Does anyone have experience with BMA?

prporter · #1 08-23-2006, 07:31 AM

Yes, it looks trick. Lot's of bells and whistles. I would like to hear TRUE stories, good or bad, before I commit to an expensive product. Plese share experiences that are first hand.... thank you.

skelrad · #2 08-23-2006, 07:56 AM

I don't have any personal experience to give you, but if you use the forum search engine you will find enough reviews of BMA to keep you busy reading for half of the day.

prporter · #3 08-23-2006, 08:06 AM

I went to BMA's forum, but thought that most of the posts were biased and people felt that this was the only place to voice complaints. I was hoping to get a broader selection, if one truly exists.

N395V · #4 08-23-2006, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prporter

I went to BMA's forum, but thought that most of the posts were biased and people felt that this was the only place to voice complaints. I was hoping to get a broader selection, if one truly exists.

Most of what I have seen here and most other forums is similiar to that on the bMA forum.

1. Those of us who fly them are mostly overly biased in favor of BMA.

2. Many who have heard the horror delivery and startup stories are biased against.

If you read all there is to read the short is.

Delivery promises are as good as confederate money.

If you get it and it and install it correctly it will usually exceed expectations. If it doesn't work their service is prompt and effective.

If you haven't ordered your units yet I would hold off untill you see the delivery backlog dissappear and it is certain the G4 startup problems have been resolved.

If you need your stuff in the next 2-3 months I would look elsewhere.

If you can wait and the G4s offer exactly what you want then , in my opinion, it is worth the wait.

My experiences have mostly been good. This G4 delay is starting to tick me off but I was prepared for the delay and still have 2+ months before I am up against a deadline.

My GUESS is they will have their current issues sorted out and be on track by mid November. THAT is just a guess.

sf3543 · #5 08-23-2006, 09:14 AM

I have two G3's and the BMA auto pilot in my RV8 with over 50 hrs on them now.
Overall, I would do it again. Both of my units worked right out of the box. I did have some problems with the AP set up, but BMA got that fixed right away. I still have a couple of minor items that need to be tweaked, but generally, BMA has been pretty good about helping work out issues.
I would echo the statements about delivery, though. If you need it right away, unless they are shipping quantity, you may not get it when you need it.
Having said that, I still like the BMA units better than the others in the same price range. I really like the GPS and moving map capabilities in the G3, not to mention the EHSI feature. Others have stated that they don't care for the moving map, on the G3, but I think it is really good, although you do have to flip between the EHSI and MM in order to get all the navigation data, such as track, ETA, etc.
I have lots of other things about calibration and updating that I could share but it would be quite lengthy, so feel free to email me if you would like to talk about it.
sf3543@att.com

flyboykelly · #6 08-23-2006, 09:58 AM

We had a BMA EFIS one in our RV-8 and it has never worked properly. We have since pulled it out and opted for two dynon EFIS's. They are comming out with an HSI upgrade soon. Personally I think the Grand Rapid EFIS is the best bet for the money. You get two screens, two AHRS units, and if you have a mode S transponder the Traffic is automatic along with XM weather. Also if you are using an external GPS the unit will display and fly the entire route on the GPS with no limits. It is the closest thing that I can find to flying behind an airliner EFIS.

N112B · #7 08-23-2006, 03:54 PM

Geeze-O-Wheeze---Where do I begin?...........never mind.

prporter · #8 08-23-2006, 04:43 PM

Bob- Please elaborate.

N112B · #9 08-23-2006, 08:03 PM

You asked for individual, first-hand experiences--so here?s mine, in capsule form.....

To make an excruciatingly looooong story short, let?s just say that MY Blue Mountain E/1 system should have come with a ?Remove Before Flight? streamer.

N112B is trustworthy and reliable now with Dynon, Trutrak, Falcon, Mid-Continent, Garmin.....