I'm hoping Brian is right, and Dynon continues to deliver improvements to their AP. Hopefully it will be not only because the SkyView needs a top-notch AP to be competetive with other upper-tier glass products (think Syntetic Vision, etc.) but also because legacy product users (like me) want all the features and performance of stand alone standouts like TT and Trio. If Skyview pulls the AP development along, then its for the betterment of all Dynon AP users...so I do hope Brian is correct!
For Weasel, I have a Dynon AP (D100, D10A, AP-74, SV-32 x2) in my 6, and have flown a fair bit in my friend's 9A with a TT DFII-VSG. We talked about this thread today, and compared capabilities, and I looked again at the TT site to double check. I'd give his TT VSG the edge in performance and smoothness, and mine the edge in features and capabilities (at least for the way I like to fly the AP, which can vary from pilot to pilot, so its a bit of opinion). Here's some thoughts for your research...not gospel, just one user's thoughts:
In performance, his TT is rock solid in pitch and roll...its really a nice ride. Comparing his 9A to my clipped wing Super 6 may be a bit unfair, but his ride is better, and is what I'm looking for. I'm getting close, but did have some pitch oscillations early-on, which have been mostly mitigated by doing the pitch servo shear screw service, and playing with the settings. I now have solid altitude hold except in bumps, which I can ease with setting control. Still an occasional oscillation, and not quite as smooth as the 9A/TT, but getting better.
In roll, I had better performance in NAV than in HDG, but a few compass cals helped that immensly, as did playing with the settings. I had the "NAV Source Lost" issue that appears to have been fixed with FW updates (big X-C next week to see...and will see if 5.3 shows more improvements...putting that in this week). Dan's 9A/TT is more solid in heading than mine, but I'm starting to approach it.
One area where the Dynon shines (IMHO) with the ability to pre-select altitude settings. My AP will climb/descend to the preset alt at (well close to) the configured VSI and level off. Dan's VSG will not do that. He has to level off and engage ALT hold. A VSGV may or may not level off at a preset alt, but I can't tell from the website (don't want to put out bad gouge...someone else will know for sure).
However, Dan can climb/descend at a particular VSI, and can adjust the rate of climb/descent right on the control head, which I cannot do. I have to go into a menu on the EFIS, and hope that Dynon will add that capability to the AP-74 value knob. An earlier poster mentioned the varied VSI he saw in climbs/descents, and I see that as well. I asked Dynon about that, and the response was somewhat cryptic, in that the instantaneous rate may be being adjusted throughout the descent to give a final average rate of the selected value ie, 500 fpm selected = 4 minutes to descend 2,000 feet, and the VSI is adjusted to meet that target. Just not sure how they do it, but mine does hit time to climb/descend targets, as measured in flight.
The AP-74 is a slick control head, and may give a few more selectable items to the pilot (preset HDG & ALT, Altimeter...I just want to add VSI!). The TT control head has a nice moving out of trim indicator, perhaps better than the Dynon's "UP/DN" flags...but the Dynon indicator is on the EFIS, where one's scan is focused more often, so that may be a wash.
The VSGV has GPSS and GPSV, while the VSG has only GPSS. The Dynon AP has GPSS, but won't have the GPSV until the AP-76 is a reality (or they change something else) at least that's the way I understand it. Therefore, I feel my Dynon AP's feature set falls between the VSG and the VSGV. TT has a few things I covet, and my Dynon has some things I'm very happy with, as described above.
When doing my panel upgrade I was going to add a TT and a backup airspeed indicator to my D100 panel, but when Dynon annouced it's AP, I realized I could get a second EFIS (for all the backup instruments), two servos and an AP-74 for less than a TT VSG, so I went that way. Granted, I have a VFR panel (VFR GPS and no VOR/ILS), so the separate manufacturer redundency was less critical to me...though I certainly respect it as an IFR pilot. If you're building an IFR machine, that may be a more important factor, and GPSV and coupled approaches may be as well. I hope the Dynon AP gets there. I'm happy with it on my airplane, in my VFR mission. In my case more equipment and features (extra EFIS and the AP) for less $$ has worked well. All the bells and whistles and cost savings in the world aren't worth it if it won't work in your aircraft...but Dynon has been very proactive in fixes and updates. Just wanted to give you some feedback to apply towards your plane/misson, and hope it helps. Have fun putting it together, whichever way you go!
Cheers,
Bob