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Should I buy Skyview or MGL or any other EFIS?

petersb

Well Known Member
Need to order my panel shortly. Favouring the Skyview although I like the idea of the MGL iEFIS touch screen. Comments please

Peter
 
Need to order my panel shortly. Favouring the Skyview although I like the idea of the MGL iEFIS touch screen. Comments please

Peter

Nobody can answer your question. You question is similiar to asking, I need a car, should it be a Ford, GM, or Chrysler? You haven't shared your mission and/or requirements that the EFIS needs to meet.

Otherwise all you are going to receive are opinions of what other builder's favorite EFIS may be. Their requirements may be different than yours.

All the various popular vendors products work fine. Understand what each is is capable of doing today. Don't bet on future enhancements coming down the road. Some have better track records than others delivering on their promises.

Dynon, GRT, AFS, MGL all seem to provide great support.

I personally like the AFS 5500/5600, but that may be overkill for your needs. If you just need basic VFR instrumentation, then one of the entry level Dynon, GRT Sport, or AFS 3400/3500 may provide more bang for the buck. I'm not familiar enough with the MGL models, or I would have mentioned them.

Unfortunately, there isn't a one size fits all solution.

Sorry I couldn't provide more specific advice.

bob
 
a small nit -

There is nothing about the first gen Dynon units which precludes safe and effective IFR flight - been there done that for years.
 
a small nit -

There is nothing about the first gen Dynon units which precludes safe and effective IFR flight - been there done that for years.

Who said they weren't? I didn't even mention IFR.

EFIS selection is slowly turning into a religious debate like the primer wars. There is no one size fits all answer, but people seem to feel a need to defend their decisions regardless of knowing the requirements of others.

The units I mentioned are all great as a six pack replacements, which are perfectly acceptable for basic VFR operations. As you start to add other requirements, some may remain as satifactory choices, others may not.

IFR means too many different things to too many different people.

I take a more systems approach to IFR. There is the equipment you need to be legal with the FAA. That's the simple part to evaluate. Then there are the system attributes that allow me to sleep well at night. Again, this is highly subjective. We all have different risk factors that are acceptable to us.

For example, would you want your autopilot to run the same code base from the same vendor as the EFIS? What if there is a software bug or a system hang in the EFIS? What would action would your AP take? Or would you like your AP to run a different code base from a different vendor? This would allow the AP to run indepently of the EFIS, should an EFIS fail for whatever reason. Can the AP keep the aircraft wings level, flying upright, and on the same course in either of these scenarios?

Is an AP required for IFR, of course not, but it sure makes things significantly easier and reduces work load. The different EFIS vendors have different strategies on how their systems work. All I'm recommending is that you understand this before you select a vendor and/or a particular product. There is more than just checking off whether or not it meets the minimum requires for IFR, or VFR for that matter.

bob
 
If you just need basic VFR instrumentation, then one of the entry level Dynon, GRT Sport, or AFS 3400/3500 may provide more bang for the buck.

No but you unintentionally infered it..

No wars being waged here. All the systems mentioned get the job done to the level of experience of the person flying and their requirements.
 
I think it will be a good exercise to first think and establish what is your mission and would like to get out of the EIFS.

They are all good, some are more advanced and capable then others.

A simple list of type of flying (VFR, IFR), integration with other systems and which one supports it now vs. promises of supporting it in the future and perhaps redundancy if that is required.

Finally, if you get a chance to fly behind each of the final candidate, it will help a great deal as user friendliness of it can be a factor.
 
I can't tell you which unit to buy, but I can tell you that the guys at MGL are absolutely top notch. I had some unopened components that I got with a project and they are willing to accept them as full price trade in on the correct components I need for monitoring a different engine.
 
Let's be honest - the guys at GRT, Dynon, AFS, MGL, TT, and Garmin are all top notch - I have seen them go WAY BEYOND in the support of their customers. (Yes, occasionally they slip up....everyone is human). SO that isn't really a selection criteria anymore.

