IFR Panel Clean Slate - WWYD?

EdFred

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You have the opportunity to install an entire panel in an aircraft. Caveats are it must be able to fly under IFR including approaches, and preference to having plates displayed in the panel, i.e. no tablets on the yoke or in the lap.

What do you go with?

Aircraft falls into the experimental category, and is a (wide) side by side aircraft, not tandem seating.
 
How much money (and payload) are you willing to give up? I can make this cost more than the airframe and weigh half as much.
 
Some are G, some are D, and some are GRT. I like some of the features of all 3. Some want all the same brand.

Some want different brand/ independent autopilot. When my Dynon autopilot went TU on halfway through an IFR flight I was thinking it sure would have been nice to have the old Trio Pro Pilot.

Some want all in one box, some want separate boxes. Personally I prefer multiple boxes for lower chance of a total failure.

Recommend going to a show and playing with all the toys. You'll likely find you prefer one over another.
 
A very hypothetical question without knowing which airframe we are talking about and what budget is available.

An often overlooked topic: output of the alternator. Whatever you plan, do an electric load analysis and plan (and budget for) any backup battery system accordingly.

In a lot of cases the available „real estate“ is the limiting factor and remote transponder/audio panel/radio or combos like GPS/transponder pr audio panel/radio can help to mitigate the problem.

Another consideration is to reserve enough space for goodies like charging ports, LEMO jacks, Co detectors.

The key question in my opinion is: auto pilot yes or no and if yes, which one.
 
I had a pair of GRT HXr's in the Velocity with a Garmin GRT625 (they didn't have a remote GPS at the time). Remote Val radios, PS engineering audio panel and a Trig transponder. I never used the panel displayed approach plate function so I can't comment on that.

2017-01-10 IMG_20170110_143659.jpg
 
Aircraft falls into the experimental category, and is a (wide) side by side aircraft, not tandem seating.
Me? Dynon. They are adding their own IFR navigation capability, but absent that, I’d put in an IFD.

Prefer Garmin? Looks like Axis is the latest. Unless you don’t like them removing the full 369 degree HSI, might as well get the latest.
 
Going in a yet unbuilt Velocity Twin, and you are spending your money, not an imaginary windfall from Uncle Elon.
 
Going in a yet unbuilt Velocity Twin, and you are spending your money...
If you're expecting a quick build then I'll defer to others. If it's going to take a typical loooooong time then I'd hold off until you get to a point where you have to decide, and at that time either see what's new and shiny or what's available on the used or clearance market after others chase new and shiny.

Nauga,
who knows indecision is the key to flexibility
 
Going in a yet unbuilt Velocity Twin, and you are spending your money, not an imaginary windfall from Uncle Elon.
"Yet unbuilt"?

So you haven't even started yet? Last I heard the lead time was at least a year. If you have a start date, the ones built at the factory (with help) can get done in a year. So I wouldn't be doing too much planning at this stage since there's always something new coming out.

If you don't have start date, I wouldn't even bother planning the avionics because by the time you're ready for that, there will be holographic displays with neural interfaces. :lol:
 
I had a pair of GRT HXr's in the Velocity with a Garmin GRT625 (they didn't have a remote GPS at the time). Remote Val radios, PS engineering audio panel and a Trig transponder. I never used the panel displayed approach plate function so I can't comment on that.

View attachment 155875
Is your GRT using our remote mounted audio controller, Don? Or is the PS Engineering audio panel mounted somewhere else?
 
Go buy a plane with all this already installed and sell what you got is WIWD.
That's the conventional wisdom, but IMO it's rare to find a good plane that already has the avionics you want. Not many people put in a bunch of new stuff and then sell the plane right away.

Yup. German AXIS all the way.
Um...

Prefer Garmin? Looks like Axis is the latest. Unless you don’t like them removing the full 369 degree HSI, might as well get the latest.
I mean, it's still 360 degrees, you just can't see the numbers at the bottom. Gonna have to learn a new trick for reciprocal headings. ;)

I dunno - I think some of the new panels are *too* clean:




Don Kaye N9148W Panel.JPG

My co-owner and I saw this and said "This panel just doesn't have enough STUFF." And it still has a non-remote transponder.

For as much as I like my iPhone and other iStuff and my Tesla, and even my GTN, I still like having lots of buttons, knobs, dials, and little colored lights. ;) The main drawback of the Axis, for me, is not having buttons there for audio panel isolation. (Kids.)
 
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Is your GRT using our remote mounted audio controller, Don? Or is the PS Engineering audio panel mounted somewhere else?
"Our"? I don't know who "our" is.

The audio panel is a PS Engineering PAC15EX. It is a remotely mounted audio panel which is controlled through the HXr EFIS.
 
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