It was a sudden move for Randy to leave, but becoming President at Glasair is a good fit for him. He did a good job here this past year at Dynon, and I wish him well at Glasair.
As far as Experimental vs. Certified, here is a something I wrote a year ago when we introduced Dynon Certified.
TAKING EXPERIMENTAL INTO CERTIFIED
You have heard that Dynon is “going certified,” and a few of our customers have expressed concern that Dynon will lose focus on the E-AB community.
Not to worry! Here’s why.
EXPERIMENTAL: We are not taking certified bureaucracy and prices into experimental-land. Rather, we are taking the incredible benefits enjoyed by E-AB pilots and offering them to Part-23 certified pilots. E-AB builders know what experimental means; it means innovation, quality, and affordability, which is what Dynon offers. We are remaining the same company we always have been, dedicated to making the best avionics for light aircraft.
CERTIFICATION: What does it even mean that Dynon is certifying the SkyView system? It means that we are fully meeting the Federal Aircraft Regulations for Part 23 aircraft by obtaining an STC for specific aircraft. And it means we have obtained Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) for our factory, which is in Woodinville, Washington. The only difference between our products sold to the experimental market and those sold to the certified market is the required PMA identification on the certified parts.
INNOVATION: The experimental world is known for innovation. Since the very first EFIS-D10 and AFS-EFIS, every Dynon system has had Angle of Attack, and had it for years before it became a buzzword in GA. Every Dynon/AF EFIS autopilot has a Level button, and the SkyView and AF Systems are known for having truly redundant and fault tolerant data and power. And knowing your engine horsepower percent: others still haven’t figured out how to do it accurately.
BENEFITS FROM FAA: The FAA has been great to work with during the certification process. We share the common goal of increasing safety in the GA fleet, and as they have mentioned, “safety improvements are not safety improvements if you can’t afford to put them in your aircraft.” The FAA has some very experienced engineers and test pilots, and they know what they are talking about. So we listened, and have incorporated some excellent feedback into our SkyView products.
ECONOMICS: Financially, Dynon is known for its attractive prices and for its generous warranty policies. We are bringing both those to the certified market. E-AB builders are smart shoppers, and the big aerospace corporations tried for years to sell into this market and finally had to copy both our designs and prices to gain any sales. Certified aircraft pilots will now be receiving the same affordability.
SUPPORT: Dynon doesn’t hide behind dealers; we will talk to you directly. And like most of our staff, our tech support people are actually pilots, builders, and A&Ps. They answer the phone and try to help, no matter the question. And after our generous 3-year warranty is up, a repair is at a standard low rate, typically $450 for even major components.
OPEN COMMUNICATIONS: Within the experimental community, builders and pilots are known for helping each other, sharing information back and forth. Dynon is the only avionics manufacturer that hosts its own, totally open, forum. It is one of the most active forums in aviation, and we don’t hide anything. We occasionally get comments on “wow, it seems like you guys face a lot of problems.” But two facts stand out. First, we have shipped a lot of glass-panel ship-sets, over 20,000 aircraft. And second, Dynon is totally open about every issue; we don’t hide behind anything. We have a partnership with our customers that insures we know first-hand every problem and respond to it. This results in the highest quality avionics in the business, certified or not.
One of the founding principles of Dynon was to bring affordability to avionics; meaning affordability without sacrificing quality, innovation, and customer support. That is what we are bringing to the certified market, and continuing with the E-AB community.
Robert Hamilton
President
Dynon Avionics