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Avidyne FlightMax EX600
SLEW ! PAN ! ZOOM !
From 1999 to 2009 we operated a Colemill Baron
B-55, a well-equipped, nearly all-weather aircraft. It had an Avidyne EX500 MFD that was set up to read the GPS
flight plan, display instrument approach charts, traffic and NEXRAD weather, plus winds aloft and TAFs. We added the same EX500 display to our Blackhawk King Air, because we like the Avidyne so much. We operate a paperless cockpit with dual Jeppesen electronic charts, each chart display being on independent power.
I always found distant weather difficult to comprehend as the map scaling compressed the picture so much (on any WX receiver, for that matter). So, for years, we have asked Avidyne for a Slew Out / Zoom Down capabili ty. In early January 2010, they delivered the first EX600 to us. As part of that upgrade, we changed our weather provider from XM WX to WSI WX..Here we are on the ground in Virginia...having slewed the display to see the detail of "destination" weather in the Seattle area. Now we don't need distant-clarity on every flight, but when we do need it, it's REALLY NICE to have,
The flight plan in the navigator is from Virginia to Sondestromfjord Greenland via Halifax Nova Scotia and Goose Bay, Labrador.
But we are slewed all the way to the west coat of the US, simply because that was the only WX out there on this particular day, as you can easily see in the second image, below.
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This device (showing WSI WX data, deliverd via the Sirius satellites) displays the METARS flags for the entire CONUS, Canada, Alaska, Mexico and Caribbean, the north coastline of South America, and the west coastline of Greenland. the flags offer a very fast visual snapshot of good vs. less-than-good WX.
Sure,
this flight plan is unrealistic. This one (
KS HD > CYHZ > CYYR > BGSF) was a test to see if Greenland METARS came in to the panel. They do indeed (west coast of Greenland only), fully decoded to English.
Note that the EX600 has a much larger screen than the EX500. (The EX600 is exactly the same size as the MX-20 or GMX-200.)
The EX600's transflective display doesn't wash out in direct sunlight like normal LCD display do, so that's nice. (But even in sunlight, it's a bit too dim for my liking.) |
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But...let's assume that we were actually headed to Seattle. With weather like we saw above, we'd be interested in knowing more as we proceed to that destination. Right?
That's easy. Here's how the PAN/ZOOM works:
Having slewed to the area of interest once, thereafter we'd simply toggl e back to that page (a single tap on the center Slew button) and then dial down the range. Just about how slick is that? In about 15 seconds, the display will revert to the aircraft's own location, but it will also remember the slewed-to area of interest and range setting, so it's easy to toggle back to Seattle any time we care to.
...and this is a certified unit, not a portable. I have used most of the handheld portables and they are great, but I prefer this certified device with properly mounted external antennae. We do fly up north to the Arctic occasionally, and the much better external antenna location is worth it to me.
Another example: Here we are  sitting on the ground in Virginia, looking at detailed Los Angeles CA weather.
Let's say we were headed there. We simply click that center slew button and take a peek westward every few hours or so.
It's so comforting to have such a detailed understanding of destination weather readily at hand.
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Terrific!  For more on the new EX600, click here
Here's the north coastline of South America and all of Central America. We are still in Virginia, in the climbout as we head to south Florida up and over a huge snowstorm.
Isn't great information, just great?
Any questions? just give me a call, or
click on the e-mail link below.
While you are here, have a look at our horse
teams, and carriages, or take
a tour of our farm in central Virginia.
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