly, from where I am standing, I applaud any IFR pilots, This is no joke, really hard stuff.

If I treat it like a job, I will succeed with flying colors. Up to this point, I have been treating it like a hobby and for me, that won't work. I don't think you can approach IFR flight casually. I can't.
 
If I'd treat it like a job, I would delegate. :rofl:

Seriously though, it's not a job, don't turn it into one.
 
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Henning said:
If I'd treat it like a job, I would delegate. :rofl:

Seriously though, it's not a job, don't turn it into one.
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Not flying.

Just I have to attack IFR like I attack my Job.
At work, I have vessels that are in dire straits (good pun) and NEVER get overwhelmed about it. I do what I have to do logically.

For some reason, with this IFR study, I quickly got flustered and thought about giving up about 9 times now.

Dawned on me that I could treat this like I do work, and plow through it.

This rating is bigger than I can swallow in a single bite and that is how I have been looking at it. That's not going to work.

I deal with far more complex issues every month and never get fazed by it. The difference has nothing to do with my abilities, just my approach.

I will approach IFR like I do work and it will get done. But flying itself has to remain an art to some extent. Otherwise it will no longer be fun.
 
The difference is in the consequences of failure, that is why you look at it differently to begin with. Nothing wrong with 'building block' learning, it's the FAA referenced schooling technique in the CFI literature.
 
What I really love (and the military made me a cripple to) is the bearing pointer overlay on an HSI. This makes a DME arc to a localizer a piece of cake. Just turn until the bearing pointer is on the wingtip and keep it there until you turn to intercept the localizer. I'm damn near useless in IMC without that instrument...
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got to that instrument last night.
I now have both the king IR and Gleim IR and I went over both.
This is the first time I walked away from a king video thinking "I have no idea what she just said"

The way the test questions are written about this instrument raise my blood pressure a bit.
Maybe it's those questions more than the instrument itself but at this point I prefer a separate VOR and heading indicator.
I like getting 1 piece of information from an instrument without having to ignore other information.
That said, I felt the same way the first time I saw a sectional so maybe it will grow on me.


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It's freezing in here... ...Or its 8 O'clock



​
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Nope..... not freezing at all...

1:52 and 15 seconds
80f or 26c
50% relative humidity...


:D:D:D
 
Bill Jennings said:
Correct. Our HSI displays nav info from the 430, just hit the CDI button to toggle between GPS output and VOR output.
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Doesn't the 430 also have a NAV page with a HSI-like display? I thought all modern aviation GPSes did, even handhelds (though I haven't used a handheld in years, thanks to the iPad and ForeFlight).

The semantics of the "DG" part of the GPS HSI display are a little different in that it's track up, not heading up. But it presents the information the same way as a real HSI, so as Henning said, it's still very relevant to know how to read it even if you never fly with a real one.

That said, I didn't learn in a plane with an HSI and never flew with one until about a year after getting my PPL -- but a couple of flights in a plane with one and I was sold on it, and never wanted to go back. As everyone said, don't try to learn the instrument from FAA written study material. Learn it in a plane or a sim, and the HSI questions on the test will be a breeze.
 
James331 said:
Biggest thing in IFR work is to simplify, I can look at my EHSI on my scan and avoid looking at 3 separate instruments, even more if I select additional options.

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That's the instrument I fly with in my plane too. I have to admit, like others have said here, that I'd be useless in IMC today without it, even though I did my long IFR XC the old way...
 
azure said:
Doesn't the 430 also have a NAV page with a HSI-like display?
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Not that I recall.

Though all the Garmin handhelds I've used do.

It's my preferred display - map on the left, 4 fields and faux HSI on the right.

15727287123_2cd3772b37_c.jpg


It also provides a "glidelsope" needle to aid with vertical descent profiles - quite handy in practice.
 
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Actually, the handhelds are more likely to have these goofy features than the panel mount ones do. The 430/480/530 all have a track-wheel type display but it really doesn't approximate an HSI because it's not really showing the deviation just painting the purple line where it is (hopefully it's on the screen at the range you have selected) and because it doesn't have anyway of displaying HEADING.
 
Do you want the IR? Do you really need it? A lot of IR worship in GA, I'd rather drive a submarine if I can't look out the window. If you want it or need it you I can't help ya, but don't get it out of pilot peer pressure.
SixPapaCharlie said:
I just feel like I hit a brick wall with IFR prep today and this was the killer.
I hit this stuff and CFRs today and started feeling defeated.

Moving forward, I am attacking this like I do my job, break it down into chunks so small that they are not overwhelming. Believe it or not, I am really good at my work and my work is all about simplifying things for people and solving problems.

Honestly, from where I am standing, I applaud any IFR pilots, This is no joke, really hard stuff.

If I treat it like a job, I will succeed with flying colors. Up to this point, I have been treating it like a hobby and for me, that won't work. I don't think you can approach IFR flight casually. I can't.
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ClimbnSink said:
Do you want the IR? Do you really need it? A lot of IR worship in GA, I'd rather drive a submarine if I can't look out the window. If you want it or need it you I can't help ya, but don't get it out of pilot peer pressure.
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I'm the same way. Yep, I have an IR, I rarely use it. I keep up on my IPCs in case I need it, but in all my years of flying I have "needed it" to get me out of a bind 4 times (other options were available, but required not completing the flight as planned), and for that you don't need the rating, just the ability. In SoCal I used it a lot to pop up and down through the layer, but I didn't really need to get above most of the time, and if I waited another hour, it would be clear.

I don't plan to go IFR and avoid it as much as I can because like you, I'm paying for the view, and the view inside a cloud sucks.
 
