April 2014- So you go to the airport on a Saturday morning where you share flying stories and tell outright lies with your friends. And during lulls in the conversation, you browse the aviation magazines and say a silent prayer that one of these days you’ll find a way to justify a new gadget for the panel. Nothing that costs too much, mind you—just one of those things with a color screen that will guide you effortlessly through the skies during those rare times you can afford to lay a few hundred frogskins on the FBO counter to cover the $6 per gallon fuel bill. Does this sound at all familiar to you?
If your airplane has elderly avionics, you probably can’t help but yearn for state-of-the-art gadgets with whizbang features—and internal parts that are still available in the event of a malfunction. But are your desires and reality even remotely on the same page? It depends.
With the cost of even modestly equipped LSA north of $100,000, investing in a new aircraft with all the latest equipment already installed is beyond the reach of most people even during good economic times. Given the non-recovery recovery we’ve been in since 2009, the only realistic option for most General Aviation aircraft owners is to spiff up their slightly ragged but still faithful aeronautical steed. You know, the one patiently awaiting your presence out at Podunk Intentional Airpatch?
So, how can you upgrade your panel and not break the bank? One way is to locate, purchase and install pre-owned equipment that has recently been superseded. As an example, Garmin has replaced its venerable 400 and 500 series all-in-one GPS Nav/Com units with a touch screen variant which has resulted in the opportunity to purchase GNS 430W and GNS 530W WAAS units at a reduced price.
The older Garmin equipment allows you to enjoy 95 percent of the performance offered by the newer 600 series avionics (albeit without touch screen capabilities). Garmin still supports the GNS 400 and GNS 500 series radios and reportedly will for several more years, which sweetens the deal.
This article is about a panel upgrade undertaken by a friend of mine, Mike Johnson, who chose to install Garmin products. But the same thing is happening, or will happen, for Garmin’s competitors.
The rebirth of N803GM’s avionics
Johnson had owned N803GM for three years and although the airplane was capable of handling all of his current missions, its Collins avionics were nearly 40 years old and obtaining parts to keep the equipment running was becoming almost impossible.
It was certain that the day would come when it would no longer be feasible to continue use of the radios, and then there’s that upcoming mandate to install ADS-B equipment looming on the horizon. Something needed to be done.
Johnson preferred to install all new avionics because of the factory warranty and perhaps if the economy had been robust, he may have followed that path. But the economy is not robust, so he went with Plan B and began to investigate the possibility of installing a Garmin system utilizing pre-owned radios: a GNS 530W and a GNS 430.
Somewhere along the way, he discovered the Garmin GDL 88 ADS-B system which is an UAT-based approach that does not require changing the transponder to a Mode S unit. Since Johnson never operated above FL180 or outside of U.S. airspace, he decided these UAT equipment limitations were no problem.
The GDL 88 is a new product (it debuted in 2012) so purchasing a pre-owned unit wasn’t an option. But there are used 400 and 500 series Garmin radios on the market, and so the hunt began for reasonably priced units—and also for an avionics shop that would take on the project for an affordable fee.
Johnson prepared a Request for Quote (RFQ) document that outlined what he wanted to accomplish and sent it to several shops near the area where the airplane was based. The RFQ specified what equipment he would supply (a GNS 530W and a GNS 430); what equipment the shop would supply; and a statement of what was expected of the shop.
In essence, the RFQ said that the shop would be responsible for the acceptable operation of anything it supplied as well as the installation itself, and the shop was also expected to bench check any equipment that Johnson supplied prior to installation even if it had an FAA 8130-3 form (Authorized Release Certificate, Airworthiness Approval Tag) from another avionics shop.
If the installing shop’s personnel found any problems with the items Johnson supplied, they were to make Johnson aware of the issue within five days after receiving the equipment so that appropriate action could be taken with the vendor supplying the pre-owned items.
Johnson also included a Photoshopped picture of the old panel with the new equipment inserted so the desired placement of the new items could be seen.
Most of the shops he approached either declined outright because they wanted to supply everything themselves and enhance their profits, or their labor costs were beyond what Johnson considered reasonable.
It came down to two shops, and Johnson selected C.F. Airtronics located at Warren County Airport (I68) in Lebanon, Ohio as the winner. C.F. Airtronics’ owner Ron Dorsey was enthusiastic and willing to install equipment he did not supply, as well as offer a discount on the Garmin GDL-88 UAT ADS-B device.
He’d incorporated the appropriate RFQ language into his quote, agreed to a defined installation time period and the price was reasonable—now all Johnson had to do was find suitable GNS 530W and GNS 430 radios.
