Aspen E5 and IMC

[Jakes Simmons]

Review after a couple cross countries and IMC work with the newest Aspen E5 with optional unlock. Minus an engine monitor and the Holy Grail of an AeroCruze 100, my panel is done having $$$ “invested”. Long saga with original dual AV30’s and I am now satisfied with what I’ve got. 
     That’s the latest version of the AV30 in the lower left installed as back up AI. It is still being fed OAT and GPS info and with its own internal battery makes a great stand by instrument. I’ve noticed it still has some precession issues even with the new internal hardware. Attitude information is solid though and much better than the original units. However using the Aspen in real world IFR is much more confidence inspiring. Very stable, easy to interpret quickly, and easy on the eyes. The AV30 AI representation never seemed quite “fine” enough. 
     My only complaint about the Aspen is it’s vertical speed indication. Nothing inherently wrong with it but for some reason my eyes never pick it up naturally in a scan. The analog gauge still works better. Favorite compliment is the real time winds aloft. Often what’s actually being experienced is different from forecast or even the free ADSB stuff. I like watching the winds as I climb just in case I need to go lower for turbulence and have an idea on how ETE’s might change.

     That mildly haphazard panel does make for stately pacing on the start up procedure. Master comes on first and nothing is touched while the AV30 aligns. After that one is stable I go through the normal engine start procedure. Leaned for idle, avionics switch on next, then once lights look good the last switch is PFD power and I wait for the Aspen to align and self test. I do cockpit organization for each alignment “wait” and I find the process keeps me from hurrying through checklists, probably safer overall.

     So thumbs up for Aspen and the latest E5. If I had my current knowledge now and was starting from day one, I would have gone full Dynon. Costs would have ended up being comparable. However that road is closed, spent my money, and I really enjoy what I’ve got. Never underestimate big knobs in turbulence. Turns out I am not a fan of Garmin touchscreen. 
     That’s a D3 off to the right and I run FlyQ off an internally mounted Stratus receiver with AHRS so I believe I am pretty well covered for attitude back ups…I hope….  VAL 429 for VHF nav work, so far that unit works really well too. 

[Mooney Dog]

I wish i had better luck with aspen units. On paper they're all a great device. In my own personal use. They've never worked right. Either drifting, not showing airspeed or alt, total failures, etc. I ended up going 2 g5 units in mine and kept most the original 6 pack.

 

Im guessing thats the Garmin 355 gps/com. If so did you add the extra ADSB in features for it? I have the 375 gps/adsb transponder for mine and i love it. The touchscreen felt weird at first and sometimes is annoying in turbulence, but its so much quicker than the old 430/530 i was used too. 

[PeteMc]

I've had no issues with my Aspen Pro Max and I'm also glad I got it.  But I do TOTALLY AGREE that at lot of the displays need to be a LOT bigger.  Basically now that it's been out for quite a while, they really need to reach out to their users and get a "wish list" from all of them.  This kind of stuff is an easy software change, not like they have to manufacture the unit.

For the Vertical Speed, depending the software, your E1000 should have both the digital climb/descend display and the white bar in the same area.  But there should also be a magenta bar that goes up or down from the Altitude Mark.  They call it the Altitude Trend Vector and it give you an indication if you're climbing or descending. 

Now I wish that Altitude Trend Vector line was wider.  It would make it stand out more.  And I really wish the VSI numbers (e.g. +500, -820, etc.) were a LOT bigger.  There is a lot of space in that area and no reason for the tiny font size.  Also wish they'd redo the Altitude numbers!  Instead of 4500, 4510, 4520, etc., I'd like to see 4500, 4510, 4520.  or 5000, 5010, 5020.  With the larger hundreds number (45xx or 50xx) it would gives you another visual reference to quickly see that there's a change. 

There are numerous articles on how the old analog dials were much better at showing you a change as your mind works quicker with pictures than with text/digits you have to READ not just look at (no comic book references please... ).  So I wish Aspen really would do some much needed redesigns.

 

[carusoam]

“my panel is done…”

Very strong words…..