As has been said - develop your requirements, then start thumbing through the many hundreds of threads here on the Glass Cockpit forum to find out what folks have already said about the systems available. Then see what questions you have left!

Paul
 
Went with G3X simply because they had a killer rebate and the GX integration, as well as VP-X. Plus I just think the graphic display is stellar.

Honestly, I think you could base your decision soley on mission, price, and asthetics... And never regret whatever you go with. I've yet to find a single person that says their setup sucks or they wish they would've gone with XXXX.

Youtube has some great videos on all the choices too. How's that for help? :D
 
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Let's be honest - the guys at GRT, Dynon, AFS, MGL, TT, and Garmin are all top notch - I have seen them go WAY BEYOND in the support of their customers. (Yes, occasionally they slip up....everyone is human). SO that isn't really a selection criteria anymore.

As has been said - develop your requirements, then start thumbing through the many hundreds of threads here on the Glass Cockpit forum to find out what folks have already said about the systems available. Then see what questions you have left!

Paul

I have no experience with any of the other reps for the other companies, but yes it is a selection criteria for me. In fact, an honest company is as important as their products. Which btw, MGL's line of products seem to be quite the bang for the buck. Go check them out.

Another plus for MGL is that their CEO frequents this forum. Feel free to PM him with any questions, he is very responsive. His nick is Rainier Lamers.
 
Another plus for MGL is that their CEO frequents this forum. Feel free to PM him with any questions, he is very responsive. His nick is Rainier Lamers.

Garmin, Dynon, GRT and AFS all frequent this forum too.

Honestly, I don't think you can really go wrong in this category. Pick your budget and go from there.

I read every thread on every EFIS maker, on every product, and it really came down to what day of the week it was as to who to go with. They're all good.
 
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Garmin, Dynon, GRT and AFS all frequent this forum too.

Honestly, I don't think you can really go wrong in this category. Pick your budget and go from there.

Sig is right. Functionality is pretty great with any of them. Figure out what you want and what fits your budget.
 
I'm saying the following with my MGL hat OFF.

If you can wait - wait. Best advice anybody can give you. You buy the EFIS at the last minute. get and do everything else first.

I have it on good authority that there will be a few new players in the field soon with both certified and uncertified products. Not the best news for the existing vendors but great news for everybody else.

With the current deluge of new technology aimed at the tablet market it is now becoming easy and affordable for aviation enthusiastic engineers and programmers to start creating their own hardware and software systems in almost any way you can think of. And I'm not talking junk stuff - I am talking high quality, high performance at low prices.

Just to give you a little insight on what is happening (as example): Just in the last 16 months I have completely redesigned the G3 processor upgrade for our EFIS systems THREE TIMES. Not because it was no good but because every time I was close to done, somebody pops a new chip under my nose that is just so much better and/or cheaper I have no choice but to start again. The same choices are available to everybody else ! I have never in my far too long electronics career experienced pace of progress as is happening right now in nearly all areas.

Rainier
 
Rainier-
Any update on the MGL iEFIS ship dates?
Thanks!

Gerry Peterson
Merritt Island, FL
 
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EFIS Selection Process

Do a very detailed requirements analysis involving not only EFIS capabilities, but human factors and panel space considerations.

I spent months analyzing for my -8A. Decided single screen with a 496 GPS, standard radio stack and back up steam gages (A/S, VSI, Altimeter) with ADI II autopilot.

Single screen functionality of the AFS 4500 is superb: I fly in the 3-screen mode: EFIS, Map and Engine Monitor. IPad with Doreflight for approaches.

Works for me.
 
I can't tell you which unit to buy, but I can tell you that the guys at MGL are absolutely top notch. I had some unopened components that I got with a project and they are willing to accept them as full price trade in on the correct components I need for monitoring a different engine.

MGL would be hard to beat with their digital autopilot. See their demo video on the GenII
 
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