The Best Altimeter for General Aviation, ever!!

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Every once in a while, I've had the opportunity to work on something that has turned out to be an industry game changer.  Giving a nod to my background in computer forensics, one recent game changer that I've been privileged to be a part of is the CRU / WiebeTech "Ditto" product, which sucks information from hard drives in a forensically sound manner.  In fact, it can do it from halfway around the planet.  It does other really cool stuff too, like support stealth mode, but I won't talk about that here.  :-O

My 30 year background in electronics, combined with my aviation passion, has allowed me to create a product which is simple to understand, and is very useful in multiple ways, and is affordable, and will be used by the owner, providing years of "why didn't someone do this before" moments as it provides valuable flight information.

It does many really cool things:

For instance, it displays Standard Indicated Altitude, which is received from a temperature compensated solid state pressure sensor circuit built inside the unit.  This is the altimeter function you've come to know and expect.  It works from 0 to 20K feet, no issues.  You set the local altimeter pressure, it gives you the altitude.

The screen looks like this:

Indicated Altitude on Altimeter from Belite Aircraft

There are two indicator lights on the left (only one is used in this model).  There are three switches in the unit.  In order to set the local pressure just touch the left or the right switch.  The pressure setting will move up and down.

If you touch the center switch, the unit will skip forward to the next mode, which is one of its coolest features:

*  DENSITY altitude.  The unit will supply the calculated density altitude, based on cockpit temperature.  This feature is alone worth its weight in gold.  I no longer guess or calculate the DA, I just touch a button and it reports it to me.  You don't have to input the local pressure setting for this to work correctly; in fact the local pressure setting is irrelevant to the Density Altitude calculation.  Density altitude looks like this:

Density Altitude calculation on Belite digital altimeter.

Density altitude, by convention, is always shown rounded to the nearest 100 feet.

By clicking the mode switch again (and again), you can move through several more display modes.  They include:

Current system voltage
Current absolute pressure in inches or in Pascals
Current system voltage alarm level
Current display system -- English or Metric
Temperature, in Fahrenheit or Celsius
VFR Cruising alarm enable

Displaying the current system voltage is straightforward.  I've got a screen shot showing an example:

Display the voltage

The unit shown was attached a nine volt battery.  It will work fine with anything between 8 and 14 volts, so attaching to any conventional 12/14v system is fine.

One of the screens lets you select a system voltage alarm level:

Display the voltage alarm

So for my 9 volt battery, I set this to 8.6 volts.  For a 12 volt system, I would probably set it to about 12.5 volts -- it would never go off unless the alternator failed.  It flashes a battery symbol in the lower left corner of the display when the voltage is low.

I like the temperature display, because I think the design of the display icon is kind of cute.  Here it is:

Belite digital altimeter showing temperature in fahrenheit.

As mentioned, there are several other screens which the unit will display.  While stepping through the screens, you can always switch back to indicated altitude by holding the center mode switch down for about 2 seconds.

And if you hold the same button down for about six seconds, the unit will turn off.  Touching any button brings it back to life.

While on the home (indicated altitude screen) if you push the mode button down, it will turn on a soft internal backlight.  The backlight may also be attached to an external dimmer, compatible with 0 to 12 volts.

Another really interesting function for the average General Aviation pilot is the VFR cruising alarm.  This alarm, when enabled, will flash the LED with a bright Red blink pattern when your altitude varies more than 100 feet from a VFR cruising altitude.  For instance, if you are flying at 5500 feet, and the alarm is enabled, and you stray downwards to 5399 feet, the alarm will alert you.

The unit is so sensitive and accurate, you may place it at your feet and read the altitude, then move it to over your head, and read the change in altitude.  There is a little single digit inaccuracy, but you will note a change in between 6 and 10 feet.  Also, the unit is very fast -- it updates information many times per second.

Here's some basic technical information.

1.  This unit weighs 50 grams, about 1.5 ounces.

2.  This unit consumes about 1 milliamp of power.  That is one-thousandth of an amp.  (Assuming the backlight is NOT turned on.)

3.  The external dimmer line is compatible with any voltage from 0 to 12V.  Must supply up to 40ma of power for the backlight.

4.  The unit will fit in any standard round 2.25" instrument hole.

5.  You may remove the metal faceplate and directly mount the unit in any flat panel (must drill appropriate holes and cutouts to accommodate.)

6.  Power supply must be between 8 and 14 volts.

7.  Indicated altitude is shown in increments of one foot.  Internal Analog to Digital converter has less resolution but is "dithered" to increase resolution.

8.  The unit is upgradeable via firmware downloads.

9.  It will display any altitude between 0 and 20,000 feet.

10.  The VFR cruising alarm margin is +/- 100 feet.

11.  As the unit is 'experimental', it may be used in any experimental airplane or ultralight airplane.  With manufacture support, it could be used in Light Sport Aircraft.

12.  When purchased in our enclosure version, it may be used in any aircraft.

You can order it from our online store, or from Aircraft Spruce, or from any of our international distributor partners.  Pricing is $249.95 (US), or $299.95 in an enclosure with battery.

Absolute Pressure in Pascals.

