all electric?

A place to discuss the installation of new flat panel instrument technology.
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mhflyit
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all electric?

Post by mhflyit »

With Blue Mountain, Grand Rapids, Dynon... you can go all electric and have a very capable panel. With most cockpit pictures online taken of planes already flying and pre all this great new hardware it looks like not many people have gone all electric - this may not actually be the case in the near future with the newer planes nearing completion - any opinions on what we'll see in the newer cockpits?

I like the Grand Rapids EFIS - 2 units giving flight data, GPS, engine monitoring and linked to a TruTrack autopilot, combined with a back up handheld maybe a 296 or an Anywhere map. GRs gets my vote over Blue Mountain because of the TTrack linkup.

Ideas and suggestions most welcome.

Spike
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All Electric ...

Post by Spike »

Interesting question. My guess on why aircraft have previously not gone all electric is because of the expense. Electric gyros have been quite expensive to put in the airplane, and frankly, I dont think that many homebuilts, especially in the RV arena, are being used for real IFR work. Why then spend all of that money on expensive electric gyros.?

Now, with many of the MFD's and such I can see people spending the money because of the value added abilities that the MFD's provide. That and their pretty slick to look at. Im not sure yet if Im going to put a flat panel in my 9A, though frankly that is very very far away. I am interested though in watching to see what happens :popcorn:

-- Spike

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Post by Guest »

Another BIG bonus is the ease of installation of some of these units. A lot less time than installing a whole host of analogue gauges. Dynon has a plug and play simplicity which i am sure the others will follow down the road.

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captain_john
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Post by captain_john »

Yes... Absolutely. All electric, indeed!

I wouldn't have it any other way. The hard part is deceiding which vendor to bed with. My panel is a ways off in the future, but if I were to do it today it would be Dynon. That is due to a function of economics and installed RV user base.

The way I see my completed airframe is that it will be a testbed for as many cutting edge electronic whizbangs as I can afford. Initially, I hope to have a nice EFIS and EIS. I also would like an electric AH on the right side with some pneumatic instruments to serve as backup and for the co-pilot to use.

To build a new plane today and not equip it with some of the latest toys would be a shame.

:roll: CJ
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Snap

Post by Snap »

Alot of people are using the Dynon.....
I was just wondering what you all thought about the Blue Mountain lite/G3. the one with the 2 axis auto pilot. at $6000 ish it seems like a really great buy with all of it features.

Any idea's or reasons why this is not the case?

mhflyit
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Post by mhflyit »

I'm leaning toward the Grand Rapids (GR) or Blue mountain (BM) - slightly more cost than Dynon (and not that much for just the basic BM lite or one unit GR). A GR 2 unit system has the flexibility of 2 screens to display any of the features...well this seems like redundancy it only provides backup for the screen as both screens pull data from the same source. Which leads me to BM's sport and lite. These units pull data from an independent source so if one unit completely fails you still have the other. If the Sport goes you'll still have an EFIS with GPS but no engine data. An attraction of the GR is its interface with a Tru track autopilot which has a great following.

Anyone know how the BM autopilot performs?

Two GR units with engine monitoring and GPS will cost in the region of $9k. One BM sport and one BM lite will cost about the same (there's an additional cost for engine monitoring although the Sport is set up for this capability)...but has better redundancy and 3D terrain plus its a little more proven than the GR unit. Add the autopilot, a transponder and radio and your flying - don't forget your handheld radio and gps!!

Dynon did go into space on SS1 this summer and they have a larger screen coming out plus engine monitoring on its way so the next 12 months should be interesting.

mhflyit
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Post by mhflyit »

I'm leaning toward the Grand Rapids (GR) or Blue mountain (BM) - slightly more cost than Dynon (and not that much for just the basic BM lite or one unit GR). A GR 2 unit system has the flexibility of 2 screens to display any of the features...well this seems like redundancy it only provides backup for the screen as both screens pull data from the same source. Which leads me to BM's sport and lite. These units pull data from an independent source so if one unit completely fails you still have the other. If the Sport goes you'll still have an EFIS with GPS but no engine data. An attraction of the GR is its interface with a Tru track autopilot which has a great following.

Anyone know how the BM autopilot performs?

Two GR units with engine monitoring and GPS will cost in the region of $9k. One BM sport and one BM lite will cost about the same (there's an additional cost for engine monitoring although the Sport is set up for this capability)...but has better redundancy and 3D terrain plus its a little more proven than the GR unit. Add the autopilot, a transponder and radio and your flying - don't forget your handheld radio and gps!!

Dynon did go into space on SS1 this summer and they have a larger screen coming out plus engine monitoring on its way so the next 12 months should be interesting.

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Snap
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Post by Snap »

I have just found the info on the BM Auto Pilot system that comes with their BM EFIS Lite/G3. Have a read.

http://bluemountainavionics.com/autopilot.php

So by the looks of it you can buy a G3 that gives you all the info you need, for IFR as well, and get an auto pilot, that is better than Tru-Trak, for less than a Tru-Trak alone.

I dont know about you but this does make great sense to me. I know what I want for X-mas.
8)

The only question that I have is...... do you have to have electric trim as well or does this system do the job of trim as well?

Any idea's folks? :?
RV-7A Emp
I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

maverick
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Post by maverick »

I agree with mhflyit. I too lean towards either GRT or BM over the Dynon.

Consider -- for a few hundered bucks more that Dynon, the BM Lite ($2800) gives you an HSI, GPS / moving map, IFR capability, etc.

Spending more, around $6K, I too would need to decide between GRT one-screen EFIS vs. BM Sport. Sport does have terrain, which is cool and additional safety, esp. in IFR, if you screw up. GRT, OTOH, can do split screen, showing for example ADI & map at once.

If I were to spend around $9K I think I would get dual-screen GRT system with engine monitoring. BM doesn't have the engine pod for Sport in production yet. BM Sport / Lite combo would be a great redundant setup as well.

Another thing to consider is which radio you will use. If you plan to use Garmin 430 as the do-everything unit, GRT is a better choice b/c you can get ARINC connectors to connect the 430. (Not all functionality requires ARINC connector, though). BM support ARINC only on their $16K EFIS/One.

BTW, don't hesitate to call either company for technical information. I've called & emailed both BM & GRT. Got email responses within 24 hrs or less and talked on phone w/both.

As a backup, I would install at least round gauge ASI, altemeter, Turn Coordinator & magnetic compass. Maybe even an RPM gauge & oil temp. If all electrical goes south, for whatever reason, I'd still want to have 'partial panel' & basic engine instruments available.

Max

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