Gyronimo!

Crossing the border from Canada into the US several years ago, I was asked what sort of work I did and I replied that I was a technical writer. The border officer asked if I'd written anything he might have read. I responded "Doubtful. I write the sorts of books that once you put them down, you just can't pick them up again." Unfortunately, the same can be said of most any aircraft Approved Flight Manual (AFM), Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) or Pilot Information Manual (PIM). In particular, the performance section of these documents often contains graphs and tables that makes a pilot's eyes glaze over. Now, thanks to a suite of performance apps enthusiastically named Gyronimo, GA pilots no longer need to run away screaming when trying to meet the requirements of 14 CFR 91.103. There are separate apps for a variety of airplanes and helicopters and here's an overview of how to complete weight & balance and performance planning for a DA42NG, PA28R-201T, and C172S.

Note: These apps all require an iPad 3 or newer, or an iPad mini or iPad mini retina.

Weight & Balance

The first screen you'll see after launching is for the and balance (mass and balance for Diamond aircraft) screen with a row of button across the top you can tap to access other functions. Your first stop should be Save/Load to enter the aircraft registration number for your aircraft.

Return to the weight and balance page, tap on the Table View button in the lower right of the screen, and you can enter the empty weight and center of gravity (CG), taxi/run-up fuel allowance, and the like.

Entering weights for passengers, baggage and fuel is done by moving the sliders next to each station. If you find the sliders a bit touchy, just tap on the weight field to access a calculator style input. The calculator input provides conversions, too.

Once you've completed your w&b calculations, tap on Send Load Manifest to email the results to yourself, another pilot or dispatcher.

For some aircraft types, like the C172S, the Save/Load page offers two modes. If you want to do calculations in order from weight & balance to takeoff, climb, cruise, and landing, select Plan Mode.

Takeoff & Climb

Where the Gyronimo apps really add value is calculating the important numbers. Remember that any performance numbers you calculate are based on a brand new aircraft piloted by an accomplished test pilot. Any numbers you come up with should be padded with a reasonable fudge factor, just to be safe.

The C172S PIM provides various tables that often require multiple interpolations, but Gyronimo does that for you. The takeoff weight is carried forward from the previous page and you can enter the surface winds, runway slope and runway surface. To display the manufacturer's table from the PIM, just tap on the book symbol in the upper right corner.

For the Piper Arrow IV, the manufacturer provides a graph and this where Gyronimo does something really awesome: It plots the calculations on the manufacturer's graph from the POH! You can estimate both ground roll and distance to clear a fifty foot obstacle. Move the sliders and observe how performance changes.

For the DA42NG, you can display rate of climb (ROC) for two engines as well as estimated single-engine ROC, also plotted on the manufacturer's charts. Awesome!

Estimating the DA42NG's single-engine service ceiling based on a given mass, temperature, and pressure is easy: Drag the Climb End MSL slider until a 50'/minute climb is shown.

Cruise

Gyronimo uses the same strategy for calculating cruise - charts or graphs are used depending on what the manufacturer provides. For the DA42NG, just drag the sliders to set the desired power setting, headwind, temperature, and altimeter setting to see the effects. As with takeoff and climb, you can access the actual performance charts. The C172S and Arrow IV follow suit.

Landing

The calculations for landing are implemented the same way as takeoff calculations, based on the manufacturer's tables or graphs (which you can display by tapping on the book icon in the upper right).

Visual Winds

Tap on the Wind Components button and you'll get an E6B style representation of the winds for takeoff and landing. This a great way to achieve a positive transfer of knowledge with student pilots.

The Overview

For the C172S and Arrow IV, tap on the Summary button to get the big picture. Nice!

Bottom Line

Teach a pilot to calculate performance and they'll likely pass their check ride. Give a pilot a labor-saving, safety enhancing app and they'll be more likely to always meet their preflight planning obligations. Sure you can plan by hand and get good results, but when you're rushed or rusty an app like Gyronimo can be a big help and a big safety asset. These apps vary in cost, from $14 to $30 and to my mind they are worth the cost.

My recommendation? Check it out! Gyronimo!

 

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