Eclipse dumps Avidyne

[flyingcheesehead]

According to AvWeb, Eclipse is dumping Avidyne. They aren't saying what they're doing to replace Avidyne, though.

Once that secret Cirrus contract is up... Avidyne is toast.

 

[AdamZ]

Kent when I was at AOPA Expo in Tampa I recall that Piper was using Avidyne have they stopped and switched to Garmin?

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Kent when I was at AOPA Expo in Tampa I recall that Piper was using Avidyne have they stopped and switched to Garmin?

No... But let's face it, Piper is pretty much dead. They haven't exactly kept up to speed with the rest of the industry, and their sales are sloooooooooow. The PiperJet is a step in the right direction, but IMHO it's too little, too late.

Cirrus and Piper are the only two manufacturers that offer only Avidyne. There are several (Cessna, Mooney, etc.) that are Garmin-only, and a couple (Diamond and Columbia) that will put in whichever system you want.

I spoke with Diamond at OSH about this issue, and they said they have built exactly ONE AIRPLANE with Avidyne (I saw that the original owner already has it for sale, too). The market, if given a choice, will take Garmin over Avidyne any day of the week.

So, if Cirrus were to switch to Garmin, Piper would be the only manufacturer that's Avidyne-only, and I frankly don't think Piper sells enough airplanes to keep Avidyne in business.

 

[infotango]

That's really too bad, competition is sometimes a really nice thing in the industry for keeping prices down and technology up.

That said, I guess the uniformity of the units will someday make flying different aircraft a very simple affair, and much more like the old days, when all one had to learn was the different aircraft characteristics, rather than spending so much time in a checkout learning the avionics. In addition, from the few times I've used the G-1000 I have to say that it really is a pretty nifty unit, and really rather user friendly and intuitive, especially for somebody who has used the 430/530

Still it's not good to see a player leave.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

That's really too bad, competition is sometimes a really nice thing in the industry for keeping prices down and technology up.

Agreed... And you know how much I hate M$... But this is one where I actually root for the big guy. Avidyne is junk. And I loooooove that G1000.

Also, it's not like Garmin is the only company doing glass cockpits. I bet if the market was lucrative enough (ie if Garmin artificially raised their prices to where they had a ridiculous margin), a company like Honeywell could jump into doing GA glass pretty easily.

 

[KennyFlys]

From everything I've seen, Garmin is far superior over Avidyne. The G1000's AHRS can be re-initiated in flight up to a +/- twenty-degree bank and +/- five-degree pitch. Avidyne's version requires level bank and pitch, on the ground.

Having flown the G1000 for well over a year, I'll choose it any day.

 

[Ken Ibold]

No... But let's face it, Piper is pretty much dead. They haven't exactly kept up to speed with the rest of the industry, and their sales are sloooooooooow. The PiperJet is a step in the right direction, but IMHO it's too little, too late.

Hmm, wait lists for the Meridian and Saratoga TC. Piper is no Cirrus, but IMO reports of its demise are premature.

And IF the PiperJet can do what they say it will do for what they say it will cost -- by far no certainty in itself -- it will represent a serious contender in that class aircraft, with a combination of speed, useful load and operating cost Eclipse originally promised but is failing to deliver.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Hmm, wait lists for the Meridian and Saratoga TC. Piper is no Cirrus, but IMO reports of its demise are premature.

Even so, it seems like they're only selling a couple dozen airplanes a year. (Does GAMA publish the numbers on the web?) And, they're certainly not selling enough airplanes to keep Avidyne in business.

 

[Ken Ibold]

Even so, it seems like they're only selling a couple dozen airplanes a year. (Does GAMA publish the numbers on the web?) And, they're certainly not selling enough airplanes to keep Avidyne in business.

No, that's true. Piper can't keep Avidyne in business. Piper sold 238 last year for $175 million. (That included 49 Meridians.) So that's equal to Mooney plus Diamond plus Maule in billings. See http://www.gama.aero/resources/statistics/dloads/2006ShipmentReport.pdf

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Piper sold 238 last year for $175 million. (That included 49 Meridians.)

Thanks for the link, Ken... Very interesting!

So, here's what the breakdown looks like by category and manufacturer:

Piston Singles
Cessna 865
Cirrus 721
Diamond 275
Columbia 185
Piper 152
Beech 80
Mooney 75
American Champion 60
Maule 38
Liberty 29
Gippsland 20
Symphony 5
Tiger 3
Socata 0

Piston Twins
Diamond 163
Beech 38
Piper 37

Turboprop Singles
Pilatus 90
Cessna 67
Piper 49
Socata 42

Turboprop Twins
Beech 140
Piaggio 19

VLJ's
Adam 4
Cessna 1
Eclipse 1

Jets
Cessna 306
Bombardier 213
Raytheon 140
Gulfstream 113
Dassault 61
Embraer 27
Boeing 13
Airbus 10

And the 5 most popular piston singles:
Cirrus SR22 565
Cessna 172 409
Cessna 182 327
Diamond DA40 220
Cirrus SR20 150

Honorable mention: Columbia 400 146

Piper's most popular piston single was the Saratoga, with 47 total (37 turbo).

 

[Gerhardt]

yeah, you've gotta feel sorry for the guys with deposits paid on those Tigers and Symphonies.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Well, they've got quite the list of players who are going to be replacing Avidyne. Not only Garmin, but Honeywell and others:

One week after revealing a divorce from Avidyne, Eclipse Aviation on Monday announced that Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S), Chelton Flight Systems, Garmin, Honeywell and PS Engineering will be its new partners for the Eclipse 500's improved avionics system. Dubbed Avio NG (for next generation), the upgraded version of the very light jet's deeply integrated avionics system has been in development "for many months and is scheduled for production and delivery this summer." A hot-bench Avio NG suite is currently being evaluated, and a test Eclipse 500 will fly with the new system in "about 35 days." Eclipse promises a faster timeline for Avio NG functionality; according to Eclipse, it was Avidyne's failure to deliver functionality on time that caused the rift between the two companies. Aircraft delivered with the Avidyne avionics will be retrofitted with Avio NG by year-end. The retrofit is expected to take less than 10 days.