airplanerik
Well-Known Member
Has anybody ever used Sporty's Electronic E6B Flight Computer? How is it? Is it a good thing to have and worth the money? I'm thinking about getting one if I hear good things!
Electronic Flight Computer
- Thread starter airplanerik
- Start date
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
I use the Sporty's for pre-flight stuff but when I'm in the air, I think the manual one is easier to use. You don't have to scroll through menus and input four things to get your GS.
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REAL pilots use manual flight computers!
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Damn straight! I paid good money for this watch!
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REAL pilots use manual flight computers!
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Damn straight! I paid good money for this watch!
The "Sporty's" one is just an ASA model. The old CX1.
Only reason I know this, is someone left one in our lost and found for a couple of years. Never picked it up. Was going to get tossed since it wasn't working, and I cleaned it up, and the battery connections. Learned to use it, and read the online docs from the ASA site.
Then, about a week or two later, one of my students came in with the flat Sporty's model. The interface is exactly the same. Buttons are in a different place on the sporty's model, and they have 4 way arrows rather than two, but the screen is the same layout, and function.
It is much faster to fill in a flight planning form, with the digital one. Conversions it does are pretty cool. Does the Hour:Minute:Second to hours.tenths conversion. So when you have a a 13.5 minute leg, and you are trying to figure fuel burn, it is a little easier to read, than trying to guess what line the circular slide rule points to. But then, I always just round up on stuff like that on the e6b for safety.
I wouldn't pay the amount charged for them by these companies, but since I got what was like a $60 tool for free, I'm happy to see it does work well in some situations. It stays in my flight bag, but I have yet to try and use it to punch in the buttons in flight.
It would be much easier to figure something at any time with, since you are always prompted for the next thing. You can add inline for each requested entry. And answers that apply, carry over automatically for the next calculation you want to do, and are autoentered. Also, changing one thing, like a speed, is a matter of hitting enter a few times, and the previous entries will autofill each time, and you just type in the new number in the one place it is needed.
Only reason I know this, is someone left one in our lost and found for a couple of years. Never picked it up. Was going to get tossed since it wasn't working, and I cleaned it up, and the battery connections. Learned to use it, and read the online docs from the ASA site.
Then, about a week or two later, one of my students came in with the flat Sporty's model. The interface is exactly the same. Buttons are in a different place on the sporty's model, and they have 4 way arrows rather than two, but the screen is the same layout, and function.
It is much faster to fill in a flight planning form, with the digital one. Conversions it does are pretty cool. Does the Hour:Minute:Second to hours.tenths conversion. So when you have a a 13.5 minute leg, and you are trying to figure fuel burn, it is a little easier to read, than trying to guess what line the circular slide rule points to. But then, I always just round up on stuff like that on the e6b for safety.
I wouldn't pay the amount charged for them by these companies, but since I got what was like a $60 tool for free, I'm happy to see it does work well in some situations. It stays in my flight bag, but I have yet to try and use it to punch in the buttons in flight.
It would be much easier to figure something at any time with, since you are always prompted for the next thing. You can add inline for each requested entry. And answers that apply, carry over automatically for the next calculation you want to do, and are autoentered. Also, changing one thing, like a speed, is a matter of hitting enter a few times, and the previous entries will autofill each time, and you just type in the new number in the one place it is needed.
mtsu_av8er
Well-Known Member
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It's all about the whiz-wheel, man.
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Nothing says "squared away pilot" like a whiz wheel on a lanyard around your neck, an IFR hood on your head, and a jepp chart case, as you walk out to the 152 for landing practice. . .
It's all about the whiz-wheel, man.
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Nothing says "squared away pilot" like a whiz wheel on a lanyard around your neck, an IFR hood on your head, and a jepp chart case, as you walk out to the 152 for landing practice. . .
MidlifeFlyer
Well-Known Member
The dedicated electronic E6B has a pretty short useful life. Based on other online discussions, my story is pretty typical.
I bought one. It definitely made wind correction and groundspeed planning and some of the TAS/Altitude/Temperature calculations easier. It was useless for weight and balance and the manual one faster for most everything else. Fairly useful for the knowledge test - when it was really a "written" and didn't come with it's own aviation calculator.
That was the end. I kept the batteries fresh (a chore in the AAA version) and it lied dormant, never used, in my flight bag for years before I finally sold it.
Don't waste your money. For the real world, you'll find more use from a Palm Pilot with something like Co-Pilot - a donationware flight planning program with everything you'll need.
I bought one. It definitely made wind correction and groundspeed planning and some of the TAS/Altitude/Temperature calculations easier. It was useless for weight and balance and the manual one faster for most everything else. Fairly useful for the knowledge test - when it was really a "written" and didn't come with it's own aviation calculator.
That was the end. I kept the batteries fresh (a chore in the AAA version) and it lied dormant, never used, in my flight bag for years before I finally sold it.
Don't waste your money. For the real world, you'll find more use from a Palm Pilot with something like Co-Pilot - a donationware flight planning program with everything you'll need.
mtsu_av8er
Well-Known Member
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. . .the sportys or any other electronic E6B saves time and is alot more accurate.
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Most of my XC students will tell you...I can get just about as close as you can with my E6-B (whiz-wheel type).
. . .the sportys or any other electronic E6B saves time and is alot more accurate.
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Most of my XC students will tell you...I can get just about as close as you can with my E6-B (whiz-wheel type).
CaptainChris87
New Member
Just do it the old way, where you have to plot the crossairs adjust the grommet then turn the wheel again and so on.
mtsu_av8er
Well-Known Member
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You mean the one on the lanyard around your neck?
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Only works with my Jepp Shades and my Jepp Chart case!!!
You mean the one on the lanyard around your neck?
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Only works with my Jepp Shades and my Jepp Chart case!!!
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
Seriously, I could probably do close enough calculations for in the air stuff fast on a whiz wheel than a Sporty's rep could with the glorified calculator. Plus, if the sun hits that screen just wrong, it's REALLY hard to read. Try hitting the right buttons in turbulence, too. It's great for on the ground flight planning, but once you get in the air, give me the old fashioned way anyday. Personally, I don't care if I'm off by 3 NM.