Is Bendix mounting a comeback?

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livitup

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While I'm not an owner yet, I'd like to think that I might be soon, so I follow the stories on AVweb and other eye-candy pushing sites/newsletters. I came across this little gem in a recent information binge...

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/July/29/bendix-king-kt-74.aspx
p-KT74-01-detail-470x290.png

Not to long ago, the sentiment here was that Bendix King was on its last legs and would be defunct before too long, and I agreed with the crowd. Now they've gone and made an ADS-B Out transponder, that looks sharp, and is $1000 less than anything comparable from Garmin. If I had a plane and needed to upgrade, I'd pick this Bendix in a heartbeat, and I'm a long time Garmin guy in boats, personal GPS, and I'm quite happy to rent planes with Garmin avionics. So this is a fairly adulterous thought for me to be having...

Is this the beginning of the Bendix resurgence?
 
I think they are trying to make a comeback. I was contacted by a Bendix recruiter about a month ago, so apparently they're hiring. I politely declined since I'm happy with my job, but I was surprised to hear that they are looking for people.
 
They have a lot of bridges to rebuild before they make a comeback. A transponder and the KSN770 showing up 5 years late isn't rebuilding the bridges they've burned. I won't be purchasing anything B/K for another decade or two.
 
They also have their EFB product. Maybe new life is stirring.
 
We'll.... it might be a good solution if you have a GPS that can satisfy the the ADS-B positioning requirements already installed.


In my case, I'm either gonna needed a seperate stand alone GPS or and integrated ADS-B transceiver & GPS sensor.
 
To be honest, I never even looked at their EFB, since I assumed it was the same 20 year old crap they've been wrenching into airplanes this decade. But methinks I will have to try it out. Ted, I think it's telling that they are recruiting. Companies don't usually do that unless they're pretty sure they have a future state planned out. Finally, yes Brian, you need a separate GPS source, but the same is true with the Garmin 330ES, and it's still $1000 more. And, ready for the knife twist? The Bendix box is compatible with Garmin GPS sources.

Makes me go Hmmmmm...
 
And whose equipment currently constitutes the majority of installed units in GA planes, most of which has been in place and functioning reasonably well for many years?

B/K didn't make bad stuff, they just abdicated their position. They stopped developing G/A stuff when the Phoenix (Global) guys were given the reins at the King Radio facility. In fairness, the owner-flown GA market was in the ditch at the time and spending for R & D for that segment probably wasn't something any of us would have done either if we had the choice of increasing share of the jet and turboprop market.

bartmc said:
They have a lot of bridges to rebuild before they make a comeback. A transponder and the KSN770 showing up 5 years late isn't rebuilding the bridges they've burned. I won't be purchasing anything B/K for another decade or two.
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I hope the lens coatings don't peel and flake like their old stuff. lol. I'm keeping this transponder in my sights for now. It's supposed to use the same tray as the kt-76 which I already have.
 
wabower said:
And whose equipment currently constitutes the majority of installed units in GA planes, most of which has been in place and functioning reasonably well for many years?

B/K didn't make bad stuff, they just abdicated their position. They stopped developing G/A stuff when the Phoenix (Global) guys were given the reins at the King Radio facility. In fairness, the owner-flown GA market was in the ditch at the time and spending for R & D for that segment probably wasn't something any of us would have done either if we had the choice of increasing share of the jet and turboprop market.
Click to expand...

And they took that fact and used it to bend over their existing customers instead of innovating and "winning" the customers over. We were beaten and abused as they tried to squeeze every nickle out of us they could "because they can". I knew my relationship with B/K was over when it was cheaper to buy a Garmin CDI than buy the replacement part (meter movement) to fix my B/K one. Up until about a year ago they were selling "new" KLN89Bs for more than the cost of a GNS530W. You went to B/K when you had no other choice.... While their gas discharge displays are ubiquitous in GA planes, they're still flaky compared to the Garmin offerings.
They're about 10 years late to this party. I hope they rebound, but it's going to take some time to heal the old wounds.
 
The Garmin was $1000 overpriced from the get-go. B/K is going after the low-hanging fruit. Nothing wrong with that.
 
it's a good sign. If B-K is 1k less than garmin then trig will be 1k less than B-K. Now we're talking.
 
Pilots have short memories when dollar signs are part of the equation. When Garmin burst on the scene they were everybody's darling for basically re-pricing the navigation capability of GA in the same way that XM later provided on-board weather.

bartmc said:
And they took that fact and used it to bend over their existing customers instead of innovating and "winning" the customers over. We were beaten and abused as they tried to squeeze every nickle out of us they could "because they can". I knew my relationship with B/K was over when it was cheaper to buy a Garmin CDI than buy the replacement part (meter movement) to fix my B/K one. Up until about a year ago they were selling "new" KLN89Bs for more than the cost of a GNS530W. You went to B/K when you had no other choice.... While their gas discharge displays are ubiquitous in GA planes, they're still flaky compared to the Garmin offerings.
They're about 10 years late to this party. I hope they rebound, but it's going to take some time to heal the old wounds.
Click to expand...
 
