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tim rv415tp

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I have an opportunity to buy one of these, If anyone has any experience or feedback on these I'd appreciate hearing from you. Also any idea as to how much they're worth?
 
Buy? I probably wouldn't take it if it was given for free.

Honestly, they're worth a percentage of the rebate that GRT or Dynon offered as trade-in. Even then I'd want some assurances that they'd take it before spending money :) I wouldn't actually waste time installing one..
 
To expand on Radomir's comments...

Blue Mountain is out of business and there is no support for their units.

If something goes bad, you will be redoing your panel and putting something else in there.
 
In the last few months 3 have sold on e bay for $900=$1200

As noted above BMA is out of business and service is not available.

They never were fully developed and do not do all the functions that the user manuals and PR material suggest.

The only reason to buy one is to have a replacement for when the one already in your plane craps the bed.

They are worth diddly squat, spend your money on something useful.
 
What they have said! I loved my BMA EFIS/One but we were going to repace it because of certain issues. Do not waste the time or the money by putting one in.
 
One more vote for not installing one. I have a good friend that installed one in the early days of Blue Mountain and he is not exactly thrilled with it.

He was excited about all of the capabilities it promised to have, but it has fallen short on it's performance and reliability.

I think if I was looking for something like this, I would be looking at the Advanced systems. Good units and the owners seem to be real nice people the couple times I have talked with them.

Just one more person's opinion is all...
 
I bought one

At the time I was working on my panel, there weren't any other choices but BMA under $25,000. Go both a Lite and Sport plus AP for around $13,000.
After a number of years of frustration trying to get it to work correctly, I started working on replacing it with TruTrak and AFS equipment and have been happy every sense.
My last of my BMA EFIS I sold for half of the rebate price that Dynon is offering for upgrading to there newest model.

Good luck and don't pay to much.

Kent
 
One avionics panel builder told me...

Radomir said:
Buy? I probably wouldn't take it if it was given for free.

Honestly, they're worth a percentage of the rebate that GRT or Dynon offered as trade-in. Even then I'd want some assurances that they'd take it before spending money :) I wouldn't actually waste time installing one..
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..that they make terrific door stops.

It was the only avionics manufacturer he disparaged, which may explain why they're no longer in business.

LarryT
 
Come on guys...

Of course they are bankrupt. Of course you will not have support. So probably you will buy something else. But some four/five years ago the BMA Gen 4 was the most complete and most innovative package with the best graphics and the nicest display at a reasonable price. So I think Greg Richter and his team still deserve some kind of respect for helping to pave the way.
Practically: if you have little to spend and you can get a working Gen 4 for a small price, well maybe you should take the risk. If money is less of an issue, I'd go for safe and a more modern unit :)
Personally, I've installed two BMA's without too much trouble and been flying behind them for some 230 hours now without fuss. When that day comes, I will happily exchange them with an AFS or MGL system.
 
Is it cheap?

I agree with the above. I'm still flying behind my early-gen EFIS lite and it works like a champ. I have a spare on the shelf that I've never used. And now that new data is available, I'd say price is the determining factor.

So If you can get it for a song, I'd say go for it. And then be on the lookout for another one to buy and store as a spare.

-Matt
402BD
 
tim rv415tp said:
I have an opportunity to buy one of these, If anyone has any experience or feedback on these I'd appreciate hearing from you. Also any idea as to how much they're worth?
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The only way to buy it would be if you got it cheap- and I mean CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP- any perceived value you get, will be sadly given up in trying to fix it, and with no support whatsoever from Greg Richter, since he went BK.
 
Another point of consideration is that there is a reason the unit is for sale.

Usually an item is not for sale because it is working fine and will continue to do so for a long time.

There are several flavors of used BMAs floating around out there.

Some really good ones that function just fine and will probably stay that way for several HUNDRED (not Thousands) of hours.

There are some early Gen 4s that were never installed nor updated at the factory for known problems. You really do not want one of these. Then there are those being replaced because they have issues. Avionics issues rarely get better with use and never fix themselves.

There is virtually no price that will make these units cost effective.

I loved my BMA units . Over the years I have owned 5 of them but now they are obsolete. If you put one in your panel this is what your panel will look like soon after when you have to replace it.

1_G.jpg


Now you have one huge hole to fill and that ain't cheap. Guess how I know.
 
N395V said:
Another point of consideration is that there is a reason the unit is for sale.

Usually an item is not for sale because it is working fine and will continue to do so for a long time.

There are several flavors of used BMAs floating around out there.

Some really good ones that function just fine and will probably stay that way for several HUNDRED (not Thousands) of hours.

There are some early Gen 4s that were never installed nor updated at the factory for known problems. You really do not want one of these. Then there are those being replaced because they have issues. Avionics issues rarely get better with use and never fix themselves.

There is virtually no price that will make these units cost effective.

I loved my BMA units . Over the years I have owned 5 of them but now they are obsolete. If you put one in your panel this is what your panel will look like soon after when you have to replace it.

Now you have one huge hole to fill and that ain't cheap. Guess how I know.
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Well said, Milt. Your picture is worth 10,000 words (or dollars, in the case of the BMA unit).
 
Blue Mountain Avionics

tim rv415tp said:
I have an opportunity to buy one of these, If anyone has any experience or feedback on these I'd appreciate hearing from you. Also any idea as to how much they're worth?
Click to expand...

I put money down on a deposit, and as I found out, Richter had already decided to go bankrupt- he kept my money. Based on this, I think you can probably guess what my opinion is of the Blue Mountain Avionics product.
 
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