Avionics News April 2013 - 22

Garmin's G600

BREAKTHROUGH

Continued from page 21

gear can usually replace old, required gear; nonapproved gear can’t replace other approved, required
gear.
So a solid-state, compact, battery-supported
PFD unit can take up space in your panel and, in
most cases, even draw electrical power. It can not,
however, replace an attitude indicator, directional
gyro or turn coordinator – likewise for airspeed,
altitude and vertical speed, compass or air-temperature.
Still, pilots won’t likely complain if they have
an unapproved GPS source that accurately plays geo-referenced charts on a screen of instrument approach plates.
The pilot needs the aircraft to carry the approved equipment needed to fly the leg – very high frequency omnidirectional radio range and localizer receivers, glideslope
or full-ILS receivers, nondirectional radio beacon or GPS.
The pilot needs to have the charts required, either electronic or pulp.
Additionally, the pilot needs to properly operate the
equipment approved for the approach, even when an unapproved source, such as a non-IFR approved, panel-mounted
WAAS GPS, offers greater accuracy.
We have flown with a significant number of aircraft owners who installed unapproved PFDs and moving maps to
supplement the approved systems in high-performance piston and propjet aircraft.
For some, the attraction was a back-up option to the panel; self-powered and self-contained, the non-TSO’d PFDs
and MFDs still greatly augment their approved equipment
by enhancing their situational awareness.
The VFR pilot has as much to gain, perhaps more, from
having an easy-to-interpret instrument package or navigation source.
Field-approved installation is generally all you need.
And these options can be installed anywhere from a few
thousand dollars to under $10,000 – a value that will balance for many owners of aircraft worth $25,000 or more.
STEPPING UP TO CERTIFICATED

For today’s certificated aircraft, a large range of options also exists – options that offer both the benefits of
approved gear and the bargain costs to balance aircraft
value.
Aspen Avionics arguably leads this segment with its
creatively flexible, effective, high-value options for adding glass on a budget.
22

avionics news

•

april

2013

First, the form factor of the entire Evolution 1000 line
represents minor genius in lowering installation costs. In
most cases, the Evolution box can bolt directly into a pairing of a top and bottom instrument hole in the six-pack real
estate.
With integral navigation indicators in the PFDs, these
also can let a pilot remove other indicators as well as some
air-data instruments.
Pull a vertical pair of steam gauges and install one Evolution 1000 package; wire up the system, install the remote
sensor unit. Aside from heavy lifting of wiring to other systems, this covers the physical part of the installation job.
Consider the option of having a stand-alone MFD and, to
its left, a basic PFD – for a combined cost of about $11,000,
plus installation.
Other PFD/MFD options include the PFD 1000 Pro and
the MFD 1000 as the Evolution 2000 package. This pairing provides complete systems redundancy while offering
greater utility, higher functionality and integral stand-by
power.
Price wise, the Evolution 1500 package combines the
same MFD 500 with the Pro version of the Evolution 1000
PFD, but without some of the redundancy of the Evolution
2000.
Aspen’s Evolution 2500 package combines the Evolution 1000 Pro PFD and 1000 MFD, and a third screen in the
form of a Evolution 500 MFD. The Evolution 2500 covers
the waterfront in redundancy, flexibility and utility, offering charts, maps, weather, traffic, 3-D synthetic vision and
a complete FMS control package.
For an older aircraft already sporting a decent autopilot and an IFR or WAAS IFR GPS, the package leaves out
nothing.
And remember hazard-awareness sensors; if you have
them, Aspen will play them.
Continued on page 24
Avionics News April 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2013
