If you ever get to the northwest in your travels, Portland, you owe it to yourself to come fly my Glastar. It is full IFR, with autopilot, a taildragger, and probably one of the best looking ones around. I am going to put it on the market sometime this summer.

Send me an e-mail at [email protected] if you are interested.

Mike,

You are correct in that it would be cheaper with the Dynon than steam gauges if you had to buy all of them new. I have a damaged Rebel that I was going to scavenge a lot of the instruments out of. Actually I wouldn't need anything as it has nearly everything but I want the Dynon for the simplicity and weight savings. I also like the idea of all that extra panel space I will have.

Keith

akairborne,

The answer to your "cold" question is "it depends".

The original Vision Microsystems 1000 engine gauge system used LCD display. That display is not damaged by freezing, but it does take a few minutes to warm up to the point where it is viewable. I've used them after they were cold soaked to -45. The newer ones are using a different type display, so hopefully, they are better.

I don't know what type display the Dynons use.

Some of the very early Garmin GPS units had an LCD display that actually froze and never came back. Garmin replaced some of those, and I believe they have that figured out now as well.

A portable GPS sits out in my airplane all the time, and it never has any trouble spooling up the display when cold. Same technology in screens as a lot of the PFD's now, I suspect.

MTV

MTV:

I am with you on favoring glass; however, the full steam array is going to be needed if the plane is going to fly any IMC. Unfortunately these systems do freeze and need a reboot. IMHO, counting on a partial panel for backup is a risky business. I don't know much about the Dynon except I always play with the small AI at the avionics store. I know a little bit about the Blue Mt. avionics and they do sometimes freeze up, not a lot, but sometimes.

I feel glass is a great safety improvement; however, keep the Vac or Elec. AI. It might save somebodys life.

CJS

CJS,

I have been told by at least one reputable avionics shop that the Blue Mountain stuff does have some hiccups. The same shop says they have had really good reports on the Dynon.

No, I would not be red hot to do IMC with these things. Rather, they offer a lot of information for minimal cost.

Even the Transport Catagory units and the Garmin 1000 require steam gauge backups for IFR use.

MTV

The last couple of weeks I have been having G1000 info thrown at me, man those things are amazing! They do everything, that is, if you know how to use it. I can see how it could make some one a lazy pilot after much flying, but then again so can steam gauges. I know that many missions aviation groups (MAF and JAARS) are wanting to move in the direction of glass. I have also heard that glass is lighter than steam. Lets face it, technology is only going to get better. Look at cell phones just a few years ago. The same is happing here, it will get smaller and faster. Replacing the units is as simple as taking out a small black box and putting another one in. It is quite amazing. The one thing I would worry about is the thing freezing, or warming up very slowly due to cold temps. Glass will definatly become more and more prevalent in the industry.

That being said, I would not want glass in my "backcountry plane" because (a) why would you fly IFR in the thules where you are flying "off the grid" and off airport? and (b) if your not flying IFR you don't need as many gauges aka less expensive. I would not want to fly IFR in real bad weather (snowing/precip/ect), in an old single engine piston that would most likely be fabric. There is also something to be said about flying a classic airplane with a classic panel! Just plane fun!!
No pun intedned...

It all depends what you got. This is an old debate that gets many responses. We will envision two scenrios to compare. Your vacumn pump quits or the battery cable falls off. Now depending what kind of panel that you have this could be a big problem!
Dynon is geared toward good stuff that doesn't cost a zillion dollars. How about 750 dollars for the part to put in 1 axis autopilot. Dynon is coming out with a new system now - Take a look.
People always say What If . I just say READ the books and write down what you have. Many pilots do not know the rest of the story to decide. Keep an open mind so you can decide when you know. Did you know that the amp meter will tell you how much power some thing is using or how dead you got the battery.