Has anyone put a G1000 in an RV-8?

No, I'm not gonna do it. But a friend of mine is considering it. He found a used Garmin G1000 EFIS system, and an initial session with a measuring tape suggests it is physically possible to mount the screens on an RV-8 panel. He's curious about the bulk of the other "black boxes," AHRS, etc. and whether everything could be fit into an RV-8.

Also, is a G1000/G900X display too large for an RV's "eye-to-panel" distance? I feel like it's a pretty large display for the relatively close confines of a tandem RV cockpit.

So has anybody out there actually done it in an RV-8? Thanks in advance for any input.

Talk to Stein. I found a steal on a G1000 and he talked me out of it for a LOT of really good reasons. The particular one was out of a used Cessna and not WAAS approved, hence the cheap deal. Garmin only sells the G1000 to manufacturers, so if he's getting one, it's second hand. Here was his email to me on the setup I had found:

"The issue here is it won’t work with this setup because this G1000 system is a NON WAAS (non WAAS GPS) system. Because all of the G900X’s are WAAS boxes, the software won’t work for the older non WAAS boxes and can’t be made to work. Unfortunately we’ve had several customers who didn’t do their homework up front and ended up with a very expensive set of avionics that couldn’t be used. You can purchase the two boxes to make it into a G900X (they are the GIA63W’s), but they cost about $15K a piece (you need 2 of them), so unless you get the system for less than $20K, I can sell you a brand new system for the same $$’s.



I am always on the lookout for these deals because I could get some of my customers into a G900X for very little money, but in this case it just won’t work….unless you can get the guy to knock off a lot of $$’s. More likely he’ll sell it to another Cessna driver who can use it in his certified plane and is OK without it being a WAAS box. Incidentally, you can’t have the Synthetic Vision without the WAAS either….



Sorry for the bad news…."

We have looked at this also for a customer and the screens will fit in an RV-8. The system requires at least 12 inches behind the panel for all the LRU racks so some careful LRU placement is necessary but it should be able to fit. The panel center section needs to be widened but that is not hard to do. That said, I am not aware, and I don't think Stein isn't either, of an RV-8 with a G-900X yet.

the software on the G1000 is also specific to the manufacturer it was sold to (i.e, cessna)

you'd want a g900x for sure if i'm not mistaken

Not knowing any thing about any thing, here is a dumb question on my part

What do you get from a Garmin G1000 or 900X that you don't get in a Advance or GRT system beside being certified?

The G-1000 and G-900X use identical hardware, its the software that differs. G-1000 software has configurations (V speeds, engine parameters, etc.) for certified aircraft. G-900X software configures the system for experimental aircraft (RV, Lancair, etc.). If you have a G-1000 with the WAAS GPSs, it can be readily turned into a G-900X by loading G-900X software ( we recently did that for a Lancair customer who bought a Cessna 182 with a G-1000 that had an "off airport" landing).

The G-900X is a complete integrated system that includes two coms, two navs with ILS, two WAAS GPS receivers, audio panel, mode S transponder, displays, AHRS gyro, etc. When you buy a G-900X you get all of the above.

The Advanced, Grand Rapids, etc. systems are more a la cart in that the EFIS is the primary flight display, and generally also include the GPS moving map and engine monitor. The coms, navs, transponder, etc. are separate radios and the builder decides which of those to add and how much redundancy. It should be noted that Advanced and others have recently begun offering some of their own remote radio interfaces so those systems are also becoming more integrated, but still in the a la cart form.

Deciding which system to use usually involves talking to others who own and fly the various systems, hopefully having a chance to fly them yourself, and talking to dealers about their experiences with the system, and of course budget.

Another reason is longevity. My BMA EFIS is still going strong but when it eventually fails, I'll have to upgrade my panel. But even with the EFIS manufacturers who survived the economic downturn there is still uncertainty - not just about their continued survival but also in how fast the industry is changing. With Garmin, the G900X may become obsolete but I'd bet there'd be an easy upgrade path with regards to form factor. Not saying this is guaranteed or, conversely, that it won't be true for AFS or GRT but I chose to go with the industry's 800-lb. gorilla for my -10. When I eventually update the -6A, I'll probably go with one of the experimental manufacturers; different plane - different mission.