April 2012
The Avionics Bucket List series is written to provide Piper Flyer readers with information from my observations and research about some of what is available in avionics. My hope is that with a step-by-step plan, aircraft owners will not choke writing one giant check for all the items on the list at one time. They will have a path to follow.
2020 will be here soon. Eight years is not much time to plan for major avionics changes, notably the ADS-B Out (Automatic Dependent Surveillance) requirement.
Let’s assume that your aircraft has only two Nav/Coms and a Mode C transponder.The ADS-B unit requires some supporting items, notably a GPS WAAS unit plus a Mode C or S transponder.
Some ADS-B units will have an integral GPS WAAS unit, but why not take full advantage of GPS capabilities by installing a GPS WAAS navigator? You will enter a whole new world of navigation ease with a panel-mounted GPS navigator. (I don’t expect the FAA to ease the restrictions on portable GPS devices to interface with ADS-B for a certified installation.)
Step one to get from where you are to where you will need to be as discussed last month was to install a WAAS GPS navigator or upgrade you current GPS unit to WAAS capability. This can be a Garmin GNS 430, 530 or GTN series unit which will be a Nav/Com GPS navigator only. A path for other options unfolds below. So, what could be your next step?
CHANGE IS CONSTANT
Before glass panels were available, my bucket list included an HSI. Kent McIntyre at Bevan-Rabell Avionics Shop in Wichita told me, “Charles, you don’t need an electromechanical HSI with a Garmin GNS 530! HSIs break and repairs are expensive.”
Well, an HSI certainly improves situational awareness and takes one instrument out of the scan by combining two indications, heading and course deviation. Selecting a glass panel over an electromechanical HSI now makes economic sense—the cost is similar and reliability is significantly higher with the glass panel.
In 2004 two guys in a garage in Albuquerque believed they had a better idea to fill a niche in the growing avionics market with a modular approach to electronic flight displays (EFDs).
With a lot of hard work and by convincing other investors their idea had merit, Aspen Avionics was started and today is a player in the electronic flight instrument market. Its modular approach starts as low as $5,995* for the hardware for the Evolution 1000 Pilot, and builds from there in a modular manner to a full-blown, “what else could you ask for?” three-panel system with data inputs for navigation, weather, traffic, terrain and synthetic vision and external devices such as iPad.
THE JOURNEY, STEP BY STEP
Aspen Avionics offers a glass panel option that has advantages in modularity and redundancy that are worth serious consideration. This is the next logical step after a GPS navigator installation.
The modular buildup for an Aspen installation starts with the $10,180* Evolution EFD1000 Pro Primary Flight Display (PFD). This is a “six-pack” replacement that includes Attitude Indicator, HSI, plus Altitude, Airspeed and Vertical Speed Indicators. All this fits into the two 3-inch instrument panel holes that contain the Attitude and Heading Indicators.
The 1000 Pro includes a solid state AHRS with slaved gyro capability, air data computer, outside air temperature sensor, altitude and minimums alerter, GPS steering, two nav inputs and output to most autopilots. Flight Director single queue command symbology is available for some autopilots.
The HSI display is either 360º or ARC mode. ARC mode during an approach is like doubling the size of your HSI. Heading changes are easier to notice with the larger ARC display.
For pilots flying IFR frequently, you may choose first to install the EWR50 Evolution Weather Receiver for NEXRAD delivered by Sirius XM Weather, even though this requires a $795* option that is already included in the 1000 MFD.
Here again, planning can pay off. Sara, my wife, states that NEXRAD is a no-go item in our travels: no NEXRAD, no go. Sure it helps pilots navigating away from weather, but it also provides comfort for knowledgeable passengers.
For the next step, Synthetic Vision (starting at $2,995*) adds a whole new layer of situational awareness to flying in weather and at night. The video library at aspenavionics.com demonstrates Synthetic Vision’s benefits.
Terrain features are a standard feature for the 1000 Pro and MFD. These two features significantly increase your chances of avoiding controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
MOVING ON TO AN MFD
You are now getting very proficient at pushing buttons to change the 1000 Pro displays, but adding additional features to a one-panel display may start to overload a single display.
It is now time to consider an MFD, but will it be the 500 MFD or the 1000 MFD? It depends on how much you value redundancy. Backups and redundancy are the backbone to insuring your get on the ground safely. My aircraft has redundancy for virtually every critical aircraft system except the crankshaft and propeller—those two components are near the bottom of failed components in single engine aircraft.
My bucket list choice is the 1000 MFD with a built-in AHRS for redundancy to be used as a backup PFD. An MFD reduces the number of screen changes to gather information and offers approach chart display with geo-referenced approach charts and airport diagrams. The little airplane on the display moving down a taxiway at night at an unfamiliar airport is an excellent situational awareness aid.