In summary, my competitive sales guide would read like this:

1)  Lightest industry weight -- 50 grams
2)  Smallest size -- very thin, fits standard panel 2.25" hole
3)  Lowest power consumption -- 1 milliamp
4)  Highest resolution -- 1 foot displayed
5)  Useful range -- 0 to 20,000 feet
6)  Safety paramount -- provides Density Altitude
7)  Cool additional features:  -- voltage alarm, VFR cruising alarm, more
8)  Great value -- $249.95
9)  Also available in an enclosure for use in any airplane

Bunny Hops & Flying POV

I received a call from my daughter earlier today. She's currently a counselor at Camp Quaker Haven and it was the first time I'd heard her voice since she left last week.  She's also our 'corporate cinematographer', and has produced almost all of the videos that Belite has posted on Youtube.

"Hey Dad," she said. "Did you know that I posted another Belite video before I left Wichita?"

No, I didn't know that.

It's great having a cinematographer in the family!  More video to show people what we are doing.

I had taken quite a bit of video, shot from my Point Of View, while flying the Superlite several weeks ago. It does a great job of showing the world flying by while piloting an agile single seat airplane. You can see it here:

Also, we shot some video of our Trike a few weeks ago.  It's just a series of bunny hops, mostly up and down the runway, but it shows the gentle landing characteristics of the Trike. 

(A little off topic:  I flew both of these planes earlier today, in Kansas strong winds.  They handled the wind with no difficulty).

Anyway, here's the video of the Trike doing bunny hops.

The Trike has free castering nosewheel steering.  You turn the airplane by applying either left or right heel brake.  I'm reminded of when I first flew a Grumman Cheetah back in 1978 or 1979:  ground handling works basically the same.

An independent comment on our plane & instruments

From Terry Alley:

I went to BeLite's shop last friday to visit with James Wiebe about changing the engine in my Kit Fox Lite to the Hirth F23 like the one he has in his new Superlite. While discussing the performance of his plane, James had a slip of the tongue and said "you ought to fly that and see what it feels like", I thought he would never ask.

After sliding into the cockpit I took a little time to familiarize myself with his new LED Panel. At first I thought it would be a little confusing trying to read all the lights but once I became familiar with their location, they were quite easy to read and seemed very accurate. I especially liked the Inclinometer and the Turn Rate indicator. Those two may have to find a way into my panel. The altimeter is zero'd before taking off and is only a AGL instrument, but what else would you want in a ultralight. I made several turns into and away from the sun and the LED's stayed visible reguardless of direction and lighting.

Now for my comparison between the original Kit Fox Lite which I have the new BeLite Superlite.

Cosmetically they look the same with the exception of mine having a full covered fuse. The interior, again no changes, other than the panel already mentioned. The only noticable difference in feel was the rudder. Belite has improved their design to use push/pull cables to the rudder. While they make the rudder feel a little stiff, the contol was very positive. Everything else felt the same excpet the power.

My Lite has a 37 hp 1/2 VW which I really love except for takeoff performance. On a hot day it will make you pucker up if you have to climb over some trees on takeoff. But the cruise is a nice 65 once you get there. The Belite had the new Hirth F23 opposed twin 50 hp. When I lined up on the runway and added power before I could look down to see what the RPM was, I was airborne. Not only airborn but I continued to climb at 50 mph and at a pretty steep angle of attack. Needless to say I was impressed.

After making some steep turns and doing a couple of stalls I concluded this new bird has the same great flying characteristics as the original Kit Fox Lite (when I say original that is what I mean as mine is serial #001). I decided to test the new spring shocks that James had just added to the gear that day. This a great replacement for the bungees (which I have had one failure on). I came in across the fence at 50 and let the speed bleed off until a did a nice wheel landing at about 35 to 40 mph. At that point, I added power without letting the tail come down and almost instantly I was off the ground again. The next approach I added one notch flaps and crossed the fence a little less than 50 but holding a little more rpm. The speed bled off and I held it off until the airspeed dropped to just below 35 and it settled on all three wheels for a short rollout. The new spring shocks worked great in softening the touchdown with no bounce at all. I thought it was my landing skill but James assured me it was the new gear.

Conclusion: The Superlite is a great little airplane especially with the F-23 in the nose. If you are looking for a safe reliable plane that is a blast to fly, give James a call. And for all the Kit Fox Lite flyers out there, be thankful James picked this plane up and put it back in production. Any part you might need for your plane just became available plus many upgrades.

Terry Alley
Kit Fox Lite
N3169

Pics of new avionics while in flight

This will be a short post. I went flying tonight for about an hour in the Belite Superlite Dragon. I wandered near Augusta to try and find Terry's strip -- sorry Terry! Didn't bring a GPS and couldn't find it. Turned around and headed back home.

I took some photos of my new panel while in flight. You can see that the inclinometer (ball) is centered, I've got gas in the tank, the volts are about right, my turns aren't too fast, and I'm about 800 feet off the grand.

I'm having a little trouble with the CHT/EGT gauge -- hopefully I'll have that squared away in the next couple of days.

Did anyone see the dragon fly overhead?