LCDs and PDAs gaining acceptance among Pilots

Long Beach (CA) - At the recent Airline Owners and Pilots Association Expo held in Long Beach California, pilots showed off some toys that are common in the computer world, but are just gaining acceptance in aviation. In the cockpit, older gauges and dials are being replaced with LCD screens. This "glass cockpit" design was demonstrated by Cirrus Designs, who has been making airplanes with futuristic avionics for more than 20 years.

Flying an airplane, especially in bad weather, places a huge workload on the pilot. He has to constantly scan instruments to make sure that the plane is flying level, has enough fuel and is on the right course. All while making sure the plane doesn’t slam into the ground.

Traditionally the instruments have been analog gauges placed around the cockpit. Cirrus Designs showed off their top of the line SR-22 GTS airplane, which does away with those pesky gauges and puts everything on two 10.4 inch LCD screens.

Two 10.4 inch LCD screens show weather, current location and even engine status. Severe weather is displayed in bright colors, so you can steer your plane around thunderclouds. Available fuel and engine temperatures can be called up instantly. Finally, "Skywatch" will show you all nearby airplanes and their altitudes, just like what a control tower would see.

Your location is shown on a moving map GPS screen, where the terrain moves along with the centered airplane symbol. Even in blinding rain or pitch black night, a pilot will know their location and surrounding terrain. A large arrow depicts your desired course, so you simply turn the plane until the arrow is on top.

A flight instructor said, "It almost makes a plane too easy to fly. It’s almost cheating."

The base price for the Cirrus SR22-GTS airplane is $444,000. Decked out with all the options, it weighs in at over $500,000.

Paper charts and approach plates that used to get lost in the dark corners of the cockpit can now be put on PDAs such as the Dell Axim and the upcoming Raven by Anywhere Map. Anywhere Map has been making moving map GPS software for several years. The software can be installed on almost any Pocket PC compatible PDA, or you can buy a pre-configured PDA with software already installed.

The Anywhere Map software provides moving map GPS functionality, showing your exact location. To fly to another airport, just double-tap the airport, or type in the airport identifier via the onscreen keyboard, and the software will draw a big green line to the airport. Just turn your plane and follow the line.

The Raven PDA has a 6.5 inch screen and built-in GPS. It will be available soon and pricing is yet to be announced. If you already have a PDA and GPS, you can buy the Anywhere Map software for about $290. After six months you have to purchase database upgrades for $89 a year. (Humphrey Cheung)