The 1000 MFD would serve as a backup PFD in case there is a 1000 Pro critical failure. Now you are again back to displaying every view on one display as a PFD.
The $4,995* 500 MFD is strictly an MFD with no backup capability for the 1000 Pro.
Both the 500 and 1000 MFDs can display one, two or three views—a larger sectional moving map with terrain awareness or Synthetic Vision with two small views for weather, traffic or attitude indicator or one large display for approach plates.
If you want to go the limit, then after adding the 1000 MFD to the right side of the PFD, install a 500 MFD to the left of the PFD. The display views in this configuration will be endless. As far as my aircraft’s bucket list, after installing the 1000 MFD, I’d probably look at some form of ADS-B In capability rather than a third display.
The 1000 Pro and MFD Pilot Guides show traffic advisory and support for a number of suppliers. For those who already have a Garmin 330 Mode S transponder, The 1000 Pro and MFD support this data input into the traffic window. I could not find documented ADS-B unit support at this time. However, 2020 is still in the future and Aspen must prioritize projects. Stay tuned.
When Aspen first announced its “Connected Panel” technology, I wondered, Ohhhkaaay…. what is this? Today, the website includes an excellent video showing how the Connected Panel wireless feature interfaces with ForeFlight flight planning on an Apple iPad.
Before the flight, you complete your flight planning with the ForeFlight application, check the weather and then file the flight plan. (Check out a previous article on ForeFlight and the iPad, “Electronic Flight Bag 2.0,” in the June 2011 issue of Piper Flyer. —Ed.)
Once you start your aircraft, link the iPad to the Aspen wireless feature input area and load your flight plan through the Aspen connection into the Garmin active flight plan. (Aspen has a video of this on its video library link.)
The connected panel option is limited only by the imagination of the developers for new features, sort of like the iPhone app phenomenon. These developers I predict will lead us to new areas we cannot imagine today.
CONCLUSIONS
What about a side-by-side comparison of the Aspen display packages with the Garmin 500 glass offering? Take a look at a May 2011 Aviation Consumer article showing a side-by-side comparison of Aspen and Garmin products. (The link to this document can be found in Resources at the end of this article. —Ed.) The article’s conclusion is that equivalent hardware costs are similar and installation simplicity and redundancy favor the Aspen installation.
However, the article is incorrect regarding the Aspen-to-autopilot interfaces; Aspen can interface to most of the available autopilots. Before you make a decision, check with your avionics shop about your specific configuration.
If you want a good dose of Aspen information, go to the Aspen website documentation page and open the Evolution 1000 Pro 250-page Pilot Guide for version 2.x.
After looking through this manual, I concluded that the Aspen Evolution 1000 Pro has many of the same features I saw using the Honeywell Primus 1000 Control Display System, an autopilot-flight director system used in jets such as the Citation Ultra and XLS and the Hawker 800. It is amazing what the General Aviation avionics revolution hath wrought in the last 10 years—enjoy it!
The paths to preparing for 2020 are infinite. Part of the fun is going to EAA AirVenture each year—or searching the Internet—to plan a path to prepare for the ADS-B requirements.
I suggest you get there in smaller steps during the next eight years. Whether you fly VFR or IFR, start with a GPS navigator such as the Garmin GPS 430. Next, consider how to integrate glass into your cockpit. Aspen offers an excellent modular approach to getting there in smaller steps with greater redundancy.
Our airplanes do not stand still in time. Take care of the airframe and engines by repairing items when they are still minor issues. Budgeting avionics upgrades over time will keep your flying machine versatile and up-to-date.
The approach of the year 2020 and its new equipment requirements is just over the horizon. A future article, “Avionics Bucket List, Part III” will delve into the vague world of ADS-B.
Charles Lloyd has logged 10,000 hours since his first flying lesson in 1954. He worked for Cessna Aircraft for 16 years, and retired as captain for a major fractional aircraft ownership company. His personal aircraft is a great business tool for his real estate investment company. Send questions or comments to editor@www.piperflyer.com.
*Manufacturer’s Suggested Prices quoted are from the Aspen Avionics, Inc.’s website dated Oct. 26, 2011 and do not include installation or supplemental subscription costs.
RESOURCES >>>>>
Aspen Avionics, Inc.
5001 Indian School Road NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
AspenAvionics.com
Aspen Manufacturer’s Suggested Price List
aspenavionics.com/index.php/
products/pricing
Aspen – Garmin 500 Comparison
aspenavionics.com/pdfs/Aviation-Consumer-Aspen-Garmin-Glass_0511.pdf
Aspen Video Library
aspenavionics.com/index.php/videos
