Advice for equipping my plane for IFR

Henning said:
Seriously? No lol, I wouldn't pay $2k for one of those POSs. You can get a new Terra TN-200D installed for around $1200.
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That's just you Henning, they are available for less
 
bartmc said:
Depends on his local area, a DME at least was needed to get in anywhere around KMSO. About the time I had rounded up an ADF to replace my INOP KR86, they decommissioned the NDB that would have gotten me in legally. Opted for a KLN89B instead of a DME.
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Well, if he was in Missoula MT, yes, the only ILS approaches there are DME REQUIRED. But there's no problem doing the IR training and practical test in the Baltimore MD area (or pretty much anywhere else east or west of the Rocky Mountains) with only two navs (one with GS). We even worked it out in the Maine woods with only one nav.
 
Tom-D said:
Who told you that, their pubs and prints are now in public domain, and any radio shop can work on them. their parts are off the shelf supplies, there are thousands of them still serving well the 122 is simply the updated solid state version of the 12.
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We've been dealing with this in the Grumman world for years because so many of them came from the factory with those radios. The problems are real -- just ask anyone who owns one of those radios (like me).
 
Our club just switched the 89b in our Cardinal to a KLN-94. After flying the 94 a couple of times I'd say you'd be crazy to buy an 89b. The KLN-94 will only be slightly more expensive and is a WAY more user friendly device.

A KLN-94 and a good VOR/LOC is plenty for the kind of IFR a C-172 should be flying. A glideslope would be next if there was anything left in the kitty.
 
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JimNtexas said:
A KLN-94 and a good VOR/LOC is plenty for the kind of IFR a C-172 should be flying. A glideslope would be next if there was anything left in the kitty.
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A glide slope comes ahead of a GPS or anything else for the OP because he wants to get his instrument rating in it and you can't do that without a glide slope (either ILS or WAAS GPS, and a KLN-94 doesn't do WAAS and never will).
 
Henning said:
He can get a portable GPS for real life, he's looking for legal minimums to do a check ride with. While I personally like a DME, I couldn't see installing one in a 172 these days, you can get an older IFR GPS installed for not much more.
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I'm not sure it's possible to find a GA DME anymore other than used or dusty on some shelf. Last time I was at Airventure the only DME I saw was the Honeywell (BendixKing) remote for commercial aircraft flying above 25K (or is it 22K?) There are some used on eBay (64 and 62) for under $1K, used from various avionics shops for $1-2K not including install.
 
I was in the same boat with my 1968 Arrow, which came with an Apollo G65 approved for enroute, but not approaches. A garmin 430 install quote was more than $8000 last year, so I opted to rent a 172 for $145 an hour to "learn" gps approaches and use the arrow for LOC, VOR, ILS. A good instructor will work with you in both planes, and your check ride can be in the rental. Stinks not ussing your own plane, but may cost less than any upgrade. Once you earn the IFR ticket, you will want to travel and trade the 172 for something faster anyway. For the "real world", no pilot should be without an iPad anymore. That with the Stratus on the dash is simply awesome. Watching your progress directly on the approach plate while cross checking it with the needles is pretty cool.
 
ksarrowpilot said:
I was in the same boat with my 1968 Arrow, which came with an Apollo G65 approved for enroute, but not approaches. A garmin 430 install quote was more than $8000 last year, so I opted to rent a 172 for $145 an hour to "learn" gps approaches and use the arrow for LOC, VOR, ILS. A good instructor will work with you in both planes, and your check ride can be in the rental. Stinks not ussing your own plane, but may cost less than any upgrade.
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You can split training between two very different airplanes like that if you want, but speaking as a working instrument instructor, I suspect the training will be longer and more expensive if you do.
 
As one of the posters noted, 2020 is coming. You will need an ADSB solution- WAAS source, and an ADS-B squit out. If you try to sell the a/c in 2016, it will be discounted by nearly $20,000 for lack of that gear.

So, time to put in the 430W or GTN box, the GTX 330-ES, and be done with it.
 
bbchien said:
As one of the posters noted, 2020 is coming. You will need an ADSB solution- WAAS source, and an ADS-B squit out. If you try to sell the a/c in 2016, it will be discounted by nearly $20,000 for lack of that gear.
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Since the prices on a box which will do all that is necessary to meet that requirement are less looking like than half that amount (more like a quarter), I think that amount might be a bit of an exaggeration. Of course, lack of a Garmin 430W or better is already something of a drag on aircraft value for even a C-172-class plane, but that's another story altogether.
 
bbchien said:
As one of the posters noted, 2020 is coming. You will need an ADSB solution- WAAS source, and an ADS-B squit out. If you try to sell the a/c in 2016, it will be discounted by nearly $20,000 for lack of that gear.

So, time to put in the 430W or GTN box, the GTX 330-ES, and be done with it.
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I agree that we'll need it all eventually, but I'd wait at this point to see how the Small Aircraft Revitalization Act plays out, likely we will see some new things on the market to deal with these issues.
 
Ron Levy said:
We've been dealing with this in the Grumman world for years because so many of them came from the factory with those radios. The problems are real -- just ask anyone who owns one of those radios (like me).
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You need to find a radio shop that actually fixes radios.
 
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