Hi Guys, ?? ?After spending the first 7 years of flying N357CJ 3 to 5 times a week the past 3 years for a number of reasons has reduced my activity to sometimes once a month. Having a recent stint of being on the ground for about 5 weeks I took an afternoon to get some photos of our companies construction sites. While I was very comfortable flying, and operating the plane was very natural keeping up with, let alone being ahead of the curve while observing or using the items available to me in my cockpit was eye opening and even staggering. I have some relatively new items that I am not as familiar with as I thought I was. I installed a Ifly 740 along with the SkyGuard ADS-B in and out last summer. I have had the Dynon D10A and the Grand rapids EIS for years. I also have the auto pilot servos installed and they operate perfectly. I also have most of the normal steam gauges. This just gives some idea of the information (overload) that is available to me. ?? This is all fine and manageable when flying regular and using everything. Time seems to be my enemy now at my age. SO here some of the ways things can get away from ya. I recently did some repair work in that I replaced a number of sensors to the EIS and also added the arduino data logger to the panel for downloads to the computer. BTW this is not a horror story just food for thought. So, Run up and take off are uneventfull and I spent more time that I should have watching the EIS. I was not processing the information very quickly while still trying to evaluate the operation of new sensors. I leveled at altitude and turned on course to the first photo site. I just happened to glance at the moving map and noticed the mode C ring on the map. It was there that mistake #1 was discovered I still had the transponder set to standby. I got that on as I crossed the ring on the map. ?Now in the back of my head the notion creeps in of what else didn't I do.... As I am flying along and there are other aircraft in the pattern and ?out there I see that there are no displays on the ADS-B screen. Now the distraction starts to find out why. The indicator light says it has power and is operating so I start messing with the screen. Well I better set altitude hold so I don't screw up ?and run into something. OK, done, now back to the ADS-B. Why am I going so fast??? OH,yea, Throttle back and set mixture, OK done, back to that ADS-B thing again. No, ?wait what about those engine readings, now how did that get on the wrong screen. A another minute of fixing and checking. I did look out the window to make sure there wasn't anyone near me off and on but I doubt that my scan was the best. Oh wait another thing did I set the baro on the dynon? The thing that is holding my altitude. OK that fixed and at a safe altitude. Now where is that first photo site .... yep there it is a mile or 2 behind me. Check for traffic and circle back. Take some photos while circling the site (on altitude hold). ??OK give up on the ADS-B problem... better to fly and look out...Although at this point I figured it was something to do with the WIFI connection. So on it went much the same for another 20 minutes of picture taking and running behind checking instruments and doing the visuals out the window. There were things that I never did think of or check. Like the wind aloft. I had no idea whether I was in a head wind, or cross for drift even though it is right there on the Dynon with an arrow and wind speed. Exhaust span never got set up and manifold pressure was not checked. Carb temp was unknown, but I rarely worry about it as the air is taken from the cowl anyway. ?? ?After a couple days to reflect I decided to recommit to flying more regularly and make some of it just for practice. On Saturday I took another flight just to that purpose. I concentrated on the Ifly 740 and the ADS-B. I did not have near the amount of mistakes and found time to get used to looking exactly where traffic was to be as shown on the screen. I found that my vision allowed me to find traffic no further away than 8 miles even though I knew where it was and where it was going. I found that I was still behind with throttle and mixture when setting up for cruise. I lost track of fuel management which came to the forefront near the end of the flight when the main fuel gauge decided to act up for the first time ever. I realized in an instant that I had not reset the fuel totalizator in the fuel flow page. So I did not have a secondary fuel remaining (at least not accurate) ?? ?I have virtually every instrument that a person could want in one form or another and several with back ups. Making sure everyone is set up properly before each flight is the first key. The dynon has a check list page that I have never set up. I think that will be the next thing I do is to create a page just to verify that I have all settings checked before a flight in all instruments. ?? ?Besides the thoughts of being behind the information curve I have these fears of the issues that Mark L. is going through now and that is losing the entire glass panel to some malfunction. All these things then come together as I started the layout and design of my next panel for the new KR that in my shop right now. So As much as I love the bright glass instruments I am really second guessing when is there too much of a good thing. Be safe out there (because now you know what I'm doing out there) Joe Horton, N357CJ Coopersburg, Pa.
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