On Dec 16, 7:57*pm, JS wrote:
I'll take Folken's "start simple" input, great advice, another step.
* One option to avoid being overwhelmed is to fly early XCs with a paper chart and an audio vario, maybe even with speed to fly. With more experience, you'll have a better idea of what YOU want to see displayed in the cockpit.
* Early XC is perhaps not the best time to be figuring out a new flight computer.
Jim

Although I'm a huge proponent of PNAs and LK8000, I'm with Jim on this
one. You should absolutely do some short XC flights with maps and
some pre-made charts to help you figure out your speed-to-fly and
glide ratios. Before starting, do lots of study (Bob Wander sells 2
or 3 books on learning to fly Cross-Country and on Speed-to-Fly, all
of which I highly recommend).

Only add in the computer after you've made a few flights, and NEVER
try to "learn" the flight computer in the air. Always set it up on
the ground and use "simulation" mode (most programs can do this) to
play around with the system and get a feel for it.

When starting out with the flight computer, I recommend hiding almost
all of the information available, except:
1) Terrain, Airspace, and airports/landing-fields
2) The "glide amoeba" or "gliding range" feature - which shows a blob
on the moving map around your glider representing how far you can fly
from your present position & altitude.
3) Something that tells you distance and direction to your home
airport (possibly along with the estimated arrival altitude).

As for my setup: Yes, I display different things when I'm simply
flying XC versus competitions; but I change the whole setup of my
computer (LK8000 lets me save and load different profiles, to make
this easy). On any given flight, I'll typically only use 2 or 3 of
the "infobars" at the bottom/side of the screen in LK8000 for flying.
I might flip to a different page of info for a quick check on battery-
level, or flying time, or to grab my GPS coords to announce on the
radio; but almost all of the menus and screens are unused.

Take care,

--Noel
P.S. Once you've gotten a little XC time and want to start getting
comfy with your flight computer, another thing you can do is go for a
flight in a decent 2-seater (a Grob or ASK or Discus or DG) with a
more-experienced colleague. Have them do some of the flying while you
fiddle with the computer and compare what its showing you to what info
you need. Then you take over flying and try to glance at the flight
computer without it being a distraction. The goal should be to have
the system set up so you can quickly glance at the screen and then
back outside (without staring at it for more than 1 or 2 seconds), and
interpret/integrate the information that was on the screen while you
continue to fly. Some people integrate info better when its presented
as colors, lines, & pictograms; others do between with actual
numbers. Find what works well for you - the only way is to give it a
try; and you certainly don't want to do that when you're the only one
in the cockpit and are responsible for keeping up a good visual scan
and not being a danger to others.