Pietenpol-List: seeing the instruments
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:31 pm
Original Posted By: H RULE
Jim;I worried about seeing the instruments. I need "cheaters" orbifocals to see things up close and the restrictions on myairman medical say I need to have corrective lenses when Ifly. I wear contact lenses for distant vision but for nearvision I always carry reading glasses with me when I fly butI've never had occasion to take them out because I can alwayssee what needs to be seen without them. I have NO digitaldisplays or instruments but if I did, I might need those readersto see some of the text. With analog gauges, a quick glanceshows me what I need to know without hesitating or guessing.Can you tell that I'm a "steam gauge" type of guy? ;o)When I fly X-C, I fly with a kneeboard and a folded sectional,with my route of flight laid out and highlighted. I have nothad any problem seeing my next checkpoint on the chart, downon my knee in the cockpit.I'm in a little bit of trouble if I have to read the airportinfo or radio frequencies in tiny print on the chart or if Ineed to read the tenths and hundredths of tach time in the littlewindow on the tach but, oddly enough, I have no trouble dialingin the altimeter reading (barometric pressure) in the Kollsmanwindow. I can read every gauge on the panel and everything inthe panel of 41CC is a dial instrument, set in the stockconfiguration per plans, and with the green-yellow-red rangesmarked on the gauges. Even a child can tell if everything isin the green and that's all you need to see in flight. Whenyou're flying a Piet, the first one or two digits on the rightof any gauge readout don't interest you anyway ;o)Don't over-think this stuff. If you sit in the shop and worryabout what-ifs, you'll worry yourself silly and you'll neverfinish the airplane. I am also a scuba diver and I tend to usethe same philosophy in my dive gear... simple and lean. Ihave to laugh as I watch gadget freaks waddle off with thingshanging from clips and lanyards all over their suits and BCs,and with plotters and aids and gizmos on every D-ring and strap...and they get so consumed with what might happen that they neverenjoy the dive. Me, I fly the airplane and just check thegauges to confirm what the airplane and engine are telling me.The Piet talks real pretty and sweet, and only an occasionalglance at the gauges is needed to confirm what the airplanetells you.I never thought I'd say this since I'm an engineer and adetailer, CAD designer and an experimenter, but the Piet designis well proven for over 80 years now, so I'm going to join thechorus and here goes: "build it to the plans and you'll dojust fine!"Any changes you want to make, you can make after you fly offthose test hours or after you start your NEXT Piet and areenjoying flying your first one!!!! Yes, there are repeatoffenders on this list... I already have a set of landing gearand a Corvair engine and prop for my next Air Camper.Oscar ZunigaAir Camper NX41CCSan Antonio, TXmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.net________________________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:02:45 -0700 (PDT)
Jim;I worried about seeing the instruments. I need "cheaters" orbifocals to see things up close and the restrictions on myairman medical say I need to have corrective lenses when Ifly. I wear contact lenses for distant vision but for nearvision I always carry reading glasses with me when I fly butI've never had occasion to take them out because I can alwayssee what needs to be seen without them. I have NO digitaldisplays or instruments but if I did, I might need those readersto see some of the text. With analog gauges, a quick glanceshows me what I need to know without hesitating or guessing.Can you tell that I'm a "steam gauge" type of guy? ;o)When I fly X-C, I fly with a kneeboard and a folded sectional,with my route of flight laid out and highlighted. I have nothad any problem seeing my next checkpoint on the chart, downon my knee in the cockpit.I'm in a little bit of trouble if I have to read the airportinfo or radio frequencies in tiny print on the chart or if Ineed to read the tenths and hundredths of tach time in the littlewindow on the tach but, oddly enough, I have no trouble dialingin the altimeter reading (barometric pressure) in the Kollsmanwindow. I can read every gauge on the panel and everything inthe panel of 41CC is a dial instrument, set in the stockconfiguration per plans, and with the green-yellow-red rangesmarked on the gauges. Even a child can tell if everything isin the green and that's all you need to see in flight. Whenyou're flying a Piet, the first one or two digits on the rightof any gauge readout don't interest you anyway ;o)Don't over-think this stuff. If you sit in the shop and worryabout what-ifs, you'll worry yourself silly and you'll neverfinish the airplane. I am also a scuba diver and I tend to usethe same philosophy in my dive gear... simple and lean. Ihave to laugh as I watch gadget freaks waddle off with thingshanging from clips and lanyards all over their suits and BCs,and with plotters and aids and gizmos on every D-ring and strap...and they get so consumed with what might happen that they neverenjoy the dive. Me, I fly the airplane and just check thegauges to confirm what the airplane and engine are telling me.The Piet talks real pretty and sweet, and only an occasionalglance at the gauges is needed to confirm what the airplanetells you.I never thought I'd say this since I'm an engineer and adetailer, CAD designer and an experimenter, but the Piet designis well proven for over 80 years now, so I'm going to join thechorus and here goes: "build it to the plans and you'll dojust fine!"Any changes you want to make, you can make after you fly offthose test hours or after you start your NEXT Piet and areenjoying flying your first one!!!! Yes, there are repeatoffenders on this list... I already have a set of landing gearand a Corvair engine and prop for my next Air Camper.Oscar ZunigaAir Camper NX41CCSan Antonio, TXmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.net________________________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:02:45 -0700 (PDT)
