flymap xl in r44

[nellycopter]

hello there,

although i've visited and read from this site for years, i now have a question of my own.
Has anyone got a Flymap Xl fitted into a robinson R44 ?
As i understand it the flymap units are not yet certified,( as with all the modern gizmo's like th PCAS XRX unit) but are far far more advanced than the aging bendix skymap III.
I have on order a new R44 RII due for delivery in March 08 and are debating if i should cancell the skymap III and fit this upto date piece of kit.

can anyone shed any light on this to help me decide, :rolleyes:
as you will prbable know there isnt enough room for both.

regards

Nelly Copter.

[JimBall]

You're right that Skymap isn't certified. It would therefore be illegal to run it on a permanent power supply from the R44 bus. It would also be illegal to have the unit permanently fixed to the aircraft with screw or rivet holes made in the aircraft's metalwork.

However, plugging it into the cigar lighter socket and having it mounted on a suction RAM mount inside the screen is OK.

It can run on batteries - but it needs mega-power and so the batt pack is bulky.

Probably better off with a Garmin 296 or 496 with some decent UK airspace upgrades which are available free over the internet. You can download the London heli routes, high obstacles and helicopter landing sites from here (http://www.pipercub.flyer.co.uk/id45.htm)

[nellycopter]

thanks or the reply,
i understand what your saying, i recently took my r44in for its star anual and had the PCAS unit sat upfront with its power wire plugged into the aux socket which happens to be in the back......
engineering told me that i shouldnt have the wire trailing from front to back and suggested they got the avionics guy in to put me a socket in the front on the instrument panel (at a cost!!) to which i agreed to and had done.
is this not the same thing ?? it is running on the aircraft bus, but it was explained to me that so long as its quickly removable its classed as 'Walk on' which is ok ...
what i was thinking with the skymap is to have the same sort of socket fitted in my new machine - so that it too is 'Removable'.
with more and more upto date gadgets and pilot aids becomming available i cant really understand why no-one else is addressing this ???

nelly...:ugh:

[nellycopter]

i've read just about everything there is now on the net regarding the flymap units, with so many reviews in the mags and loads of online reviews -
my question now is who are they selling these things to and how are they operating them ??? the flymap website has examples of units fitted in fixed wing and helicopters, clearly wired to the aircraft bus and permanently installed....
one pilot store mag (uk) offers the unit with bare wires for install.........

maybe my next port of call will be flymap themselves......


nelly copter:)

[JTobias]

Hi Guys

We are just about to install the Flymap L into our Enstrom 480. The unit arrived two weeks ago and we are having it fitted in Leicester the week after next. These are the absolute muts nuts. We already have more GPS's than we know what to do with, but the Flymap was irresistable and I have now seen them fitted in a variety of U.K. machines.

You should be able to have it properlty fitted to the R44 and remain legal.

If you want to know how it's done, P.M. me

Joel

[nigelh]

We use a hand held on a knee board for night flying in the squirrel. It is a very useful piece of kit with MSA , pylons etc all ata a glance. Much better than the old skymap 111 which regularly seems to not know the name of any local town/village for referance...and when it does , it is often a name which is not on the caa map !! Thinking now of fitting one in permanent . Also displays notams etc

[Twiddle]

Take a look at PocketFMS as well, there's a 30 day fully functional eval at their website.

[nellycopter]

thanks guys for your comments,
there does however seem to be a mixed bag of results,
legal -illegal,
but when all said and done - it looks like the flymap is set to be the future of GA sat nav..

nelly - copter ..:ok:

[Lost Again]

speak to Heliair wycombe - they may have fitted one to a 44 for one of their customers


regards

richard