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Landing Height System is now FAA Certified for all Pipers

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So I have an idea for you. If you could provide a pin I could drive low or high to disable the landing gear callout that would be awesome. That way I could physically turn the warning on or off with wiring without using wifi during the installation, or whenever.

Do this and I totally promise I won't hook it up to my landing gear down indicator, thereby providing the audible callout/warning only if the gear isn't yet down. Did I say I promise?


If we have a spare pin (most importantly a spare wire) we can monitor the Gear Switch (Up-side) directly and if it has power, this means the gear is still up.

But as this was not part of the certification; the quick-disconnect is a 4-pin connector. Two for Power and two for Audio and no spare pin designed as a “trigger”.

The reminder message is short (1.1 seconds) and those who emailed us asking to add it as part of the initial firmware said they will use it for a “last glance” at the 3-green, even if the gear is already down.

It is not intended to be the primary reminder to lower the gear. Of course, we expect if someone at 50’ and heard the reminder, looked at the 3-green and discovered not all are lit; to immediately go-around and not even try to lower gear and continue the approach.

We are planning to go back to the FAA and discuss the idea of adding an extra wire to be hooked up to the Gear-Up switch side and detect if the Gear is still up that way.

For those who already bought or are considering buying the unit now and have an RG airplane and looking forward for this extra feature; we are committed to swap the unit with a very low upgrade fee (≤ 10% of their purchase price) if we received the FAA approval on the new design. It will be the same case; so swapped directly, but with a 5-pin quick-disconnect cable, and the new hardware board for that feature. The extra wire just needs to be connected to the Gear-Up switch side to sense when it has power. We can’t say for sure if the FAA will approve this, or how long it may take. We expect them to approve it, as we are only sensing power, we may even use a wrap around type sensing with no direct connection to the Gear Switch itself as well.
 
Also, any update on the unit with gear up detect? Thanks!

Unfortunately, the promotion ended last year. (31/12). Regarding the updated unit, we are planning to start talking with the FAA about the "possibility" of an upgraded unit that senses the gear switch position sometimes in March. We are currently focused on completing the first phase by getting all bulk and pre-orders out and are setting ourselves to have may units in-stock by the last week of February. As we mentioned before, we are not sure if the FAA will even entertain the idea and if they do, it may still take a year or so.
 
My apologies as I do not personally see any advantage to having this system? What am I missing?
Is it a bit gimmicky, yes. However, I do like the altitude callouts as your approaching the runway.
I also see value for night operations when your just not sure where you are in relationship (height) to the runaway.
Finally, I also see it as another safeguard if they release a newer version that will advise to "call out" gear warning.
 
Is it a bit gimmicky, yes. However, I do like the altitude callouts as your approaching the runway.
I also see value for night operations when your just not sure where you are in relationship (height) to the runaway.
Finally, I also see it as another safeguard if they release a newer version that will advise to "call out" gear warning.

If tied in to the gear deployed state, that may well be very worthwhile.

The callouts below 100ft are quite useful in large transport aircraft, where the pilot's eyes are quite high above the runway (68ft in a 747). But in my view, in a small aircraft it is more just a "cool" feature. The price is approachable though, so if you want an aviation "stocking stuffer", this may be it.

* Orest
 

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