Columbia- Mechanics Course- Avidyne, FAA
posted in Columbia |Day 5 started with a presentation on the Avidyne equipment. Since its a major part of my avionics
this was one of thes sessions I was most looking forward to. Despite that, there were relatively
few revelations in this session.
I didnt realize that the 6.1 software has a density altitude feature. I still havent seen it
but I should look for it- it sounds useful. We also heard about procedures for calibrating the
PFD. Whenever you pull the PFD you are supposed to do three calibration steps that seem like
they would take hours. First you need to do the level calibration. Second, you calibrate the
magnetic compass which involves turning the airplane to 12 precise directions on a compass
rose. Third you need to calibrate the auto-pilot interface which ideally needs to be done
in-flight. Bottom line, there is no such thing as a simple upgrade for the PFD.
Avidyne is coming out with a 6.2 release for the MFD shortly that should fix some additional
XM reception issues. After that the next release is likely to be an update that includes support
for WAAS, but Im not counting of that coming together until next summer at the earliest,
especially considering that it needs to get certified for the Columbia too.
Finally there was a presentation by a representative from the FAA. The most interesting thing
to me was that if there is a piece of equipment broken on your airplane, but the airplane
still meets the minimum standards for the type of flight (VFR equipment, IFR equipment), you
as pilot are able to do a “deferment”. Remove the equipment or at least mark it INOP, make
a notation in the logbooks and you are legal. You need to get it repaired by the next
inspection, or hopefully sooner.
Another thing he brought up was the requirement for a test flight. After any repair or
alteration that impacts the flight characteristics, someone needs to take the airplane for
a test flight and note the test flight in the logbook. This flight can only have necessary
flight crew, which for us just means the one pilot. A normal annual wouldnt have this
requirement, but anything that really changes the weight and balance or flight control
surfaces would qualify.
After that I had to leave to get home- sometimes having your own airplane gives you extra
schedule flexibility, sometimes it gives you less when you work in weather planning. The
weather forecast was showing some weather in the Seattle area so I wanted to get home
before dark. It turned out that the weather in Seattle was no big deal and the flight
home was beautiful. Still, no complaints when it turns out nicer than predicted.
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