Tell me why you like the HSI

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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Sixer
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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An HSI is a great instrument. It presents, at a glance, all the information you could want in terms of orientation to the nav aid and direction. You can even navigate direct off airway to fixes using it with surprising accuracy.

As far as test questions go, can't help you there. I'd just focus on understanding the instrument and the test questions should take care of themselves. Don't learn an instrument (or anything really) by studying test questions. It's a cart / horse thing.
 
If you get to use one in real life, it will be evident why it's easier, and preferable. The FAA test questions on instruments will make you want to swallow a bullet out of frustration. They make it much harder than it really is, and will make you feel like you don't understand something that you really do. For example, have you ever once had any problem reading your altimeter when you were in the plane?
 
HSI is a good instrument, makes intercepting radials perfectly and flying Back Course a snap. Basically it's just an overlay of the CDI and Glide Slope needles over your DG. You never want one piece of information IFR, you want them combined in a way that figuring out what the sum of the information means, and the HSI does a nice job of that. IFR is an exercise in continuous multitasking.

Take intercepting a radial. As the CDI needle hits the lubber line of the DG, just keep turning to keep the lubber line on the needle, and you end up on the radial/localizer slicker than ****, plus the GS is in your view as well.
 
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HSI are supermega ultra, well they were pre GPS. Once the darling star of panels so far it has fallen.:lol:
 
PPC1052 said:
If you get to use one in real life, it will be evident why it's easier, and preferable. The FAA test questions on instruments will make you want to swallow a bullet out of frustration. They make it much harder than it really is, and will make you feel like you don't understand something that you really do. For example, have you ever once had any problem reading your altimeter when you were in the plane?
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No and I have never looked at the panel and seen 8 VORs and had to decide which one was right.

It's beyond frustrating the way they ask the questions.
 
Because you can really mess with a pilot's mind by asking which way to orient the needle to fly the back course outbound on the missed approach or departure out of Aspen!:lol:

Seriously, though, it reduces the amount of math you have to do while flying (which way and how far do I turn), since it's all there in pictures.
 
Wow, your question is almost like asking me why I like oral sex ! What's not to like ?
 
One nice thing about an HSI is that you never have deal with 'reverse sensing' on Back course approaches, since the HSI lets you flip your CDI needle, as opposed to an old school CDI.

Of course this begs the question of how many back course approaches exist any more. I haven't seen one in a while.
 
ClimbnSink said:
HSI are supermega ultra, well they were pre GPS. Once the darling star of panels so far it has fallen.:lol:
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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.
 
Don't forget most HSI are slaved, so you don't have to keep resetting the DG to the whiskey compass.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
It is funny and it is more funny because I read it as George.
:rofl:
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Heh - me too. :)

The benefit of the HSI is obvious once you fly with one. It's one of those things that's hard to explain in print.

JimNtexas said:
Of course this begs the question of how many back course approaches exist any more. I haven't seen one in a while.
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The only one that I have flown recently is up in Santa Maria (SMX). I figure most pilots fly the GPS approach for 30, but I don't have an IFR capable GPS in my rental, so the back course it is!
 
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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.
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Correct. Our HSI displays nav info from the 430, just hit the CDI button to toggle between GPS output and VOR output.
 
Henning said:
MOST! There are a couple that aren't, so before you assume it and head out into IMC, that is worth knowing.
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Heh. Don't worry about that with me.
I would never get into IMC without foreflight :nono:

Imma be A-OK!
 
The HSI had a time, and a place in the sun. That time, and that place have been swept aside by far better technology at far lower cost. Even a handheld GPS made in the past 5 years will have gobs more info than the best HSI.
 
Is there anything on the written that is current?
This is really disappointing.
 
I wouldn't fly real IFR without an HSI. They are just to good and can be had for little money.

Que the….. I remember when all you needed was a watch, altimeter, and ADF to fly an approach. Now get off my lawn!
 
docmirror said:
The HSI had a time, and a place in the sun. That time, and that place have been swept aside by far better technology at far lower cost. Even a handheld GPS made in the past 5 years will have gobs more info than the best HSI.
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SixPapaCharlie said:
Is there anything on the written that is current?
This is really disappointing.
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Doc speaks of the mechanical HSI display. All the information you learn about interpreting position on the HSI is still very relevant as applied to eHSI displays. Besides, pop's SR-22 has an HSI I'm certain.
 
Henning said:
Doc speaks of the mechanical HSI display. All the information you learn about interpreting position on the HSI is still very relevant as applied to eHSI displays. Besides, pop's SR-22 has an HSI I'm certain.
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It has a "real" one so I need to know how to use it.
 
Alexb2000 said:
Que the….. I remember when all you needed was a watch, altimeter, and ADF to fly an approach. Now get off my lawn!
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What's the watch for? You just click your tongue once a second, and you're good!

Now get off my lawn, and learn to spell "queue", ya whippersnapper!
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
It has a "real" one so I need to know how to use it.
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Yep, I would suggest you put the book down, go fly dads plane for 15 minutes using the HSI, and all the confusion you face will go away. Once you see it in operation, it becomes really clear, really quickly. The HSI became a ubiquitous display for decades for a reason, it makes tricky things easier.
 
Henning said:
Yep, I would suggest you put the book down, go fly dads plane for 15 minutes using the HSI, and all the confusion you face will go away. Once you see it in operation, it becomes really clear, really quickly. The HSI became a ubiquitous display for decades for a reason, it makes tricky things easier.
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That's a good idea.

We pick it up next Sunday and have a 6 hour flight with the CISP so I may shift my studies to something else and come back to this after some actual usage.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
That's a good idea.

We pick it up next Sunday and have a 6 hour flight with the CISP so I may shift my studies to something else and come back to this after some actual usage.
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Yep, plenty of other stuff to study between now and then. This is one of those things that is a whole lot easier to learn in practice to understand concept than to learn concept and move to practice.
 
MauleSkinner said:
What's the watch for? You just click your tongue once a second, and you're good!

Now get off my lawn, and learn to spell "queue", ya whippersnapper!
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Or even better, learn the difference between "queue" and "cue" :)
 
I've got an HSI because the only thing that was really on the market for a certificated ship at the time I did my panel was the SANDEL (which is really sort of a glorified electronic HSI) which at the time had about as many other parts (other than the display) as the KCS55A HSI I ended up installing.

Of course these days the electronic equivalents...aspens, G600's, etc... are way more sophisticated but still many offer an HSI-ish presentation.
 
If you have Foreflight, plot a route and pull up the HUD (or SV) and you will get an HSI display. Play with that.
 
Once you get one you will never go back to the old way.
They are great!
One look gives you a lot of information.
 
Alexb2000 said:
Exact same thing to me, except that the G1000 version will auto tune when you activate an approach, but functionally the same deal.
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It's there for pilots with one foot in the grave like me. Why do you think it's at the bottom with all the important stuff above? It's what we learned back in the 70s and 80s and what we are used to now(despite Bryan's conundrum).

I can just hear some 60YO pilot with all the new gimmick stuff when they designed the display; "Wher the hey-ull is my golldam aych-ess-eye! Whut is all this tickmark, rolly polly stuff up here!". So, the kids doing the coding sighed - and put in a black background, with white cardinal markings - so that us old bold pilots would buy it.

Yeah, if you are under 40, you don't even bother with it, or suppress it for something more useful. If you are over 40, it's like an unfiltered Camel, you know what you know. :yes:
 
The HSI has gone nowhere except into a glass format rather than mechanical, that is all. For old men who can't process all that information, you can turn off the info behind it and just see the HSI electrons and not get all confused with that extra stuff.
 
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