G Meter

[Jerrytex]

My plane came with an Accelerometer gauge. I don't see the immediate need for it and was wondering if there is something I am missing in realizing it's usefullness? I know what it measures and what it does, but I don't know the practicality of having it in a Kitfox. Does anyone else have one installed and if so, how do you use the information it provides?

[Dorsal]

I have that information available on my Dynon and don't use it. I brought it up during testing just to have some idea what I was pulling and one other time when my son wanted to experience 0g (he was happy enough with .3). In short I don't see the need in a non aerobatic plane.

[kmach]

I have a Dynon 100 with the G meter built in, I don't have it active on the EFIS display and don't see the need to clutter the EFIS with the G info .

[jrevens]

I think that it can be a useful instrument in any airplane, whether you do aerobatics or not... for instance, you may sometime encounter a severe gust, wind-shear, vortices, etc., & the knowledge that you did or did not over-stress the airframe, and whether you have to start taking apart & checking things or not, can be worth a lot. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Dorsal]

Yes they can act as flight recorders and keep max and min numbers. I used this feature a lot during flight testing as I would download the data after every flight or two to better understand the aircraft and engine characteristics.

[Jerrytex]

The G-Meter that I have does have three needles. Two lock into the highest G's pulled, both Negative and positive, and one is real time. It would let you know what the max g's were on any given flight. I think in a glass cockpit where it is running in the background without a weight penalty, I can see it's usefulness. After hearing everyone's comments and the fact that it weighs a pretty good amount, I am going to keep it out of my panel for now.

Thanks for all the info.