JackinMichigan

JackinMichigan

Well Known Member
My plans are to purchase my Instrument Panel electronics as late as possible, most probable in mid-summer 2014. Talking to one of the RV-10 accessory suppliers yesterday, he suggested going to Sun-n-fun in the spring because rumors are that all the glass panel suppliers are introducing major upgrades...

So..... Anybody heard any rumors? Would love to hear em...:D
 
This is no rumor. None of the current manufacturers are sitting on their bums watching the world go by.

I can guarantee you that you will see something new introduced at this year's big events. And next year's, and the year following that, and the year following that etc.....

The advice is to wait till the last minute because at the rate this stuff changes, there is always that next best thing around the corner.
 
Huh??!!??

Are you saying my Garmin 396 is no longer state-of-the-art??? :D

Why just last week it found Madison all the way from Minneapolis.....

It really is amazing the innovation we have access to. Wait and reap the latest and greatest!

Soemday I will upgrade.....someday........


Brantel said:
This is no rumor. None of the current manufacturers are sitting on their bums watching the world go by.

I can guarantee you that you will see something new introduced at this year's big events. And next year's, and the year following that, and the year following that etc.....

The advice is to wait till the last minute because at the rate this stuff changes, there is always that next best thing around the corner.
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Don't get caught in that trap.
Buy what is available and fits your budget at the time you need it.
By the time you are flying, the electronics will be a couple of revisions ahead of you. Buy and don't look back

Look at it differently. How much better will you be than a spamcan rental if you buy LAST years stuff? A LOT.
 
As somebody who is re-doing a panel which was frozen in time in 2006 (and has never been installed, let alone flown!), I heartily support Bill's statement above.

Do your research. Buy from vendors who have a track record of backward compatibility or an excellent trade-in/trade-up program in place.

Our panel's "technology refresh" will set us back less than $10K, but that includes moving from a solid VFR panel to an IFR panel including a GNS480 and the autopilot to fly GPSS/GPSV, and punting all the steam gauge backups in favor of a second, stand-alone EFIS for backup duties. That's pretty good bang for the buck!
 
Acceptance

One of the facts that every builder must come to accept is that your panel will always be out of date in some way, shape or form. Things change so quickly that you can never finish a plane with the latest and greatest. Acceptance:eek:

At some point you have to hit the Purchase button and clear out the cart knowing this fact. If you don't, you'll never finish and forever be frustrated.
 
I've been telling people for a couple of years that I'll finish my -8 project when Garmin updates the now very old G3X displays.
 
petehowell said:
Are you saying my Garmin 396 is no longer state-of-the-art??? :D

Why just last week it found Madison all the way from Minneapolis.....

It really is amazing the innovation we have access to. Wait and reap the latest and greatest!

Someday I will upgrade.....someday........
Click to expand...

Hah - just before I do! Pretty soon our antique panels will be all the rage, with their stylish round dials and radium coated needles...
 
your right, they are always out of date

Our panel was built in 2005 with GRT EFISs, Garmin 300 and SL30 and TT autopilot. I am still blown away by how well it works and what it can do.

We added a 696 a year ago to get weather and better mapping. Now foreflight on the ipad has taken care of charts-plates and offers more backup.

I have often thought about upgrading the autopilot but this one works so good, I can not justify the spend just to get climbs/descents and vertical on approaches.

Anxiously waiting for our experimental vendors to help us solve the ADSB out challenge at an experimental price!
 
I caught a glimpse of the WideView prototype which they claim is the first true glass panel for the RV-8. It will be interesting to hear what the response is at Sun-n-Fun.

true_glass_panel-575x431.jpg
 
What if...?

..I know it's all the rage to go for the most adept, technologically advanced setup possible. However, one thing that keeps nagging at me is the whole "software dependency" that's growing. Even if you've jumped on the "properly designed softawre and backup systems can never fail" bandwagon and don't assign risk to an all glass panel, the other concern is future costs. Software upgrade costs, subscription costs, software to software sync/patch costs, etc. In the software world, isn't planned obsolescence part of the design criteria? ..as well as industry non-standardization? By giving up our steam gauges, are we really signing up for a never-ending continuous billing cycle?
 
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ppilotmike said:
Software upgrade costs, subscription costs, software to software sync/patch costs, etc. In the software world, isn't planned obsolescence part of the design criteria? ..as well as industry non-standardization? By giving up our steam gauges, are we really signing up for a never-ending continuous billing cycle?
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Most of the hardware that brings with it the majority of the cost you are describing above are related to IFR operations and you are going to have those cost with steam as well as glass. Ground based IFR navigation is slowly going away whether we like it or not.

Most experimental EFIS makers have made these cost virtually disappear in their systems. The decision to upgrade to the latest and greatest hardware mostly lies in the lap of the end user. For instance: Dynon still sells and supports a glass product that is over a decade old. The G3X platform is many years old and is even backward compatible with the new products that were introduced to freshen up the line and fill some holes. AFS and GRT still support many of their older products.

I still have a warm place in my heart for a well designed panel full of round steam but the reality is that that ship has sailed and the world is moving on.
 
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humptybump said:
I caught a glimpse of the WideView prototype which they claim is the first true glass panel for the RV-8. It will be interesting to hear what the response is at Sun-n-Fun.

true_glass_panel-575x431.jpg
Click to expand...

Glen, do you have a spy in our offices?

-Robert
Dynon Avionics
 
Dunno about you Robert, but I'm wondering what Rob H & AFS are going to increase to now. We've kinda run out of numerals to go to, 5400 > 5600 > 5800... What now, the AFS Super-Jumbo Neural Link 10000? :eek:
 
Brantel said:
Most of the hardware that brings with it the majority of the cost you are describing above are related to IFR operations and you are going to have those cost with steam as well as glass. Ground based IFR navigation is slowly going away whether we like it or not.

Most experimental EFIS makers have made these cost virtually disappear in their systems. The decision to upgrade to the latest and greatest hardware mostly lies in the lap of the end user. For instance: Dynon still sells and supports a glass product that is over a decade old. The G3X platform is many years old and is even backward compatible with the new products that were introduced to freshen up the line and fill some holes. AFS and GRT still support many of their older products.

I still have a warm place in my heart for a well designed panel full of round steam but the reality is that that ship has sailed and the world is moving on.
Click to expand...

Valid points.
 
Brantel said:
Most of the hardware that brings with it the majority of the cost you are describing above are related to IFR operations and you are going to have those cost with steam as well as glass. Ground based IFR navigation is slowly going away whether we like it or not.

Most experimental EFIS makers have made these cost virtually disappear in their systems. The decision to upgrade to the latest and greatest hardware mostly lies in the lap of the end user. For instance: Dynon still sells and supports a glass product that is over a decade old. The G3X platform is many years old and is even backward compatible with the new products that were introduced to freshen up the line and fill some holes. AFS and GRT still support many of their older products.

I still have a warm place in my heart for a well designed panel full of round steam but the reality is that that ship has sailed and the world is moving on.
Click to expand...

Valid points.
 
Ditto on Garmin.

I heard from 2 sources (one a builder, the other an avionics shop employee) at Oshkosh last year that Garmin is coming out with a larger display. I certainly hope so! I'd love to have a single display that does what 2 of their current ones do. Save a bit of money, weight, complexity... all good things.
 
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