Looking for help with GRT panel

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hhawkins1@att.net
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:10 pm

Looking for help with GRT panel

Post by hhawkins1@att.net »

I have a Velocity XLRG, panel recently upgraded from round gauges to HXr and all the whistles. Having problem using all this stuff and received less than optimal GRT support. Located in Shreveport LA @ KDTN. Will to fly in the TX, OK, LA, MS ARK TN area for day of hands on demonstration and instruction, or compensate you for time and expenses if you want to come here,( heated hangar). I have spent a ton on all this, I am a PP, instrument, MEL 2200hr pilot flying 40+ yrs(ticket in 68'). I am not a computer game, computer literate person and having trouble getting all this into a useable flow . Local instructors are Garmin or Dynon people (? the difference from GRT type technology?) and most have never seen a Velocity much less flown one and seem reluctant to undertake instruction. They get busy gawking at the plane and its performance, not instructing??? 195kts cruise and slick on approach with 80kts landing speed, no full stall landing or the canard will stall and the nose drops like a stone!

Equipment Lycoming IO-540 with dual electronic ignition and MT-9 propeller : 10.4" GRT HXr PFD, dual AHRS WITH HEADS-UP VISION, GPS-WAAS, AOA OPTIONS, 2 AXIS GRT AP, Garmin SL60- & SL30 RADIOS, GARMIN 330esTXP, NavWorks ADS600B EX, GARMIN 765 BUILD IN PANEL AND a SkyHunter 406 ELT

Any one interested??

Harry Hawkins
928-925-5039
JimB
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:52 am

Re: Looking for help with GRT panel

Post by JimB »

Harry,

In the documentation section of the website under Sport Manuals there is a Sport Transition Training Guide. There is a lot of good information in there. I haven't watched them, but there are several video tutorials by Jerry Morris that should also be helpful.

Be aware that the software in all the GRT EFIS is pretty similar. Often a feature is better explained in one set of documentation than another. The Sport tutorial is an example. The HXr has lots of features and capability and is very adaptable to individual preferences. That makes it complicated, confusing and difficult to learn. It's somewhat similar to new cars. They have GPS and navigation and automation, but you have to ignore all that initially and learn how to steer it down the road first. Then add the features. Your Velocity has been flying so you don't have to worry about engine temps & pressures too much. Just fly it and get used to the airspeed and altimeter tapes and the basic PFD display. Then add in some MAP functions. Download the DEMO files from the website (Software Updates, Miscellaneous Software and Utilities) and play them in your HXr to see how it functions. In the Feature of the Week section, look at the Flight Path Marker and Attitude Adjustment features.

Since you have a Velocity you probably know of Andy Millin. He has GRT HX EFIS in it. Try emailing Andy amillin@kal-soft.com .

You will learn and understand your HXr better if you figure it out yourself. Having someone "show" you how it works often doesn't help since you don't remember how they got a particular display or feature to work.

I know this isn't what you were asking, but I hope you find it helpful.

Jim Butcher
Bobturner
Posts: 444
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:34 pm

Re: Looking for help with GRT panel

Post by Bobturner »

I'm similar to you: 67, 2400 hrs, although as a physicist I am something of a computer geek maybe, and I have been a cfii for over 20 years. First few hours (VFR! under the hood) my approaches were not all that great. I finally realized that after all those years with a round DG my mind was not processing the linear tape heading display without concentrating on it. I switched my display (I have an HX, not the HXr) to split main PFD and an HSI, and things got better at once. The DG was what I was used to, and the cdi info was on the HSI, where I was used to looking for it. Now with the HXr this may not apply exactly, but you get the idea.
Don't kid yourself about the time needed to transition. I'd say 10 hours on concentrated effort is not at all excessive.
Start with a few hours on the ground (get an external power source). Put the plane where it can receive gps and, if possible, ils or vor signals."Fly" the plane in your head, practice swapping nav sources, setting up for and executing various approaches, changing nav sources, changing panel displays, etc. Practice until the button pushing and knob turning seems easy and natural. Look at the display and try to figure out what is most useful. Then go repeat this in the air. If you need help, first priority should be someone familiar with GRT equipment, even if not a cfi. You don't need to learn how to fly.
For myself, I tend to 'old school' it, flying raw data. But I've learned to use the bull's eye (projected velocity vector) to immediately get a wind correction angle. I would start there. Then, if you want, progress to using the inverted V command bars. That invokves more button pushing. As does using the autopilot for approaches. But with practice (hours, not minutes) you'll get it, and after that life gets easier.
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