Overload of information on EFIS Displays
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Overload of information on EFIS Displays
Steam Gauges Are Safer - IFR Magazine Article
A thought provoking article. Particularly in view of the increasing number of training aircraft that have discarded round dials for EFIS. For example, the old artificial horizons were a flight instrument on their own as part of the venerable "Six Pack" of flight instruments. The AH was generally the centre-piece because it was the most important instrument in terms of aeroplane attitude. Sometimes it was a larger instrument than the rest depending on the installation. The the miniature model in the middle of the AH was known as the "little aeroplane."
Now with all the Garmin EFIS type gizmoes the little aeroplane is now a little triangle because it is designed to enclose a V-Bar flight director in some aircraft. It can often become submerged among the colours of terrain visual information. No wonder some pilots have difficulty trying to interpret an unusual attitude with all that colourful background information. In some EFIS displays the VSI is nothing more than a tiny slash against a vertical scale rather than the whopping great needle that fairly shouts at you to watch for excessive rates of climb and descent.
One touted advantage of colourful EFIS displays with everything packed into the one square is ease of scanning and added situational awareness. The jury is still out on that one.
Interestingly, when the first EFIS equipped Boeing 737-300 came on line, it may have been the US operator South West Airlines that opted for the old Six Pack Display in EFIS form as there was a concern that too much information packed into one instrument could lead to sensory overload and degradation of scan technique.
A thought provoking article. Particularly in view of the increasing number of training aircraft that have discarded round dials for EFIS. For example, the old artificial horizons were a flight instrument on their own as part of the venerable "Six Pack" of flight instruments. The AH was generally the centre-piece because it was the most important instrument in terms of aeroplane attitude. Sometimes it was a larger instrument than the rest depending on the installation. The the miniature model in the middle of the AH was known as the "little aeroplane."
Now with all the Garmin EFIS type gizmoes the little aeroplane is now a little triangle because it is designed to enclose a V-Bar flight director in some aircraft. It can often become submerged among the colours of terrain visual information. No wonder some pilots have difficulty trying to interpret an unusual attitude with all that colourful background information. In some EFIS displays the VSI is nothing more than a tiny slash against a vertical scale rather than the whopping great needle that fairly shouts at you to watch for excessive rates of climb and descent.
One touted advantage of colourful EFIS displays with everything packed into the one square is ease of scanning and added situational awareness. The jury is still out on that one.
Interestingly, when the first EFIS equipped Boeing 737-300 came on line, it may have been the US operator South West Airlines that opted for the old Six Pack Display in EFIS form as there was a concern that too much information packed into one instrument could lead to sensory overload and degradation of scan technique.
My Dynon EFIS has a “six pack mode” that replicates the old style. The problem I worry about is loss of situational awareness in the circuit. I like to see speed and slip, not much else.
The arguments about too much info on EFIS displays are usually made by people that grew up using hard ball instruments.
Take a new pilot who has grown up in the EFIS world and stick them in a hardball aeroplane and their head will explode. It doesn't make them any less a pilot than someone who can interpret the hard ball. It would be very easy to make the same argument in reverse - putting EFIS pilots into hard ball aeroplanes introduces additional risk.
I suspect the same style arguments could have been and were made about manual and auto gear boxes as the transition from manual to auto gearboxes moved into full swing. My father in law always reckoned that if you were driving a car with an auto gear box you were just steering.
Information presented on some displays is an overload for some people depending on their familiarity with the system but usually the more experience a person gains on that type of display those concerns dissipate. I have flown hard ball 737's and EFIS 737's, hard ball regional jets and turboprops and EFIS regional jets and I much prefer to use the EFIS displays.
Trend vectors, speed and altitude tapes, visual wind vector displays etc etc etc all add up to a much greater level of situational awareness for those that can assimilate it.
As for Southwest they deliberately disabled VNAV, Autothrottle and all sorts of technology just to maintain commonality with the 737-100/200. They are singlehandedly responsible for the ****fight that is the 737 flight deck these days - Boeing wanted to chop the front off and stick a 757 flight deck on and Southwest said no and Boeing caved and the result is we have brand new aeroplanes where pilots need to turn packs on and off to start the engines, switch engine anti-ice on and off, put generators on line after start and all manner of stuff that should have gone out with the dinosaurs.
Take a new pilot who has grown up in the EFIS world and stick them in a hardball aeroplane and their head will explode. It doesn't make them any less a pilot than someone who can interpret the hard ball. It would be very easy to make the same argument in reverse - putting EFIS pilots into hard ball aeroplanes introduces additional risk.
I suspect the same style arguments could have been and were made about manual and auto gear boxes as the transition from manual to auto gearboxes moved into full swing. My father in law always reckoned that if you were driving a car with an auto gear box you were just steering.
Information presented on some displays is an overload for some people depending on their familiarity with the system but usually the more experience a person gains on that type of display those concerns dissipate. I have flown hard ball 737's and EFIS 737's, hard ball regional jets and turboprops and EFIS regional jets and I much prefer to use the EFIS displays.
Trend vectors, speed and altitude tapes, visual wind vector displays etc etc etc all add up to a much greater level of situational awareness for those that can assimilate it.
As for Southwest they deliberately disabled VNAV, Autothrottle and all sorts of technology just to maintain commonality with the 737-100/200. They are singlehandedly responsible for the ****fight that is the 737 flight deck these days - Boeing wanted to chop the front off and stick a 757 flight deck on and Southwest said no and Boeing caved and the result is we have brand new aeroplanes where pilots need to turn packs on and off to start the engines, switch engine anti-ice on and off, put generators on line after start and all manner of stuff that should have gone out with the dinosaurs.
You may be overlooking the fact that most contemporary EFIS systems (e.g. Honeywell Apex) automatically declutter and present a simplified display that emphasizes "the right way up" when the aircraft goes into an unusual attitude.
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As the years go by..more hairs turn grey and I destroy more brain cells with too much single malt I find it harder and harder to cope with modern glass screens..
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One of my young F/O's flies Tiger Moths & the glass cockpit corporate jet we fly, he switches from one to the other like duck to water ! I also have the 6 pack in my own plane, I prefer the 6 pack any day BUT an not averse to using todays fancy stuff although most of it displayed is really not needed all the time.
Each tp their own.
A good pilot is able to adapt:-)
Each tp their own.
A good pilot is able to adapt:-)
