Attitude Indicator vs Flight Director

[Mavmb]

Is there a big difference in the way you interpret the FD and AI when using an instrument scan? I've heard about the capture bars that some FDs have, does this make a flight director totally different from an attitude indicator during an ILS approach? The only flight director I have ever used is the KingAir's in Microsoft flight sim, and either it doesn't have capture bars or I just don't know how to use it!

[Doug Taylor]

Well, there are the "Vee Bars" and the "Command Bars". The "Command Bars" look a lot like a LOC/GS CDI but that's not the way they work. It commands pitch and roll and when you're doing what the flight director wants you to do, it looks like a "+"

The Vee Bars, well, without getting vulgar and breaking my own PG-13 rules, basically nestle the aircraft symbol right into the vee-bars. Like birdies flying a tight formation!

See, if you got off your rump and came to the Long Beach meet & greet, you'd have had a chance to fly the MD-88 with command bars and the 737 with the Vee-bars!

BTW, I haven't seen Pengy today... Weird!

[Mavmb]

There was a Long Beach Meet and Greet??? Oh well, I was probably working anyway. You know Mesa! All Mesa employees get 20 days off a month.

[BeechBoy]

I prefer to use my flight director in the "OFF" mode! I've seen first time instrument students do a better job of capturing a localizer! I've seen this in both the Beech 1900 and our Dornier 328's. Plus, I think flying raw data keeps ya sharp!