Shopping for a light twin thinking about glass

6t6

6t6

Pre-takeoff checklist
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So I've been shopping for a light twin and I see quite a varying price range depending on engine time and avionics, as expected. But my question to the more seasoned folks is this. Do you expect the glass such as C3X and Denon reserved for home built available for older part 23 airplanes in the near future? When I say near I mean 2-3 years. Thoughts?
 
The only way it's gonna happen is if a smaller company, either by themselves or with investors/another entity, obtain an STC for their complete integrated solution like Dynon Skyview.

Bottom line is that Garmin, Aspen, _____ have no intentions of competing with their own higher priced solutions which currently is the only game in town for aircrat on a standard airworthiness certificate.
 
6t6 said:
So I've been shopping for a light twin and I see quite a varying price range depending on engine time and avionics, as expected. But my question to the more seasoned folks is this. Do you expect the glass such as C3X and Denon reserved for home built available for older part 23 airplanes in the near future? When I say near I mean 2-3 years. Thoughts?
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The STCs are model specific I believe, so the limited numbers of light twins suggests even if some of this stuff is made available for a 172/182/Cherokee/etc. it may not be available for the specific twin you decide to purchase.

You are probably best off finding one that has already been "Garminized".
 
What kind of twin are you looking for? I know of a Baron based here that has an all new updated panel that an estate is looking to sell. The owner had the panel updated to new avionics just before he passed, never got to fly it.
 
Don't think it will happen in that time frame. But maybe further down the line.

Also, TSO'd and STC'd instruments are coming down in price. Just a few years ago you had Electronic STBY instruments in the $10K range. Now both L3, Sandia and Garmin offer them below $5K. And in the case of Sandia, it's almost below $3K. Will the WAAS GPSes come down as much? Probably not, but I paid about $15K for my Avidyne IFD540 with the radar option thrown in. That's not too bad, all things considered.
 
I agree with bnt83. I suggest looking for a plane where the panel is done. The costs for updating an old panel can exceed the price of the airplane. For example, before I bought the Bo I was looking for a Grumman Tiger. Almost every one that came up had the old Narco stuff in the panel. Looking at upgrading to modern stuff, ADS-B, A/P, etc looking at 50K. The planes were selling for more than that so having 100K in a Tiger? I don't think so.
 
Subject near and dear to my heart. If you're wondering if a low-cost PFD is going to appear out there which is substantially more full-featured/advanced from the offerings already available for Garmin and Dynon, I don't think so. The price point is just too hard to bring down from where it already lies with the bottom end of the certified market being held down by Aspen. As has been noted here I think it is unlikely Garmin will release the G3X to compete with their own G500 and even if they did the price would still be in the five-digit range. You end up jumping from the G5/Dynon up to the Aspen. We may see other offerings near or maybe even slightly below Aspen's price range (VFR? perhaps) but otherwise, you're going to either be sticking to a pretty basic EADI or moving right up to the Aspen.

It's a LOT better to buy the plane with the glass already installed.
 
Ryan F. said:
Subject near and dear to my heart. If you're wondering if a low-cost PFD is going to appear out there which is substantially more full-featured/advanced from the offerings already available for Garmin and Dynon, I don't think so. The price point is just too hard to bring down from where it already lies with the bottom end of the certified market being held down by Aspen. As has been noted here I think it is unlikely Garmin will release the G3X to compete with their own G500 and even if they did the price would still be in the five-digit range. You end up jumping from the G5/Dynon up to the Aspen. We may see other offerings near or maybe even slightly below Aspen's price range (VFR? perhaps) but otherwise, you're going to either be sticking to a pretty basic EADI or moving right up to the Aspen.

It's a LOT better to buy the plane with the glass already installed.
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They will if dynon goes after it. Remember, garmin only introduced the G3 after dynon kicked there a... in the experimental market. Same with the G5 and the d10a. If the skyview were to be approved for certified aircraft, the g500 and aspen would die. Dynon is really responsible for the experimental market, if they decide to push into getting stcs they will change the certified market also.
 
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