Entegra and 650

[Nathan Miller]

Zero experience with anything Avidyne. In the market for a plane and the trend for my model in my price range seems to be the Avidyne Entegra.

Is this an orphaned system?
How capable is it?
How compatible is it with, say, a Garmin 650?
Am I better off budgeting for having it replaced with a G500?

 

[asicer]

the trend for my model in my price range seems to be the Avidyne Entegra.

Sounds like you are looking at a Cirrus.

I believe the Avidyne Vantage is the retrofit upgrade path from the Entegra. I hear it's ~$80k installed. However, I seem to remember that the Entegra in early Cirrus were combined with 430W's, so I'd imagine that a 650 shouldn't be a problem. On the other hand, you could go with an IFD440/IFD550 also from Avidyne. Being the same company, they ought to be able to talk to each other.

 

[Nathan Miller]

Not a bad guess, but it's a Piper Matrix.

Good tip on the 440 vs 650.

The search is on behalf of my dad. I have a 1979 Skyhawk that I've upgraded to dual G5s and GNX-375. I've told him that his plane needs to have better avionics than my Skyhawk. Not sure if that rule is in the FARs or the AIM, but I know it's there somewhere.

 

[Jim_R]

Lots of happy Avidyne IFD users here. Probably few of us have experience with the Entegra, though.

The Vantage is brand-new and is currently only STC'd for Cirrus replacements. Presumably a Piper STC will come along, but as much as I like Avidyne, that should be considered vaporware today, and there's no guarantee when or if such an STC will become available. Perhaps tellingly, the press release announcing the product makes no mention of Pipers: https://www.avidyne.com/avidyne-ann...splay-systems-unveils-cirrus-upgrade-program/

 

[flyersfan31]

Had a Meridian with Entegra. Upgraded the twin 430s to 650s. Great improvement, no issue in playing well together. I would absolutely do it if I were you, especially if you do a lot of flying on airways. ‘Load Airway’ is a game-changer. Plus creating holds is a piece of cake.

 

[Der Fliegermeister]

The Entegra isn't necessarily orphaned, but warranty repairs on the unit are staggeringly expensive and include long wait times. If the warranty on that serial unit isn't current, last I checked it's $10,000 to renew the warranty then a 60-day wait for whatever the repair might be. I've dealt with this on behalf of a customer but once and it was such a runaround that my supervisor and I both agreed we'd never promote an Avidyne product again.

Tough to argue against the new TXi units. Support is there and vastly more expedient. If you do plan to save for an upgrade in the tens of thousands of dollars, I would advise joining the Garmin gang. Others will disagree,but this is my advise based on my experiences

 

[dfw11411]

I signed a quote in November to send my Entegra PFD and MFD in for repairs and start 3 years of warranty (AeroPlan). It was about $6,600. That's just the Avidyne service and not the removal/install/config. They plan to remove the Entegra units in a week or so. I was told it would take 2-3 weeks plus shipping time, but I realize everything is fluid. This is part of a panel upgrade - replacing two Garmin 430s (non-WAAS) with two IFD440s plus a few other things. Although the Entegra is Avidyne's older panel solution, I don't think it's considered obsolete yet. Vantage isn't STC'd for my Piper but I just cannot justify the additional money for these newest panels.