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ClimbnSink said:
Do you want the IR? Do you really need it? A lot of IR worship in GA, I'd rather drive a submarine if I can't look out the window. If you want it or need it you I can't help ya, but don't get it out of pilot peer pressure.
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I don't need it like flying for work or something.
I have no interest in spending hours in the clouds but I don't like not being able to fly when there is a thin OVC layer keeping me down.

With the faster plane coming, I will no doubt be flying with the family on longer trips and we all would like to get back to work / school on Monday.

Twice I have done that really smart thing where I found a hole and went up through it. and then flew to my destination, couldn't find a hole, came back to where it as VFR and landed hungry.

I suspect if I have my IR, I will likely use it every flight. I like the idea of having my own 3 mile bubble to some extent.

So partly a safer pilot thing and partly a convenience thing. But it is no more a need than flying is.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I suspect if I have my IR, I will likely use it every flight. I like the idea of having my own 3 mile bubble to some extent.

So partly a safer pilot thing and partly a convenience thing. But it is no more a need than flying is.
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In practice that three mile bubble is pretty much imaginary unless it's IMC. Even in IMC there will be cowboys squawking 1200 and not talking, not many but some.

Getting the IFR rating does teach you about both the ATC system and flying. It does help you be a safer pilot in that regard. Learning about weather takes a lot of time/effort - it's a benefit of the process that needs to continue long after earning the rating.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
With the faster plane coming, I will no doubt be flying with the family on longer trips and we all would like to get back to work / school on Monday.
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Yes, that's it, you hit the nail on the head. You will definitely be going further and with family/kids and schedules with school, etc, you're going to need that IR occasionally.
 
If you want to go somewhere on a reasonable schedule you need IR, if you don't you don't. I had a four day window to go to Osh last year. If I didn't go over those days I would have to skip it. One day up and one day back meant two days at the show, so waiting for weather would have made the trip a pass for me. The day I left was IFR. In fact I never saw the sky or ground over Oklahoma, not even a glimpse, just grey abyss. Lots of weather on arrival, but otherwise a great day of flying. I had a great time and an IR rating made it possible.
 
Oh SacArrow, I took your recommendation and plotted a course to my kids school in foreflight. Pulled up the SV and that made a big improvement in my understanding.

Thanks.
 
Clark1961 said:
In practice that three mile bubble is pretty much imaginary unless it's IMC. Even in IMC there will be cowboys squawking 1200 and not talking, not many but some.

Getting the IFR rating does teach you about both the ATC system and flying. It does help you be a safer pilot in that regard. Learning about weather takes a lot of time/effort - it's a benefit of the process that needs to continue long after earning the rating.
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Yeah...... But any safe and long time VFR driver will learn the same things to add longevity to their life too...:yes:......:)
 
The only difference between Foreflights HSI and a "real" HSI is that Foreflight doesn't have an OBS function. It automatically sets the OBS to the course you enter. With a real HSI you normally have to manually set the OBS to the course heading.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Do you want the IR? Do you really need it? A lot of IR worship in GA, I'd rather drive a submarine if I can't look out the window. If you want it or need it you I can't help ya, but don't get it out of pilot peer pressure.
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That's a good, valid point. But I would never discourage anyone from getting the rating. The training and the understanding gained from it will absolutely make you a more knowledgeable and better pilot, even if you never plan to use it.
 
Sac Arrow said:
The only difference between Foreflights HSI and a "real" HSI is that Foreflight doesn't have an OBS function. It automatically sets the OBS to the course you enter. With a real HSI you normally have to manually set the OBS to the course heading.
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Not if it's coupled to a GPS.

The airplane I soloed in was like that at the time (now, it has an Aspen because that HSI ate itself). HSI + Garmin 430.
 
MAKG1 said:
Not if it's coupled to a GPS.

The airplane I soloed in was like that at the time (now, it has an Aspen because that HSI ate itself). HSI + Garmin 430.
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Was that plane equipped with a GPSS roll steer?
 
FastEddieB said:
Not that I recall.
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Could well be true, it's been a loooong time since I've flown with a 430.
flyingron said:
Actually, the handhelds are more likely to have these goofy features than the panel mount ones do. The 430/480/530 all have a track-wheel type display but it really doesn't approximate an HSI because it's not really showing the deviation just painting the purple line where it is (hopefully it's on the screen at the range you have selected) and because it doesn't have anyway of displaying HEADING.
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Hmm... not sure what you'd call the gizmo on the 480 NAV page that I used on my IR checkride then. I had hit one of the Sandel buttons and thrown it into nav mode which I don't particularly like and didn't have time to figure out how to get out of, since I had just been cleared direct to the IAF for a GPS approach. It looks very much like an HSI; of course, as you said (and I said earlier), it does not show heading but rather track. It DOES show course deviation as well, otherwise it would have been no more useful to me than the Sandel at that point.
 
the hsi (mechanical or displayed on a pfd) is an awesome instrument. Makes navigating (holding, approach, enroute) in ifr way easier than with a cdi and a dg. without thinking or trying to figure it out the hsi tells ypu directly where the airplane is and is heading with relation to your selected navaid or fix with zero ambiguity or doubt. when looking to buy an airplane is one of my minimum require,emts to be met.
 
FastEddieB said:
Not that I recall.

Though all the Garmin handhelds I've used do.

It's my preferred display - map on the left, 4 fields and faux HSI on the right.

15727287123_2cd3772b37_c.jpg


It also provides a "glidelsope" needle to aid with vertical descent profiles - quite handy in practice.
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That's a sweet setup for VMC work, I wouldn't want to be in IMC with it though.
 
FastEddieB said:
A man's got to know his limitations, and I'm thinking my IFR days are behind me.
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That's a really cool looking panel. Very fighter-like!
 
Looooove HSI. Wish I had one. Everyone is right, the paper questions about them don't make much sense. Flying one is nice.
 
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