Anemoi instant wind indication system: Anyone with experience with this product ?

[John Iacobucci]

The Anemoi instant wind indication system has a feature which I find attractive.  The wind is displayed on a remote unit which can be mounted on the glare shield of the instrument panel.  The average wind and the instantaneous wind arrow vectors are both indicated with large arrows, there respective size depending on the wind speed (that is, they can be of different speeds). The display also gives numeric wind direction and speed.

What I like is that the display is small enough to be placed on the glare shield in the line of sight and requires very little change in the pilots attention from the forwary view on course.

Has anyone flown with this device ?  If so, would they care to comment if this system is reliable and accurate enough to warrant its purchase ?  Yes, Hawk, Larus, and AirGlide have systems for instantaneous wind, but Anemoi is the only one with a heads up display for the glare shield.  Having the display on the glare shield one would notice any change in the arrows while still focusing forward.

[Aldo Cernezzi]

Hi!

I've been an early adopter. Very happy with the results.

In my opinion, its strong points are:

. simple installation - just make sure it's mounted the correct side up, and one of the box axis is as accurately aligned with the direction of motion of the fuselage.

. no calibration required

. my unit has been reliable for already a few years

. No need to adjust parameters for a specific sailplane type.

. The display is easily readable, though I find it just a bit too small.

. Reliable wind calculation. I think it's very accurate as well. It can detect wind shears while approaching a thermal.

Con:

. the display unit, which is quite expensive, is mechanically weak. I had it fixed on the glare shield with 2side adhesive tape. Put some pressure on the plastic case to improve adhesion... and the LCD is kaputt. Luckily, it's a standard part, available for less than 10€ online (AliExpress, for example).

I used on an Arcus first, then moved it in my current ASH25Mi

Larus is on my wishlist, but I have no experience with that.

Ciao,

Aldo Cernezzi 

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[son_of_flubber]

I've used Anemoi for several years in two gliders in lumpy Vermont terrain.  I was motivated enough to move it from glider #1 to glider #2, though it was on the bottom of my panel revision priority list, so it sat in a box for two years.   In glider #1, it opened my eyes to how complicated wind currents are when you're flying below the Height of Land (aka below ridge line and peak).  For example, I'll be flying towards a ridge across a valley with a strong wind on my six.  I'm hoping to find ridge lift,  or ridge triggered thermals, but once I get there, the slope has turned the wind direction to mostly run parallel to the slope.  It still has an 'upslope component' but most of the energy goes sideways across the slope.  So no appreciable updraft.  The 'angle of incidence', the angle that the wind hits the slope seems to have a much bigger impact on wind direction that I had imagined.   A few degrees from perpendicular seems to turn the wind to run across the slope. At least that's my impression, YMMV.

I've made it a habit to glance at Anemoi wind information, look at the terrain/clouds ahead, and then make a guess as to what the wind will be doing once I get closer to the terrain, then observe what the wind is actually doing when I get there.  Better pilots than me say that Anemoi provides useful information to them. Me? IDK.  It's sure is fun, and it holds my attention.  Prior to Anemoi, I was overconfident in my mental model of what the wind was doing.  Anemoi took my hubris down a notch.

I might look at it when I'm in the pattern, but I never have, because See and Avoid rivets my attention.  If I were landing out, I'd try to give it more than one glance, but ground slope and obstacles dominate the choice of final leg heading.  It uses GPS position drift and pitot pressure to guess wind direction, so it provides no useful information prior to takeoff.  Ye Olde Windsocks are handy.

Glider #2 came with a Air Avionics Air Data Display (aka Butterfly Vario) which uses different-than-anemoi sensors and software to estimate real time wind direction (with a little arrow).  The Anemoi average direction more-or-less agrees with the Butterfly average direction.  Anemoi also displays 'real time wind' which is averaged over a shorter time constant.  The wire that connects the Anemoi sensor unit  to the display unit uses a published open, plain text protocol, so maybe some day some clever person will pipe Anemoi data into XCSoar.  I'd love to see Anemoi measurements persistently displayed on a map.   A wind meter?  You have to integrate the data in your head. 

Anemoi also includes backup AHRS, GPS based heading and track, OAT,  and other potentially useful stuff.  These numbers agree with my Butterfly Vario.  I switch to the AHRS screen if I'm climbing fast and I'm not sure how far to go until the cloud suck catches me and the cloud blinds me.  To be truly useful, I should get some 'hood time' in an airplane (not IR rated).

