comanchepilot
En-Route
Upgraded the Comanche to 530w, GTX-330-ES and updated my Shadin microflo so it would chat with the 530.
Total cost? $6300. Included all labor, shipping, new antennas etc. The units, POH supplement - everything.
Garmin managed to lose my equipment for a couple of days, Fedex managed to screw up the delivery - so the install took a week longer than scheduled -but it was only scheduled for 15 calendar days including Thanksgiving.
Plus - I had the annual done at the same time - making it productive downtime -
I can totally recommend Velocity Avionics in Modesto CA. Not a single reservation to my recommendation. Tripp Walker owns the operation, ex-Navy avionics rating, stand up guy - was willing to cover my Southwest fare increase to offset the delay that was not his fault.
I'll say that Tripp did the upgrades for thousands of dollars less than anyone else locally here in SoCal - I got a quote for $6500 for the Stratus upgrade locally - and shops were in the $7500-10000 price point for just the Garmin upgrades because of imaginary 35 hour labor costs - its really plug and play with the existing pin outs - you need a new antenna - thats it basically. Local shops wanted another $2000 for the Microflo upgrade - which was one wire to a pin out on the 530 - again - pull out the old one - same wiring harness except for the one wire.
Again - Velocity Avionics in Modesto - a towered airport - city has Amtrak service to Oakland or Sacrament or even San Francisco Intl on BART.
Total cost? $6300. Included all labor, shipping, new antennas etc. The units, POH supplement - everything.
Garmin managed to lose my equipment for a couple of days, Fedex managed to screw up the delivery - so the install took a week longer than scheduled -but it was only scheduled for 15 calendar days including Thanksgiving.
Plus - I had the annual done at the same time - making it productive downtime -
I can totally recommend Velocity Avionics in Modesto CA. Not a single reservation to my recommendation. Tripp Walker owns the operation, ex-Navy avionics rating, stand up guy - was willing to cover my Southwest fare increase to offset the delay that was not his fault.
I'll say that Tripp did the upgrades for thousands of dollars less than anyone else locally here in SoCal - I got a quote for $6500 for the Stratus upgrade locally - and shops were in the $7500-10000 price point for just the Garmin upgrades because of imaginary 35 hour labor costs - its really plug and play with the existing pin outs - you need a new antenna - thats it basically. Local shops wanted another $2000 for the Microflo upgrade - which was one wire to a pin out on the 530 - again - pull out the old one - same wiring harness except for the one wire.
Again - Velocity Avionics in Modesto - a towered airport - city has Amtrak service to Oakland or Sacrament or even San Francisco Intl on BART.
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