Revisiting the gns waas upgrade issue

[Radpilot]

I am new here and hope I'm not rehashing a common thread.

I have a 2004 Grumman tiger with dual gns 430s. Vfr currently and fly in congested ny-phl-dc airspace. Looking to make one waas capable and upgrade my gtx330 to es for adsb compliance and because looking to start IFR training shortly.

So, would you:
1) just upgrade one 430 to 430w

or, for like 2k more after selling a 430 on eBay:

2) replace one 430 with a new gtn 650
3) replace one 430 with a refurbished gns 530w
(Bigger screen but matching input style as the 430)

Both options 2+3 are about same price difference from simply upgrading the 430 to 430w. The tiger has space on main stack for 530w (2004 tigers often came with 530/430 dual set). I also plan on a Garmin flightstream to transfer flight plans from the iPad to the gps. Gdl88 Seems like too much cash for me...would just do stratus 2s with prob mount of iPad mini on right side of panel where there is big empty space now.

Thoughts?

 

[Shawn]

That is my exact set up with just a single 430w. luckily I just had to do the 330 upgrade.

If option 2 is a 650W, I would go that route otherwise just stick with option 1 and upgrade the 430 to W. Not worth the extra money for a 530 if you going iPad route.

 

[GRG55]

If the plane is being used primarily for VFR and the WAAS upgrade is being done as part of an ADS-B upgrade, I don't see any reason to spend the money to change out from the dual 430 installation. The 430 is still an incredibly capable box and one WAAS 430 in the airplane is plenty for IFR training imo.

For VFR you can get most of the neat stuff a GTN 650 will get you using an iPad with Foreflight or similar, or in one of the portable Garmin GPS units.

One other alternative you may want to consider if you are stuck on the 650 idea is Avidyne. I think they make a box that competes with the 650 but might be a direct slide in for the 430 in the same tray.

 

[bradg33]

We did a lot of thinking on this same subject. Our airplane had a non-WAAS 430, and we did the math on whether to move up to a GTN, etc. At the end of the day, it's going to cost a LOT more to move to a GTN 650. The WAAS upgrade should cost about $4k all-in if you're using a decent shop. We paid $3150 for the WAAS upgrade, plus $900 in labor to install it and the new antenna (the antenna is where the labor really is). For a GTN650 install, you're probably looking at $14-15k, realistically. Sure, you'll see a few very large, high volume shops advertising cheaper but unless you live close to one of those, you'll be using a local shop that won't do those kinds of rates. I oversaw the install of a 650 in a flying club airplane about 2 years ago, and it ended up being about $16k total, including the annunciator. Your used 430 is worth around $5k.

As far as moving up to a 530, we also considered that and passed because there's just not enough tangible benefit given the proliferation of iPads.

What we ended up doing was the WAAS upgrade and adding a Flightstream 210. We can now send flight plans to and from the iPad, and we're a lot of money ahead from the GTN. We're very happy with the setup.