Quote Originally Posted by rwanttaja View Post
I don't think I've actually used a magnetic compass since my flight training days. These days, I'm either IFR (I Follow Roads) or use the Kilowatt Compass (power lines) or navigate by volcanos (a side benefit of flying in Western Washington).
We don't have a whole lot of volcanoes around Nebraska, or really anything else that sticks up and is good for orientation. And yet... I have not used a whiskey compass since I was a student pilot either. I haven't used a paper chart since I stopped flying the club plane, which had a panel from the late 70s. Any time I leave the immediate area I've got the Garmin 496 in the plane, and usually my tablet running Avare as well. In a pinch I've got an iPhone that knows where I am. Even if there is a GPS outage (pretty much unheard of around here) I've still got charts on the tablet so I could find my way to where I'm going. I don't want to be dependent on GPS... but buying paper charts "just in case" is a waste of money and trees.

I'll probably go ahead and put a compass in the biplane, because as you noted they're cheap and don't affect panel space, power or weight much. My plan is for very basic instruments -- ASI, altimeter, compass, slip ball, tach. The Westach quad I have has oil pressure, oil temp, EGT & CHT. The gas gauge will likely be mechanical, either one of those nifty side-reading spiral action fuel gauges (like this) or a sight tube. I'll put the tablet on a knee board if I'm going somewhere cross country. I'll just have to fight the urge for a moving map EFIS and 3-axis autopilot. I will have to find a way to slip an espresso maker into the panel, though. One must keep one's priorities straight.

But an EFIS would look as out of place as white tube socks with sandals, in my humble opinion.