Aircraft Digital Instrument and Monitoring System
An aircraft digital instrument and monitoring system is not something you find in a aircraft maintenance garage; it is something you find inside the cockpit of a modern or an upgraded aircraft.
Aircraft Digital Instrument and Monitoring System basically replaced the OEM vintage dials and gauges that aircraft until a decade or so ago, came equipped with.
With digital age came the opportunity to combine all (as in the case of single and twin engine aircraft), or groups of dials and gauges into a single digital monitoring instrument or display unit – much like the EDM 960 for twin engine aircraft manufactured by J.P. Instruments (see picture).
The advantage of these modern Engine Data Management Systems (EDM's) is that they combine with modern quick response sensors to display highly accurate engine data in real time. Besides, these displays are highly programmable and any pilot can easily program them directly from the front panel itself.
Various upper (e.g. engine temperature) and lower limits (e.g. fuel) can be fed into the EDM and should the engine exceed any of these limits, the aircraft digital instrument provides hard-to-ignore visual (and sometimes audio) warning to the pilot.
These EDM's can monitoring such things as Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGTs) to stable 1°F resolution, DIF low to high EGT with alarm, EGTs to stable 1°F resolution, Shock cooling monitored on every cylinder, User selectable index rate, Non-volatile long term memory, 30 hours memory capacity, Post-flight data retrieval, Oil pressure, Oil temperature, Outside air temperature and Fuel level to name just a few.
As a pilot, you can therefore concentrate of just flying the plane instead of having to constantly monitor dozens of dials and gauges. The EDM does the monitoring for you.
Budget depending, upgrading your aircraft cockpit display can be as instant or as gradual as you like. The EDM 960 with all bells and whistles for instance, will just around $8,000 or so. While some may argue that is cheaper to buy piecemeal for example, buy just the digital fuel flow monitor; the simple fact is, overtime if you buy two of three of individual monitors, it will cost you more than buying one EDM unit.
The most economical, value-for-money EDM are made by J.P. Instruments (JPI). Other manufacturers sell similar Aircraft engine data monitoring system for up to twice the price charged by JPI. Besides, with over three decades of experience, JPI are the original entrepreneurs and innovators in this field. If you are still flying an aircraft with analogue dials and Slimline Pressure Gauge, the time to upgrade is now. Upgrade now and rediscover the thrill of flying your aircraft.
