Since I bought my new REV as a single in stock item at the local dealer, it had bare instrumentation. Hour meter, tach, CHT, EGT, radio. I'm considering the Garmin D2 pilot's watch to fill some gaps. It has a moving map GPS with waypoints and "closest to" along with airport data base. All that is fine but since my trike is a 103 I probably won't need that. What it has that I want is VSI, ground speed, altimeter and DA, temp, compass, track, plus it can control multiple Garmin cameras.

I did install the same airspeed indicator I used 40 years ago, a Hall and with the GPS ground speed I'll know winds aloft.



Any ideas on the watch or other ways to get the above flight info on the cheap and small for Ultralight use?

I'd get a GPS for GPS stuff and get one of these for airspeed, alt, den alt, VSI

http://www.beliteaircraftstore.com/radi ... altimeter/

I put an earlier version on my ultralight and got rid of a lot of weight.

Belite has weeded out a lot of instruments compared to a few years past. Seems they are concentrating on what sells best but it still leaves a lot of nice stuff for saving weight.

WYflyer wrote:I'd get a GPS for GPS stuff and get one of these for airspeed, alt, den alt, VSI

http://www.beliteaircraftstore.com/radi ... altimeter/

I put an earlier version on my ultralight and got rid of a lot of weight.

Belite has weeded out a lot of instruments compared to a few years past. Seems they are concentrating on what sells best but it still leaves a lot of nice stuff for saving weight.

Thanks for the link. I had checked Belite out before and for $50 more the D2 has the GPS, watch, compass, track and ground speed. That's a lot for $50.

A friend of mine has one and loves it. Highly recommends it.

He flies a King Air and says it is actually a useful piece of kit and he rarely flies without it.

Downside, the battery is a weak point. He couldn't demonstrate the watch to me because he forgot the charger and it died after a couple days.

albravo wrote:A friend of mine has one and loves it. Highly recommends it.

He flies a King Air and says it is actually a useful piece of kit and he rarely flies without it.

Downside, the battery is a weak point. He couldn't demonstrate the watch to me because he forgot the charger and it died after a couple days.

Thanks for the report, that is what I want to hear. I've read reviews that comment if the GPS is kept on, battery will last 50 hours before needing a charge. I like the idea of all those functions on my wrist so that I can read with old eyes by just bringing my wrist close to my eyes.

When I fly the Champ all it has other than oil temp, pressure, and RPM is compass, air speed and Altimeter. If I need anything else, I use Garmin Pilot on the phone. I can also tune in VOR's on my handheld radio if needed. One thing that would be nice is a VSI with more precision than the one on Garmin Pilot.

I've got one and use it quite often when flying. I love the backup, "nearest" function. I actually used it on my private checkride as I was fumbling with the GPS trying to get to the home airport info page so I could determine my distance from to make proper radio calls. Trying not to look like a complete rookie, I turned to my trusty D2 and all was well.

Make up a Velcro wristband mount for an iPhone or Android phone, and you will have a (larger and much easier to read) "wristwatch" with a much more usable moving map, and probably a lot of other features that the Garmin watch may not have.

When you land, take the phone off the Velcro wristband and put it in your pocket or belt holster and treat it like a phone.

$10 worth of wrist strap stuff and a rubber phone case saves buying a $400 watch, having to keep tabs on another charger, etc.

You can also experiment with control stick mounts, kneeboard mounts, and other airframe mounts for the phone.

EZFlap wrote:Make up a Velcro wristband mount for an iPhone or Android phone, and you will have a (larger and much easier to read) "wristwatch" with a much more usable moving map, and probably a lot of other features that the Garmin watch may not have.

When you land, take the phone off the Velcro wristband and put it in your pocket or belt holster and treat it like a phone.

$10 worth of wrist strap stuff and a rubber phone case saves buying a $400 watch, having to keep tabs on another charger, etc.

You can also experiment with control stick mounts, kneeboard mounts, and other airframe mounts for the phone.

FWIW, although I don't use them much in flight, on my iPhone ES (their smallest current phone) I have the stock compass and an app for an altimeter, and Foreflight, and I also have apps that calculate DA and TAS. There are beau coup mounts for that size iPhone, which is the same case size as the iPhone 5s and 5c.

Before putting out the bucks for the D2, no matter how well someone else likes it, I'd suggest that you should try one out in a store, if possible, so that you can know whether it really will work for you.

Cary

There's a lot of good advice here, but if you want the watch because you want it - don't try to over justify the purchase, just make sure it doesn't put you in the hole financially.

I bought a nice Citizen that I wear every day because I wanted it. I think the enjoyment I get from it has already made it worth what I spent.

Take my opinion for exactly what you are paying for it, but I very much agree with EZ and Cary. I would just use you phone if it's an andriod, you can download Avare. I have used it for several years and for a VFR guy, it is great for my needs. It's a little pricey though...FREE!!!

Not that I am old, but getting close to six-O and my eyes are definitely not what they used to be. The bigger screen of the phone is better than that little screen on a watch. Plus, trying to figure out the buttons and other steps while getting bounced around in your trike might be the deciding factor. Heck, just go up flying with your standard wristwatch and play pretend. Act like you are trying to control your flivver and play with make believe buttons on your watch. If you find you are dancing all over the sky while doing so, it may tell you right away how well a real one will work. Just food for thought.
Good Luck and let us know what you end up with.

I have the D2 Bravo Titanium that the military was nice enough to buy for me, but I would never purchase it with my own money. I would use Avare or pay for one of the many apps out there for a phone or Ipad. Or buy a G5 or other mini Efis and have everything you need