Dynon Skyview HDX in my 182

AK737pilot

AK737pilot

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
147
Location
Wasilla, AK
Display Name
Chris
Home Airfield
Wolf Lake (4AK6)
Many years ago I saw a Dynon Skyview HDX at a trade show and said, “I gotta have one of these… if only I had an airplane!”
I bought a 182 and over the last 7 years I’ve gone through a couple avionics upgrades: JPI engine monitor, removed the vacuum system, G5, new Garmin radio, panel mounted Aera 660, iPad panel mount. I was content with my VFR machine with the dream of a Skyview eventually. Eventually finally turned into NOW!

I spent several months planning, diagramming, collecting pieces and parts. October came around and it was time to to pull N3131R into the hangar and begin the process! Over the last two months, I’ve replaced all the circuit breaks and switches, panels, single 10” HDX, Dynon Com and Transponder, ADSB in and Garmin GPS 175. I did all the work myself except for cutting, powder coating and labeling the aluminum panels- I had a local avionics shop produce those.

Tomorrow (only two months later) I hope to pull it out and run it up to check all the new sensors, leak check the parts that could leak, cowl it up and hopefully fly it!

Here’s a little YouTube video on the evolution of my panel:

IMG_0104.jpegIMG_0330.jpegIMG_0123.jpegIMG_0328.jpegIMG_0338.jpegIMG_0342.jpegIMG_0357.jpeg
 
Nice work! There's definitely a learning curve with it and some features I wish it had but overall it's a great addition to the plane. The buttonology associated with the autopilot has taken me some time to absorb.

In the few months since I installed mine (direct swap for Skyview touch already in place) I had to send one screen back for replacement. On an IFR flight on autopilot the plane started turning and diving at the same time the Dynon screen started flashing different screens like it was at a rave. Turns out the touchscreen was picking up touches that weren't done as if it was having a seizure. Those sensed touches reprogrammed the autopilot to jump all over the place at the same time it took out the screen view. We were able to confirm it by turning on a feature in the skyview that shows a starburst on the screen wherever a touch is sensed.
 
Congrats and enjoy. Wish they would stay more consistent with publishing content - but - the Dynon YouTube channel has some great short videos that are helpful with getting the most out of it.

Love the HDX and the com integration is terrific. Real workload reducer.

Remember that the nav interface to your Waas is one way. If you are making flight plan changes in the Dynon screen, it’s not making its way to your flight plan. Sounds silly, but the more I got accustomed to doing most things on the HDX (coms,xponder, info, etc), I found myself a few times pushing ‘direct to’ on the HDX interface and taking a second to realize why I wasn’t getting what I expected. All nav changes happen on the Garmin, everything else on the HDX
 
Dynon HDX's are great. We installed this entire system for a great guy who used to be a 787 Captain.

You'll notice the integration between ADSBin, remote mounted radios, engine monitoring, etc...

Garmin is not the only solution outthere....

IMG_0591 (1).jpg
 
theplanesalon said:
Dynon HDX's are great. We installed this entire system for a great guy who used to be a 787 Captain.

You'll notice the integration between ADSBin, remote mounted radios, engine monitoring, etc...

Garmin is not the only solution outthere....

View attachment 148326
Click to expand...
Great looking panel. What is in the stack between the com radio and the navigator? Can’t make it out from the picture.
 
Some like Chevy, some Ford, others won’t buy anything but Toyota. Lol
Dynon, Garmin, Avidyne, they all get us where we want to go!
YMMV
 
AK737pilot said:
Many years ago I saw a Dynon Skyview HDX at a trade show and said, “I gotta have one of these… if only I had an airplane!”
I bought a 182 and over the last 7 years I’ve gone through a couple avionics upgrades: JPI engine monitor, removed the vacuum system, G5, new Garmin radio, panel mounted Aera 660, iPad panel mount. I was content with my VFR machine with the dream of a Skyview eventually. Eventually finally turned into NOW!

