Great news on the avionics front for us certified folks. Sounds like the doors are opening for more approvals in the future as well.

http://www.dynonavionics.com/D10A-STC/index.html

DYNON AVIONICS BEST-SELLING EFIS-D10A IS NOW STC APPROVED FOR INSTALLATION IN TYPE CERTIFICATED AIRCRAFT.

Thousands of experimental and LSA aircraft already fly Dynon products worldwide. Based on this success developing avionics for a fleet of over 15,000 Dynon-equipped aircraft, the EAA, FAA, and Dynon partnered to gain FAA approval for the installation of Dynon’s EFIS-D10A in type certificated GA aircraft.

The Dynon EFIS-D10A is the first product to be STC approved. The EFIS-D10A is a full 4” Primary Flight Display that includes attitude, airspeed, altimeter, magnetic heading, turn rate, inclinometer, g-meter, winds, and more. Other capabilities include Angle-of-Attack and internal backup battery.

This cooperative effort shows how the FAA, general aviation groups and the aviation industry can work together to benefit aircraft owners with upgraded technology, lower costs, and high levels of safety,” said Mel Johnson, Manager of FAA’s Small Airplane Directorate. “This kind of partnership and innovative thinking is what is needed at all levels of aviation as we move into the future.

I have a Dynon D10 (predecessor) to the D10A for sale from a panel upgrade for $400. Dynon has a trade-in program for 1/2 off the price of a new D10A with trade in of a D10. $400 gets you a unit you can trade in for a D10A and save $1150. Or, in an experimental the D10 works great and has served me well for 500 hours in my RV. Liked it so much I upgraded to the Skyview system.

PM or email me if interested.
Steve
RV-4 Built and Flying since Jan 2001
Bearhawk 4PL Built and Flying since Aug 2015

I'm really pleased to see this happening. There's really no reason for the FAA not to allow non-TSO'd / non-PMA'd EFIS devices when they're not intended to be used for IFR-- in other words, for VFR "back-up" use.
Hoping something similar happens with the new Garmin G5 EFIS. AvMap GRT & MGL also produce similar instruments.

So it can only replace the AI? Or can it replace all the guages it has? The latter would be awesome, but either is great. Hopefully more of these type of certifications coming soon!

Don't get too excited yet. The following was taken from the AOPA write-up just released. Looks like their are limitations, but at least it forward momentum.

"The STC permits installation of the EFIS-D10A without a technical standard order or parts manufacturer approval on Cessna 150, 152, and 172 models, and also on Piper PA-28 and 38 aircraft. The STC will be sold to EAA members, much in the same way as EAA sells an autogas STC. No price has been set for the new STC".

From the linked Dynon article. Note the last paragraph.
"The initial STC allows the EFIS-D10A to replace the existing primary attitude indicator in Cessna 150, 152, 172 and Piper PA-28 and PA-38 series aircraft with a modern EFIS that contains no moving parts. More aircraft approvals are expected to follow."

So hopefully other Cessna and Piper models, and more, will be added to the STC as time goes on and demand dictates.

Here's a link to the recent news release about the new Garmin G5 EFIS, and a quote:

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All- ... _sect=gear

"FAA regulations prohibit non-TSO equipment like the G5 from being installed in standard category aircraft, but legislation now before Congress and backed by AOPA would allow safety-enhancing equipment such as this to be added to general aviation cockpits if approved."

So there is hope that soon things may change with regards to installing this new-fangled stuff.
Also, the FAA issued this policy statement last September:

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guida ... -23-08.pdf

This allows installation of a modern electronic attitude indicator (with a secondary function) as a minor alteration, as long as it meets certain parameters - one of which is a back-up battery. An A&P friend of mine told me that he'd be willing to install one of these new Garmin G5's as a minor per this policy statement.

To take that a step further, recent online discussions here &/or on supercub.org have seen some A&P/IA types saying that you can already install one of these devices in an older CAR 3-certified airplane as a minor, even though they are not TSO/PMA'd, since there were no such standards back in CAR-3 days.

The EAA, who are spearheading this effort, used a 182 as the test ship for the FAA, so I'd guess that all single engine Cessnas will be covered soon, as well as pretty much all single-engine recip planes.

My understanding -- a bit of reading between the lines here -- is that the EAA is working to get a whole host of currently experimental/LSA restricted avionics approved under this STC process. It makes sense, since the old gyros in a lot of our panels are a lot less reliable than the new stuff.

So they are not going to be allowed for primary instruments and IFR?

I'd trust my bacon in IMC to this dynon way before the ancient spinning FAA "safe" gyros most of the fleet still has.

NineThreeKilo wrote:So they are not going to be allowed for primary instruments and IFR?

I'd trust my bacon in IMC to this dynon way before the ancient spinning FAA "safe" gyros most of the fleet still has.

According to a Dynon representative on the Van's Air Force forum:

The STC doesn't change the operating limitations of the aircraft, so if it was IFR before, it' still IFR.

A G1000, G500, or Aspen install in a TC'd aircraft requires you to keep backup airspeed, altitude, and attitude, so the requirement for backups with the D10A is not unusual for an EFIS in a TC'd plane. However, our install requires no backup attitude, which is an interesting step forward.

So in the case of a 185 with a vac AI and a EHSI, I could completely replace my AI and ditch my entire vac system and still be a day/night/IFR/VFR ship, not shabby if the out the door price is right!

If this thing and synthetic vision it would be a absolute killer