IFD 5 Series & IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM

Feature Request: Timers

Printed From: Avidyne
Category: Avidyne General
Forum Name: IFD 5 Series & IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
Forum Description: Topics on Avidyne's IFD 5 Series and IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
URL: http://forums.avidyne.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=460
Printed Date: 12 Mar 2025 at 8:58am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Feature Request: Timers

Posted By: oskrypuch
Subject: Feature Request: Timers
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 6:07pm

1) Allow fuel tank timer to start timing from wheels up (in-air).

At least for me, the timer on this should start from wheels up, not power up. It is the in-air time that you need, as that is when you burn fuel at a significant rate. I also have a very good idea of how much fuel I should have burned in the first 30 min, and that is a good checkpoint. If you introduce the variability of the time of the ground run, that eliminates that as a useful check.

2) Have a predefined timer block that shows:

Time out (power up)

Time in (ground, before shutdown, could just be the "current" time once landed)

Total time in air (*) - in fractional hours

Block time (Time out to Time in) - in fractional hours

Optionally you could also add Time off (wheels up) and Time on (landing time).

I need at least the first four for every flight.

(*) There is no way to configure the Total time in air currently, you can sort of get the Block Time, but it would be nice if all four were available in a discrete block, all available at a glance.

* Orest

Replies:

Posted By: ptlevine
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2014 at 4:18pm

#1 is true of a pistons, but not so on a turbine or turboprop. Turbines/turboprops burn a lot on the ground running the compressors. So any change to the fuel timers to reflect that should be an option not universal switch

Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2014 at 4:24pm

Well, sure, I have no objection to both being available.

But, it is not so much the amount of fuel burn. Sure turbines will burn more on the ground, but that still dwarfs their hourly burnout in the air.

The issue is the variability of the ground phase. You might be at an uncontrolled airport in VMC, and zip out, or you might be stuck behind a long line of jets at KMDW. It is the variability of the ground phase that fouls things up, it takes away from the predictive value of the burnout during the first 30 min of flight, as a crosscheck on operations.

* Orest