Often repeated before a flight, and as a reminder after the flight…. 

The E5s teeth are getting longer…

Might be time to gather requests for things wanted in the next software update…

The Aspen contact is around here somewhere…

Best regards,

-a-

[Marauder]

Review after a couple cross countries and IMC work with the newest Aspen E5 with optional unlock. Minus an engine monitor and the Holy Grail of an AeroCruze 100, my panel is done having $$$ “invested”. Long saga with original dual AV30’s and I am now satisfied with what I’ve got. 
     That’s the latest version of the AV30 in the lower left installed as back up AI. It is still being fed OAT and GPS info and with its own internal battery makes a great stand by instrument. I’ve noticed it still has some precession issues even with the new internal hardware. Attitude information is solid though and much better than the original units. However using the Aspen in real world IFR is much more confidence inspiring. Very stable, easy to interpret quickly, and easy on the eyes. The AV30 AI representation never seemed quite “fine” enough. 
     My only complaint about the Aspen is it’s vertical speed indication. Nothing inherently wrong with it but for some reason my eyes never pick it up naturally in a scan. The analog gauge still works better. Favorite compliment is the real time winds aloft. Often what’s actually being experienced is different from forecast or even the free ADSB stuff. I like watching the winds as I climb just in case I need to go lower for turbulence and have an idea on how ETE’s might change.
     That mildly haphazard panel does make for stately pacing on the start up procedure. Master comes on first and nothing is touched while the AV30 aligns. After that one is stable I go through the normal engine start procedure. Leaned for idle, avionics switch on next, then once lights look good the last switch is PFD power and I wait for the Aspen to align and self test. I do cockpit organization for each alignment “wait” and I find the process keeps me from hurrying through checklists, probably safer overall.
     So thumbs up for Aspen and the latest E5. If I had my current knowledge now and was starting from day one, I would have gone full Dynon. Costs would have ended up being comparable. However that road is closed, spent my money, and I really enjoy what I’ve got. Never underestimate big knobs in turbulence. Turns out I am not a fan of Garmin touchscreen. 
     That’s a D3 off to the right and I run FlyQ off an internally mounted Stratus receiver with AHRS so I believe I am pretty well covered for attitude back ups…I hope….  VAL 429 for VHF nav work, so far that unit works really well too. 

Your panel in your 76 looks a lot like mine when I installed my Aspen 2000. Initially I kept all of the analog stuff. After 20+ years of flying IFR with analog gauges, my mind wasn’t ready for tapes. I eventually forced myself to learn (especially the ASI) by covering them with a sticky note. Now after 9 years of flying with them, it’s second nature. And I got to clean up the panel and removed the old stuff.

As for remorse. When I was looking at what was available back in 2012, the Garmin G500 was just introduced and Aspen had their stuff. The G500 initially didn’t have a backup battery and when it was available it was $5k. Aspen’s battery backup and reversion mode sold me. If I had bought the G500, I’d be sitting here today wanting a G500 Txi or a G3X. Aspen’s upgrade path to the Max was a helluva lot cheaper than upgrading the Garmin stuff would have been.

As for the VSI, I never look at the tape and always use the digital number. I guess flying the same plane for 31 years, you get used to what power settings you need to get you what you want. I look at the number just to confirm the performance.

One thing I put into context is that the avionics available to us today are light years ahead of what we had for years. It’s all good. And I have flown enough stuff over the years to say our panels are a huge step up from what a good portion of the freight dogs and charters are flying behind.

2022



2013




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[Fly Boomer]

12 hours ago, Marauder said:

avionics available to us today are light years ahead of what we had

I like the look of the EI tach and MP.  Do you like them?  How about the fuel instrument?

[Marauder]

I like the look of the EI tach and MP.  Do you like them?  How about the fuel instrument?

I love them. They are simple and a great back up to the JPI 900. Even years after I had the JPI installed, I find myself still using the EI’s to set RPM & MP.


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[Oscar Avalle]

I like my ASPEN... I think they are flexible and allow me to reconfigure the screens based on my needs and phase of the flight.