I spent several months planning, diagramming, collecting pieces and parts. October came around and it was time to to pull N3131R into the hangar and begin the process! Over the last two months, I’ve replaced all the circuit breaks and switches, panels, single 10” HDX, Dynon Com and Transponder, ADSB in and Garmin GPS 175. I did all the work myself except for cutting, powder coating and labeling the aluminum panels- I had a local avionics shop produce those.

Tomorrow (only two months later) I hope to pull it out and run it up to check all the new sensors, leak check the parts that could leak, cowl it up and hopefully fly it!

Here’s a little YouTube video on the evolution of my panel:

View attachment 148270View attachment 148272View attachment 148273View attachment 148274View attachment 148275View attachment 148276View attachment 148277
Click to expand...
Hey,

Nice panel & I'm looking into doing the same upgrade to my 68 182 this coming year with an Avidyne 440 & PM450B along with the all the dynon items except for the AOA.

Is there anything you wished you'd done differently and/or any tips you could give me :)

Thanks,

Dale

PS: Happy New Year everyone!!
 
Hiya Dale,

I still haven’t been able to get the plane out of the hangar (nasty weather + holiday travel), so I can’t yet comment of the pilot side of the install.

As the A&P who installed all this by myself, I do have a couple small regrets. 1. I would like to have replaced the radio rack with the QuickTrax system. The Swiss cheese of many avionics upgrades left me with my GPS 175 slightly askew. It’s barely noticeable, but I see it and it makes my eye twitch a little. lol
2. If money was no object, I would have gotten a GTN650 or Avidyne. I don’t have any ground based NAV now (didn’t have it before anyway). I’m 99% VFR anyway, so I’m not too disappointed.
3. I didn’t do the AOA. I’ll probably install it next winter…. Maybe.
4. Same as above for the autopilot.
3. Not a regret, but a disappointment- the interface between the GPS175 and Aera 660 is not what I hoped it would be. I was hoping to be able to input flight plan changes, i.e. Direc To on the Aera and it be reflected instantly on the 175. That doesn’t happen. The direct wire connection only sends map/gps info one way 175->660. There is the ability to send flight plans from the 660 to the 175 via Bluetooth Connext, but it’s cumbersome and didn’t consistently work on the bench. Fortunately, the ForeFlight->175 via Bluetooth works great!

That’s all I can think of for now. I’m sure I’ll have more observations once we push the plane out and fly it!
 
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Hey,

Thanks for getting back to me and I appreciate your comments.

Here’s to a good first flight!!
 
I was able to get in a quick test flight to get everything calibrated.
All went well, except for some pesky noise in the intercom…. I deleted the original Cessna noise filter in the alternator circuit thinking the new Plane Power voltage regulator didn’t need it…. Should be an easy fix.

I didn’t get to do more video as the weather was moving in and I needed to get the plane to the paint shop. She’ll be a new bird in just a few weeks!


 
That panel looks amazing, well done and congrats. It sounds like you were set on the HDX from the first time you saw it. Did you do any research on costs and compare it to a similarly capable Garmin, or any other setup? I'm curious if this is on par with a similarly capable Garmin/other setup, or if it's significantly more/less. No need to answer with specific numbers/costs unless you'd be ok with that. I'm more interested in hearing if it a much higher cost overall, similar, or maybe actually you might have saved some funds to use elsewhere. Thanks in advance for any reply. Cheers!
 
Thanks for the kind words!

I did some cursory price comparisons using pricing I could find online (as opposed to contacting dealers and getting real numbers). I compared similar setups using a combination of EFIS components, COM, XPDR, and engine monitoring. I compared Dynon, GI275 trio, Aspen+JPI, and G3x. All were within $5000 of each other with the GI275s at the bottom around $20k, Aspen at $22k, and the G3x and Dynon being just over $24k. These are component prices only, no installation costs.

Why I went with Skyview:
1. As an A&P I was able to install the system myself
2. Pre-built wiring harnesses between Skyview components reduced installation time.
3. Installing the autopilot later on will be much easier (just install the servos, control head, and plug in the pre-built wiring harnesses).

Hope this helps!
 
The lower hours on install is a cost reduction we pass on to customers. We are Trio/The STC Group, Dynon, and Avidyne dealers as well....
 
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