These are the SkyDemon aircraft definitions for the aircraft I usually fly. They are easy to adapt to other aircraft of the same models.
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- SE-ICL, Piper PA-28-181 Archer II: Aircraft file, Flightplan file
- SE-LTK, Cessna 172R: Aircraft file, Flightplan file
- SE-MBN, Cessna 172S (G1000): Aircraft file, Flightplan file
There are two different ways of importing the aircraft definitions.
On a Windows system, download the appropriate “Aircraft file” above and move it into the SkyDemon aircraft directory – Documents\SkyDemon\Aircraft.
On iPads, you can’t download the aircraft definition directly, instead you download a short flight plan which includes the aircraft definition:
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- Download the appropriate “Flightplan file” above using Safari.
- Click on the “circle with arrow” icon and select the file.
- Click on the “box with arrow” icon and select “Copy to SkyDemon”.
- In SkyDemon, open the aircraft window.
- Click on the imported aircraft and select “Add to Library”.
On an Android device, you can choose between either method. Probably the easiest is to download the flightplan file in a web browser, open the downloaded file and choose to open it in SkyDemon. Then open the aircraft window, click on the imported aircraft and select “Add to Library” as for the iPad.
If you have several devices, you only need to download to one of them. Once you have the aircraft definition installed on that device, you can use the SkyDemon cloud synchronisation feature to copy it to the other devices.
IMPORTANT NOTE 1: The performance data are based on peak EGT lean mixture and the aircraft having wheel fairings. (The information in the Cessna POH’s about fuel flow at peak EGT is not very precise. From experience in actual flight it seems that the figures for the Cessna 172R are reasonably accurate while for the G1000 Cessna 172S you can achieve substantially lower fuel flows as the digital engine instrumentation permits more precise power setting and leaning.)
IMPORTANT NOTE 2: If you use SkyDemon for flight plan filing and you don’t have PBN privileges, you should clear the PBN approval list in the aircraft equipment dialog and uncheck “PBN approved”. (If you don’t understand what PBN means, then you probably don’t have the privileges.)
The aircraft definitions are based on Pilot’s Operating Handbook data except for:
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- Individual aircraft characteristics (callsign, equipment, basic empty weight/CG, colour)
- Landing fuel – I’ve used 6 minutes at an approch power setting.
- Taxi/take-off fuel for the PA28. The POH gives no information so I’ve used the figure for the 172S which has the same power engine.
- Contingency fuel – I’ve used 20%, but 10% for the G1000 172S where the FMS permits more precise follow-up of the fuel status.
- Descent – for PA28 the rate of descent has been set to 500 fpm rather than the lower rate in the performance diagrams. This means that fuel consumption figures are slightly too high. The C172’s lack descent data in the POH, I’ve just copied that of the PA28. Actual performance depends on your technique anyway…
One more thing: If you look at the definitions, you may find that IAS figures don’t match those in the POH. The reason is that SkyDemon doesn’t have a CAS/IAS conversion table, so when it says “IAS” it really means “CAS” so I’ve used CAS figures instead. When a POH gives different Vy speeds for different altitudes, I have used an average speed.