Anemoi may be useful for locating lines of convergence lift under blue skies.  I was surprised to find usable convergence lift lines last season when conditions are practically calm (the converging air masses have a velocity of ONE knot.)  Skysight wind forecast give some ideas where and when to look for convergence, and Anemoi hints whether to fly left or right to lock in on the convergence line.  Oftentimes the lift is weaker than my sink rate, but then it gets a little stronger and I go up 20 feet, then a little weaker and I go down 20 feet.  This is something that I'm playing around with and it is great fun when I get lucky.

Product support is very responsive.

I assume that Anemoi is as good as LXNav Hawk.  So when I got curious about Hawk,  it was a good fit since glider #2 came with a Butterfly Vario.  I originally bought it for glider #1 out of curiosity and ran it with an LXNav V7 Vario.

[Charles Mampe]

I have not tried it, actually, never heard of it. But, that's my bad, not a comment on the unit.

My question is, has anyone flown with this AND a Clearnav? Curious how they compare. The Clearnav gives a numeric value plus a wind angle on the flight display.

[John Iacobucci]

To All:  Thank you for the response.  There is a 3D printed "DisplayHalter SetTop" for securely mounting the Anemoi display unit to the glare shield of the instrument pod.  It can be purchased from Ulis Segelflugbedarf webite for 39 euros:

https://shop.segelflugbedarf24.de/Flugzeugausstattung/anemoi-Windrechner/anemoi-Displayhalter-SetTop::2847.html#/

I enclude two jpeg images of the Halter SetTop with this post.

I will be purchasing the unit with the display and the SetTop Halter and secure the display on top of the glare shield of the instrument pod.

I live in Florida, USA.  If there are any USA pilots that wish to have the display halter for the display unit, I can include extra SetTop Display Halters in my order from Germany.  The cost of the Halter is 39 euros and a share of the shipping cost.  

Aldo:  you will likely find it easier to purchase the halter from Ulis Segelflugbedarf yourself.  Yes, I, also, have the Larus unit on my wish list.  I know one of the developers quite well, Horst Rupp, for many years.  He claims that there is nothing quite like it for reliability and accuracy at the moment.  Michael Borgelt now has a vario with the the two ultraprecision GPS modules.  I have not heard of any reviews or opinions on the Borgelt model.

I wish LXNav would make a remote display for Hawk to place on the glare shield so one would not have to look down to the hooded instrument pod to check if there is any suddend change in wind.  I now believe that being aware of near instant changes in wind is much more helpful in finding and following energy lines for improved X country performance.

Thank you, gentlemen.  Happy Soaring.

[Eric Greenwell]

Can you get a 57mm repeater display for the LXNAV that could be mounted on the glare shield?

Eric

[son_of_flubber]

I added the Anemoi display at the same time that I was optimizing the layout of instruments in my panel. I placed the screen of the Anemoi display centered L-R pressed up against the bottom of the glare shield that overhangs the panel.  I now have the screen of an ATD11 https://wingsandwheels.com/air-avionics-air-traffic-display.html centered under the Anemoi display.  My moving map is likewise centered and aligned below the ATD.  I like to think that having these displays centered and aligned makes them easier to read at a glance because they're also aligned with my body position.

My first prototype of this instrument layout (which I used for one season) did not have the screens centered or aligned.  I like the final aligned arrangement much better.  I can take in both of these instruments with a glance without refocusing.  The Traffic Display gets 95% of my periodic in-flight glances whenever I'm close to the airport and I can easily take in the wind indication, but I look at the wind indication much less frequently with a specific question in mind.  For example, if I'm leaving a thermal, I may want to fly directly upwind to find the next thermal.  I think this helps me pick 'the next cloud' when there are two promising clouds in the general direction that I want to go.  It is even more useful for finding the next thermal on a Blue Sky Day.  Maybe a few degrees change in heading improves my odds, and I get a more precise indication of the wind with Anemoi than I get from the other clues of wind direction.

I would not want the Anemoi display farther forward in front of my panel.  It is quite tiny.  The ATD Traffic Display seems more useful and important, especially when the tow plane or other airplanes are in the area.  The Traffic Display tells me vertical separation and where to look to get the towplane in sight.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm using the Anemoi in the lumpy terrain of Vermont (aka Green Mountains).  The Use Case in FL is very different (flat terrain) and I hope that you report back how it works for you.  I think it might be useful for finding and staying aligned with the energy line that is formed by convergence of the East Sea Breeze with the West Sea Breeze.