Adding a Garmin 250XL to my Piper Cherokee

[lewisntl]

Hello all,

This is my first post here and am looking for a little help on what would be best for my airplane. I have a Piper Cherokee 140 that already has a tray installed for a Garmin 250XL that the previous owner had removed. My airplane currently doesn't have a Nav/Com or a Nav head in the panel. My question is would it be worth getting a Garmin 250XL and sliding it in the tray that already exists even though Garmin has stopped servicing the parts. Also would it be as simple as a plug and play since the airplane is already equipped with the Garmin GPS puck and the wiring is all still intact? I know that a panel upgrade could be suggested but I'm hoping to get a solution that would be quick and affordable. Most instrument places I've contacted are booked out for the next few months. Any help in this would be appreciated.

 

[AV8R_87]

You can probably still find them cheap enough to be able to buy two of them, having one as a spare.
Find an install manual and use it to check all the installed wiring. No point in buying the unit if the wiring is complete trash.

The 250XL is VFR only, but the 300XL is IFR capable, and I think it will fit in the same tray. Needs additional paperwork to certify it for IFR use, but would be cheaper than installing a more modern IFR navigator.

 

[Tools]

I just put one in my Starduster. It’ll do great for that mission. I’ve done similar in a Cherokee, older unit to fit an existing slot.

Makes sense as long as it fits the mission.

Edit: where ya located?

 

[mandm]

I have (had) the Garmin 300XL and as a GPS navigator it was great. It got me where I needed to go, estimates were spot on. Now running a RNAV approach was a big mystery and I got it to work w few times but I definitely wouldn’t want to fly an approach in IMC to minimums with that alone. Now a localizer with a NAV radio is much easier in my opinion to run. I got the manuals and printed some checklists and laminated them but I decided to upgrade my panel instead so I guess I will never know now.

 

[Llewtrah381]

While I had a 300XL in my Warrior and it did great for making the plane IFR legal, I’m not personally sure I’d think as positively of a 250XL. It cannot be made IFR legal, so for probably close to the same as you’d spend even for a used one you could get an Aera 660 which would be WAAS, state of the art, color moving map, can accept ADS-B weather and traffic, and is literally under 1/4 the weight (which doesn’t matter much). And a $30 puck antenna from Amazon on the dash would greatly improve GPS reception and avoid needing to mount a new antenna externally. And depending on panel space, it can be mounted there with an AirGizmos (mine is).

If you find the 300XL can be adapted to your plane to make you IFR (and I think that would be more expensive than it first appears), the 300XL can feed the flight plan to the Aera.

Not 100% sure and it probably depends on the indicator but I bet the Aera could also drive am indicator if desired.

Bottom line, if you’re truly looking to keep the plane just VFR, there may be better, more current options at the same basic cost despite the hole already being there. And you could do much of the work yourself since it’s a handheld.

Add: duh - all of the above applies if you don’t need the Comm feature of the 250XL (which I imagine is true since you didn’t say you are currently without comm). If that’s needed then a used one is an option, assuming your wiring is good. Sliding in a 250XL just as a Comm is not an unreasonable idea either - and add an Aera separately.

 

[lewisntl]

I just put one in my Starduster. It’ll do great for that mission. I’ve done similar in a Cherokee, older unit to fit an existing slot.

Makes sense as long as it fits the mission.

Edit: where ya located?

Thank you for your response. I'm currently going between KCOE and KWHP. I'm glad to hear that the Garmin 250XL is still a good option since you've done that to your starduster.

Where are you located?

 

[lewisntl]

You can probably still find them cheap enough to be able to buy two of them, having one as a spare.
Find an install manual and use it to check all the installed wiring. No point in buying the unit if the wiring is complete trash.

The 250XL is VFR only, but the 300XL is IFR capable, and I think it will fit in the same tray. Needs additional paperwork to certify it for IFR use, but would be cheaper than installing a more modern IFR navigator.

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm glad that you mentioned that the 250XL is only VFR capable. I'm looking to get the plane legal for IFR so going to a 300XL is probably the way to go. Now I just need to see if they'll fit the same tray or if I need a new tray.

 

[Tools]

Gulf shores. Welcome to slide my unit in to get your wiring…

 

[lewisntl]

Gulf shores. Welcome to slide my unit in to get your wiring…

My airplane is already wired for the 250XL I just need the unit itself. But I really appreciate it!