Garmin G5 vs King KI300

Briar Rabbit

Line Up and Wait
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Rob
Will Bendix King’s new KI300 and their new KFC-230 autopilot have any benefits over the Garmin G5 & GFC500? The two AI’s look very similar but the Garmin is about $1,250 less expensive.
And the Garmin battery backup is 4 hours vs Bendix King’s 1 hour backup. Are there other benefits that a person will want to spend more money for the King solution? Or maybe the King autopilot will be less expensive?
 
1. The KFC 230 is still imaginary.(0 STCs, 0 pricing, 0 availability information)

2. If you don't have an existing King autopilot signs point to it being 20k+the KI-300 and the 310 adapter.

3. You'll get that legendary King support.(hahahahahahahaha)

4. At that price I'd rather have the GFC 600.
 
I can't think of any reason at all to go with King.
 
Bendix King has gone from being the gold standard to a joke. Don't waste your time.
 
Will Bendix King’s new KI300 and their new KFC-230 autopilot have any benefits over the Garmin G5 & GFC500? The two AI’s look very similar but the Garmin is about $1,250 less expensive.
And the Garmin battery backup is 4 hours vs Bendix King’s 1 hour backup. Are there other benefits that a person will want to spend more money for the King solution? Or maybe the King autopilot will be less expensive?

The *only* reason to go with King anything (in what you've listed especially) is if you already have King stuff in your airplane that you don't want to replace.

1. The KFC 230 is still imaginary.(0 STCs, 0 pricing, 0 availability information)

2. If you don't have an existing King autopilot signs point to it being 20k+the KI-300 and the 310 adapter.

3. You'll get that legendary King support.(hahahahahahahaha)

4. At that price I'd rather have the GFC 600.

The reason for the existence of the KI-300 is to have an upgrade path for those of us who have King attitude-based autopilots and cannot use the G5 because it can't (yet) provide attitude to our autopilots. However, for that matter, the KI-300 can't do it yet either, because it requires the KA-310 adapter, which isn't certified yet. (Last I heard was Q2. Year not specified.)

The reason for the existence of the KFC-230 "AeroCruze" autopilot was that King saw everyone else was starting to completely kick their ass, so they came up with a vaporware product to get people with panels full of King gear to not change over just yet because there's a thing that's coming someday. While I could slide in the KFC-230 in place of my KFC-150, that doesn't change the fact that King wants $9600 for an overhaul exchange trim servo. That's what we call "**** you pricing".

Word is that Garmin will introduce something in the AEA/Sun-n-Fun time frame (only about a month from now) that can run third-party attitude-based autopilots. I'm waiting to see what that is.

But, certainly for a new installation there's no reason at all to go with King over Garmin.
 
I went with the Aspen 1000 PRO (and plan to upgrade to the MAX) in order to get the ability to have my KFC 200 be compatible with my GTN 750. It all works perfectly.

No need to wait on the King thing and the Garmin G5 can't do anything that the Aspen can't do - and the Aspen works with legacy King AP's.

I spent alot of time at the various vendor booths at last year's Osh Kosh. The King booth was a joke. I don't even know what they call their "competitive product" that goes up against the GTN 750 or for that matter Avidyne IFD series units. The KI 300 looks to be just as irrelevant.

I do like my 20 year old KFC 200. That AP works and works well. But that is the only King panel product left in my airplane. The whole panel was King up until two months ago. No more.
 
Why anyone would voluntarily install King equipment at this point is beyond me. How many KSN770s are out there?
 
Another unit to look at is the aerovonics AV-30. Still pending FAA cert for certified but price is great.
I have their AV-20 and like it a lot
 
I went with the Aspen 1000 PRO (and plan to upgrade to the MAX) in order to get the ability to have my KFC 200 be compatible with my GTN 750. It all works perfectly.

I have a KFC 150, but I didn't need anything in between for it to be compatible with my GTN 750... ???

No need to wait on the King thing and the Garmin G5 can't do anything that the Aspen can't do - and the Aspen works with legacy King AP's.

For us, the end game is likely a G500 TXi. However, our KI-256 has been circling the drain for quite a while now, so we're eager for a short-term solution. With an engine that's already past TBO*, and having just dropped $40K+ into the panel a little over a year ago, we're not currently planning to do the TXi this year... But if the KI-256 dies, it makes much more sense for us to put in a G5 + adapter because the G5 can be reused later as a backup to the TXi, and it can be used to drive a GFC500, which is also on our wish list.

* I can't tell you how many times people have told me that an IO-550 will never make TBO. They're full of crap. We don't flog it, we run it at 65% LOP, and it runs great. I think we're at 2,030 hours or so, so far.

I spent alot of time at the various vendor booths at last year's Osh Kosh. The King booth was a joke. I don't even know what they call their "competitive product" that goes up against the GTN 750 or for that matter Avidyne IFD series units. The KI 300 looks to be just as irrelevant.

They probably think it's the KSN 770, which has an awful user interface, no way to connect to an EFB and no plans for that in the future. It's pretty much worthless.

I do like my 20 year old KFC 200. That AP works and works well. But that is the only King panel product left in my airplane. The whole panel was King up until two months ago. No more.

Yeah, our KFC 150 is a great autopilot, when it works. We were chasing gremlins in it for several years, though, and the last straw was when we were quoted $9600 for an overhaul exchange trim servo. Luckily, the component-level wizard at our avionics shop managed to resurrect ours from the dead... But we're *done*. If the KFC quits again, it's gone. The GFC 500 should be certified for our M20R in the next couple of months, and as good as the KFC 150 was before the latest generation of autopilots that came out in the last couple of years, it doesn't compare to the new GFCs.

Why anyone would voluntarily install King equipment at this point is beyond me. How many KSN770s are out there?

I'm a bit of an avionics geek, and I look at panels of planes a lot. I have yet to see a single one.

Having flown with parcels in the back, although on a smaller scale, todays mostly air filled packages cause you to bulk out way before you max out weight wise in my experience.

Especially Amazon. I just got a 10-pack of CR2032 button cells that take up a small fraction of a standard envelope, and it came in a box that was about a foot square and 6" high. :eek:
 
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You are correct about the KFC and GTN 750, but what I really meant is that the G5 would not work with my KFC 200. I wanted to get rid of the KI256 and go to a new style PFD - and the Aspen would work with my KFC 200 while the G5 would not.
 
They probably think it's the KSN 770, which has an awful user interface, no way to connect to an EFB and no plans for that in the future. It's pretty much worthless.


I think FlyQ works with the KSN770 but I would never buy one.
 
I think FlyQ works with the KSN770 but I would never buy one.

I don't know how that's possible - It's not the software, it's the hardware. There is no wireless interface in the KSN 770, and no external wireless interface that's compatible with it.
 
Even though I think the Bendix King equipment has worked good for me I agree with the majority that the Garmin G5 and GFC 500 is the better option. The Aerovonics AV 30 does seem to offer more usable information at 2/3 the price of the certified Garmin G5 though. If they start certifying it for popular models may be good competition for Garmin and may give them a little pressure to compete at some point? I don’t think King competes well.

https://aerovonics.com/av-30

I hope Garmin has some deals at Sun-N-Fun, I may be tempted. Also looking forward to the Avidyne 540 upgrade to tie our unit into more features for Fore Flight and the G5 systems.

If we upgrade a Century 1 autopilot, AH & DG and low time rebuilt vacuum pump will be available.
 
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