JHW said:
it's a good sign. If B-K is 1k less than garmin then trig will be 1k less than B-K. Now we're talking.
Click to expand...


It is a Trig !!

Even the 770 had to be completed by another company to get it to work !

And their APP is from S/A.

Until they actually start producing your own hardware, they are still out of the game.
 
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Maybe BK can hire some proofreaders to review their brochures before publication. When they're asking me to spend tens of thousands of dollars on their equipment, I need to have confidence in the reliability and performance of said equipment. How am I supposed to have confidence in the performance of their equipment if the marketing material contains numerous errors? Details are important.


JKG
 
Old Geek said:
The Garmin was $1000 overpriced from the get-go. B/K is going after the low-hanging fruit. Nothing wrong with that.
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...unless you've got nothing but promises with which to pick the fruit. I'm still waiting to see a KSN770 installed, certified, and operating in a customer's aircraft. Ditto the Avidyne IFD-series units. What I do see is lots and lots of Garmin 430/530 units and several Garmin 650/750 units -- all in and working just fine. Proof of the pudding, and all that.
 
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Ron Levy said:
...unless you've got nothing but promises with which to pick the fruit. I'm still waiting to see a KSN770 installed, certified, and operating in a customer's aircraft. Ditto the Avidyne IFD-series units. What I do see is lots and lots of Garmin 430/530 units and several Garmin 650/750 units -- all in and working just fine. Proof of the pudding, and all that.
Click to expand...

Didn't they say at OSH that certification was a week out?

Lets see that's 7 days converted to BK time, carry the one. I think you'll see it in two years.
 
bartmc said:
Didn't they say at OSH that certification was a week out?

Lets see that's 7 days converted to BK time, carry the one. I think you'll see it in two years.
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Exactly.

Kind of like when, in 1962, NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller said that in four years, the Hudson River would be clean enough to drink out of. In 1966, he said the same thing. In 1970, some wag quoted the two previous statements, and then said in four years, you'd be able to walk on it. It's now 51 years after that original statement, and I don't think you'll find anyone drinking from that river. Maybe in four more years it will catch fire. "Burn on, big river, burn on."

(Yeah, I know, Randy was singing about the Cuyahoga, but the principle still fits)
 
wabower said:
And whose equipment currently constitutes the majority of installed units in GA planes, most of which has been in place and functioning reasonably well for many years?

B/K didn't make bad stuff, they just abdicated their position. They stopped developing G/A stuff when the Phoenix (Global) guys were given the reins at the King Radio facility. In fairness, the owner-flown GA market was in the ditch at the time and spending for R & D for that segment probably wasn't something any of us would have done either if we had the choice of increasing share of the jet and turboprop market.
Click to expand...

Good point...I still spend more time looking at King radios than any other brand, although Garmin is gaining ground.
 
Ron Levy said:
...unless you've got nothing but promises with which to pick the fruit. I'm still waiting to see a KSN770 installed, certified, and operating in a customer's aircraft. Ditto the Avidyne IFD-series units. What I do see is lots and lots of Garmin 430/530 units and several Garmin 650/750 units -- all in and working just fine. Proof of the pudding, and all that.
Click to expand...

Ron and I often disagree, but I played with the demo units LAST year at OSH and they said they'd be done in January 2013.

BK is becoming a vaporware queen. They still might do something but they need to get something to market.

The demo unit? Brought up the wrong plate for what I selected at KAPA. Assuming they're using Jepp stuff, Jepp lives at KAPA.

Problems with the plates or data there are caught virtually the next day by someone in the Jepp Flying Club and fixed instantly.

It wasn't the data. It was a big ol' far bug in their flagship display unit at OSH. Not confidence inspiring to say the least.
 
bartmc said:
Didn't they say at OSH that certification was a week out?

Lets see that's 7 days converted to BK time, carry the one. I think you'll see it in two years.
Click to expand...

Dude, both the 770 and 840 from BK were weeks out at OSH 4 years ago. Until they make good on the POS AV8OR Horizon that never worked worth a squat, BK can kiss my ass.
 
Re: Is Bendix mounting a comeback?h

Henning said:
Dude, both the 770 and 840 from BK were weeks out at OSH 4 years ago. Until they make good on the POS AV8OR Horizon that never worked worth a squat, BK can kiss my ass.
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I believe they attempted to put the av8or software in the KSN...didn't work so they gave the box to Aspen to finish up. I got my Av8or for 200 bucks,,it was worth about that.
 
Re: Is Bendix mounting a comeback?h

bartmc said:
I got my Av8or for 200 bucks,,it was worth about that.
Click to expand...

You were robbed. ;-)

Seriously, what has BK executed recently that impressed anyone from a value, quality, or performance perspective?
 
Re: Is Bendix mounting a comeback?h

kyleb said:
You were robbed. ;-)

Seriously, what has BK executed recently that impressed anyone from a value, quality, or performance perspective?
Click to expand...

After rereading the invoice, it was $150.00 it holds a solid magenta line between waypoints while I'm fiddling with my 530. worth $150 to me.

See above ^^^^ I'm no B/K fan. They have some ground to make up with me.
 
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