Av8torTom

Av8torTom

Well Known Member
I know this is like asking who is your favorite child, but I'm at the point where I need to start thinking about instrumentation. Right now I'm leaning towards the Dynon Skyview, but I would like to know what people think about MGL and Advanced (or any other EFIS), and why they chose them.

Thanks,

Tom
 
People are always advocates of what they have and somtimes try to convince you into making the same decision to justify theres.That said I have installed both dynon and advance I personaly prefer Advance , much better tech support ,sometimes dynon just considers it a bother to help and can be condecending. Advance has most componets built into the units(ahrs,back up battery etc.)this makes install easier. The advance color and brightness are excellent ,unit has never failed .The dynon unit failed witin just a few hours,something due to back up battery.When I decided to up grade my advance from a 3500 to a 4500 advance sent me a loaner at no charge.
I'm sure people who have sky views must be satisfied , not trying to tell you what to buy just passing on my personal experience.what ever you by you will get alot of bang for the buck. Good luck Jerry
 
i am putting the skyview system in the RV-4 and I plan to put the advanced in the 7, mainly due to the increased IFR functionality
 
Brief comment: We have a Dynon D-180, and it pretty much worked straight out of the box. Over time I might have added a few settings, but there is lots I have not bothered to touch and it works well.

I test flew someone's RV-7, who had been persuaded to put in a fancy MGL EFIS. It was next to useless, and the owner not a great target for getting it sorted - he did not know how it worked. I am shortly to test fly the "persuader's" RV, also with a large MGL. I know from his website he has designed screen layouts for different flight phases etc., and hope my faith in MGL is restored since we wish to use an Xtreme in the RV-3 :eek:

Summary: there is more than just "good" and "bad" EFIS's - some seem to take more effort to "train" / "setup" the EFIS for how you want it - and whether that suits you comes down to the time / research you are willing to put in.
 
Can't really answer your question. Don't know your mission. Mine is basic VFR panel and a D-100 fit the bill nicely. It's not all-fired fancy, it just provides the basic information I need to fly. Don't need synthetic vision and all that for my mission since I can see the real thing.

I do have a hangar mate who put three fancy EFIS systems in from a major northwest-U.S.-based company (retired airline pilot with money to burn), then spent more time trying to get them all working and talking to each other (the owner of the company ended up coming out to help) than flying.

And that was for a light-sport.

So my plan from the start was, build cheap, and park very far away from the more impressive RVs at Oshkosh. :rolleyes:
 
I have flown behind Dynon and GRT and prefer GRT by many folds. But it would be fair to say that I used them for IFR flying. However, even for VFR, I would go with GRT without any doubt. Dollar for dollar, you would get a lot more for your $$$ at GRT with features that works now vs. what may or may not be available later and get matured.

For IFR, the choice would be between Advance and GRT.
 
For me the winner is.

Garmin G3x. I have about 20 hours behind a 2 screen G3x now and it's outstanding. The new pricing puts the system on a par with the other on a like for like basis but for me the real draw card was how well the G3x integrates with my other garmin stuff (obviously i know!) and the Trutrak gx pilot. Combined with my 430 I feel I have a great IFR set up with this combination. The support from garmin and Trutrak is fantastic and the ease of use and capability of the system makes it such a pleasure to fly behind. I found out about the RV grin when I first flew my 7 18 months ago, I now have a G3x grin to go with it!
 
Hard to find a Bear Clock

Thanks everyone for the input. The main reason I'm asking now is the auto pilot. I'm getting ready to rivet the skins on my right wing and would like to mount the servo bracket now. It looks like Dynon uses only their servo (and bracket), while there seem to be some servo options with the other manufacturers.

Comments???

Thanks again,

T.
 
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When you get feedback about EFIS systems, make sure the person tells you what era of a particular brand they are talking about.

For someone to say "Dynon" means nothing without differentiating between the G1 stuff and the Skyview. Same goes for all the other brands.

All of the newer models from the major players are awesome. Dynon is still catching up with features on the Skyview. They do however keep the updates rolling and have a ton of overhead built into their system to make capable well into the future.

Rob and the AFS product are simply amazing. He has the needs of the IFR experimental market nailed!

Garmin's G3X is awesome as well. They offer the best integration with their panel mounted navigators. Not sure how well they will be willing to support things like third party ADS-B units. Garmin also loses when it comes to cost to keep their system updated. They need to wake up and smell the coffee in this regard. They also do not have an AOA solution or a redundant AHRS as far as I know.

I have not kept up with GRT lately. I am sure they also have some great new stuff out there.
 
Right now GRT has some very low introductoy pricing on their new 10.4 inch HXr system which is wifi capable and can use an android touch tablet for input. It's a top of the line system at Dynon prices.
 
It is easy to mount the servos in a completed plane so don't frett over this now.

Wait is my advice.

Av8torTom said:
Thanks everyone for the input. The main reason I'm asking now is the auto pilot. I'm getting ready to rivet the skins on my right wing and would like to mount the servo bracket now. It looks like Dynon uses only their servo (and bracket), while there seem to be some servo options with the other manufacturers.

Comments???

Thanks again,

T.
Click to expand...
 
Having now mounted two different servos, put in Blue Mountain servo prior to riveting the skins on just before they went belly up and had to take it out, I mounted the Dynon servo with the skins on and it was a piece of cake and it fits beautifully in the wing and fuselage. As other pointed out, mission dictates your choice as well. I chose Dynon because I thought they would be around and I liked their integration of the autopilot and transponder with the Skyview. My mission is VFR but I could add a 430 or 650 easily if I want to go IFR.
 
Brantel said:
It is easy to mount the servos in a completed plane so don't frett over this now.

Wait is my advice.
Click to expand...

I installed my servos (Dynon) after a year of flying. It really was not a difficult install. I had no brackets, nothing. I did prewire (7 wire) to the servo locations. I recommend you do that for sure.

I am happy with my Skyview. Dynon is a little slow to produce upgrades, but when they do come, they are really good. I'd guess in a year or two, Dynon will be the way to go, right now, it looks like AFS has a pretty complete set up right now. G3 looks pretty good, but I hate paying $$$ for database updates.

I am anxious for Dynon to come out with their comm unit. That could be a real game changer.
 
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