Johnson queried the usual suspects: Trade-A-Plane, Barnstormers.com, the large, nationally-known avionics shops, and of course, eBay. The search took a while, and there were some false starts.
In one case, a purchase was made and when the unit was bench checked and it would not accept and retain a flight plan. The avionics had been purchased on eBay so the seller had to abide by eBay’s terms that require an item be as advertised or the buyer gets their money back.
In another case—not involving eBay—Johnson requested several photos of a GNS 530W and noticed that the serial number plate indicated that the unit would work only on 28 volts, but his airplane has a 12 volt power system. By being thorough, Johnson caught a problem before it became an issue.
Eventually, Johnson found a newly refurbished GNS 430 and a mint condition GNS 530W on eBay and sent them to C.F. Airtronics to be bench checked. Both were given a passing grade and the installation began.
It’s said that to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs, so the first thing that happened was the removal of all the old equipment and old wiring. (By the way, you want all the old wiring removed. Make certain no old wiring is reused, and that the old wiring is removed when new wiring is installed.)
The installation timetable was three weeks and scheduled for January since the airplane would not be flying much during the dead of winter. Dorsey and his business associate Peter York installed the GDL 88 in the nose compartment of the airplane and the antennas for the Garmin units.
Next, they fabricated the new harnesses, and after relocating some of the existing equipment, they installed the Garmin units and the control panel for the GDL 88. They also created and installed a new panel for the existing Strike Finder and Sigtronics intercom.
True to his word, Dorsey stayed on schedule and also stayed on budget, with one exception. The existing altitude encoder was only capable of interfacing with the existing transponder; however, the GNS 530W and the GDL 88 also required an altitude data feed from the encoder.
Dorsey had not caught the shortcoming of the existing encoder, and after apologizing profusely, he advised Johnson that he would need another couple of hundred dollars. It was a minor problem and an honest mistake.
By the end of the second week, all the new equipment was in place. It was now time to initialize all the configurations and settings for the newly installed equipment and do what the avionics technicians call “the smoke test”—an industry joke meaning that it was time to apply power for the first time and hope that no smoke drifted up from the equipment.
Fortunately, nothing untoward happened and the Garmin units sprang to life.
Testing and flight check
There is an extensive testing regime that avionics shops employ for a new installation and Dorsey set about checking the various items off the list. Shops such as C.F. Airtronics have a huge investment in test equipment which is why their hourly cost is higher than many customers want to pay. In reality, the cost is not exorbitant when you realize how much capital is required to start and maintain a business as technically advanced as theirs.
During week three, Dorsey worked his way through the list and soon it was time to ask the FAA to stop by and bless the installation. The inspector checked the work, checked the testing reports and Dorsey’s paperwork, and issued his approval of the installation. The panel upgrade to N803GM was almost done.
On a cold January day, Dorsey and a pilot launched to check out the installation in the air in VFR conditions. A test flight is not only a good idea; it’s required.
But before the flight even got in the air, there was a problem. The com section of both Garmin radios received properly, but neither transmitter produced any audio output. They keyed up fine but no modulation was present.
So, it was back to the hangar and after a few hours’ work, an intermittent connector was located. Problem solved, the flight check continued with no further problems. Logbook entries made and familiarization complete, the installation was done—on time, and just a smidge over budget.
Bottom line
So was this an inexpensive panel upgrade? It depends on your definition of inexpensive. To purchase and install a Garmin GNS 530W, a Garmin GNS 430, a Garmin GDL 88, create new wiring harnesses and install various antennas, signal splitters and new circuit breakers, reposition existing equipment, create new panels for the ADS-B controls plus the Strike Finder and Sigtronics intercom, the total cost was $22,000.
Cheap? No. Inexpensive? Yes, considering what was done.
To duplicate Mike Johnson’s experience will require you to be involved as a project manager. If you will take on that task, if you can locate suitable used equipment, and if you can find an avionics shop that will work with you, you likely will save thousands of dollars. If you are not technically inclined, find an aircraft owner or pilot who is and request their assistance.
Then, when it’s all said and done, you’ll have that whizbang airplane you dream of when you’re with your buddies at Podunk. And who knows? You might even be tempted to brag a little about how cheap and easy it was.
John Loughmiller is a 4,600-hour commercial pilot and CFII MEI-A. He lives in Kentucky with Donna, his wife of 39 years, and often commits random acts of aviation. Send questions or comments to editor@www.piperflyer.com.
RESOURCES
C.F. Airtronics Inc.
2400 Greentree Rd
Lebanon, OH 45036
(513) 932-2320
