ColoRv

ColoRv

Well Known Member
I'm trying to nail myself into a decision here and I've waffled back and forth. I thought I had decided on Dynon (even bought the servos and pitot) but after a bit more research I think I may go the other way. I would like to throw my thoughts out here and ask those with more expertise or experience to shoot down anything I have wrong or throw your own thoughts in.

The Skyview system is beautiful, no question and I lust, believe me I do..but I now have some reservations. Two of my basic requirements for a $20k panel system is weather and data logging. A pretty screen in flight will certainly make me smile...it allowing me to see and avoid weather ahead will produce far more satisfaction and the ability to analyze misbehaving engine parameters on the ground is a safety benefit in my mind. Both abilities are already in the Garmin, both have been promised for a while by Dynon. Since it will be a year or so before I'm flying, I had decided to put my faith in Dynon's development. Then I started reading old posts, and saw a striking similarity between what Dynon said a year ago and what is being said now. Soon...we are working diligently on it.

With an R&D engineering background, I certainly realize it's very difficult to develop and engineer at the pace of a well funded, huge staff of engineering if you have neither of those two things. Garmin is certainly larger, better funded and possesses the engineering muscle to develop quickly anything they desire to. The only questions are, have they chosen the best development path and are they dedicated to continue development for the experimental market....and it appears like they are. I like the Dynon panel look better, but it seems their install requires finding homes for more boxes, which means more wiring with subsequent fail points. There seems to be a rather long list of Garmin advantages. Better radio control, better auto pilot control, weather, data logging, checklists etc and it's hard to argue against Garmin's mapping abilities.

My questions for those who know these systems better than I (not difficult to do) are these:

Am I off base with any of the above thoughts?
What does the Dynon provide that the Garmin does not?
 
Here are the advantages the way I see em:

Larger screen area, multiple ADAHRS's, I think the synthetic vision is a bit better on Skyview, ready to go battery backup system, free database updates.

Maybe there are a few more. There is an equal list of disadvantages as well and you hit on a bunch of them and those are why I am going G3X in the next panel upgrade. I need and want some of the advanced features that Garmin has today.

Who knows though in a year I might change my mind depending on how far Dynon gets with the development.
 
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I have a Dynon 180 with the Autopilot which I direct via the Garmin 496. So I have all of the things you mention and would like to move up myself to a Skyview. The 496 is done so yes weather becomes an issue. I do like the D-180. No complaints. My only aggravations were the "senders" Dynon used but they have upgraded those with the Skyview to Garmin level. The Dynon Autopilot of course is digital and will fly a rope. Both have synthetic vision and mapping. The Dynon maps are a one-time $500 license, Garmin uses Jepp which will get real expensive. The Garmin screen is vertical, the Dynon horizontal. Dynon servos only work with Dynon and Garmin works best right now with TruTrac though they are accepting some others as well. The Garmin is XM weather ($37/month) and set up to accept ADSB as an add on at some time. Dynon of course is working to add ADSB since their number one request is weather. Both have remote transponders. Dynon will be a couple of grand cheaper for a similar total set up. I do think they will come through on their ADSB weather. I'm like you...I'm in love with both of them.
 
The market is very competitive. I think if you carefully compare prices you will find GRT and AFS similarly priced to Garmin (add in 5 years' database costs), with Dynon a bit less expensive.
I have GRT so I can say it provides data logging (memory stick); wx is available, either ADS-B or XM (you have to buy the receivers as an upgrade).

My advice: if you're a year or more away, wait. Wait as long as you can. You are almost guaranteed to have obsolete equipment when you make your first flight, that's how fast this market changes. But better to be only 6 months behind than a year and a half.
 
I have nothing to add as I am smack in the middle of making this decision myself. But if ou end up needing to get rid of your servos, PM me and I'm sure we can work something out.
 
I have been a Dynon advocate for many years, using there legacy stuff in 3 planes. I have used the Grand Rapids EIS in 2 airplanes. I have used the tru track autopilots in 2 planes. I have recently installed and flown a Skyview, and a G3X. I just finished upgrading my RV8 with dual Dynon legacy equipment.
I will soon be helping a friend get back into flying by flying with him in a G1000 C182. The G 1000 and G3X are very similar. I have had good experience with GRT, Dynon, and Tru Trak. My personal opinion now is that Garmin and Tru Trak are the GOLD standard.
I am selling all my Dynon Legacy equipment and installing it in a Steam gauge RV6. I am re paneling my plane with G3X and GX (tru Trak) pilot!
I pretty much just send my paychecks to Stein!:D
 
ColoRv said:
One thing the Dynon does that the Garmin currently does not is.... AOA.
Click to expand...

True - but I have flown a number of EFIS's with AOA on the screen, and found them to be less than useful, as I am not looking anywere NEAR that low on approach when I'd like to see it. My personal preference for AOA is a head mounted up on the glareshield where it is in the field of view on approach....

Paul
 
Dynon AOA can be wired to your audio to give an audible aoa warning. You can choose where it goes off. No need to look away from the runway at all.
 
Yep, I use the audible and the remote indicator I built. The onscreen display is useless for me.
 
For that reason, I kept my Dynon D10A with the AOA as a backup EFIS when I installed my 3 screen G3X with TruTrak GX Pilot.

Ray
N519RV (840 hours)
 
Yeah, I don't care much about the display but an audio alert is something I find useful. I do believe a large percentage of emergency procedure crashes are stall/spin. AOA is a safety device that I prefer to have if at all possible, which means if I do go Garmin...that's another addition to the bottom line.

In the past, I've learned my lessons about small engineering budgets versus large. Small company longevity versus large (ie Blue Mountain). And all things being equal I will nearly always put my money in the large and likely more secure company...but I admit I'm struggling a bit with this decision. Perhaps Oshkosh will help. Both companies are expected to announce improvements.
 
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