B2000 Soaring Flight computer

Situational awareness at a glance

 

The B2000 symbolic display was designed to answer the soaring pilot's questions:

 

 

When climbing the display  changes  and the cruise wind data is replaced by a bar graph display showing average over the whole flight, current thermal average, 20 second average and current Macready setting. Without reading any numbers you can tell if this thermal is worthwhile compared to the whole flight so far, if it is weakening or strengthening and how the Macready setting relates to all this.

 

This answers the main question while climbing - is this thermal a good one or should I consider leaving?
Top of bars rising up to right is good !
Down to right - why am I here ?

At the same time the display still shows direction to next turnpoint, wind direction, glide slope, etc.

 

 

Added to a B50 Super vario the B2000 performs all soaring navigation, glide calculations and meteorological information functions and displays them on a simple, clearly presented graphical symbolic display requiring minimum pilot workload for interpretation.

 

Previously most flight computers  have displayed much data in alphanumeric format and while the data may have been accurate it required too much mental effort to derive meaning and hence to be able to make decisions based on it.

 

Others have featured highly detailed moving map displays which are eminently suited to IFR navigation in powered aircraft but this isn't the task at hand in a soaring computer.

 

Almost all have required excessive pilot interaction with switches/buttons/touch screens/menus  in a feedback loop with the instrument. Obviously this is not ideal. It results in less time to look OUTSIDE the cockpit.

 

As much as possible the B2000 is operated "open loop". The standard remote controller can be mounted where it falls easily to hand, Macready, bugs and ballast settings are automatically transferred from the B50 and a pilot quickly learns how many clicks left or right from the main flight display to call up in flight statistics, task planning, moving map or landing site displays. The pilot can look outside while doing this and when he next scans the panel the desired information is there.

Other notable B2000 features

·       Mark a position, decide to fly to it some time later then return to task navigation all without interacting with the screen.

 

Wind computer

 

All the information a soaring pilot needs for better and faster decision making with less workload equals more time to look outside  to look at the magnificent view, clouds, birds, other gliders and air traffic.

 

Plus

 

Download B2000 manual as PDF file: B2000man.pdf