Avionics News July 2014 - 25

greater precision and far more instrument-use options, the
original TSO units can, if still supported with database updates, continue to perform - and at prices for less than the
lowest-cost WAAS units.
Another option with growing potential: Garmin 400- and
500-series navigators now that Garmin and Avidyne both
offer replacements with far greater performance, better
screens and more utility options. These can even be upgraded to WAAS and still come in well below the costs of new.
And don't forget stand-alone GPS navigators other manufacturers TSO'd. For low-four figures, one of these TSO'd
units can give the same pilot some excellent improvement
in utility - providing that database updates are reliably
available to bring new utility to IFR operations.
About those VHF nav/comm options
As many pilots of my acquaintance understand, you can
adapt to make many awkward tasks less clumsy - but never
really make them smooth. Pilots flying with two non-flipflop navs, comms or nav/comms adapt to the lack of that
feature - which they probably used in training - by writing
down each new frequency change from ATC. They then
twist the knobs on the radio not used to set that frequency,
then hit the audio-panel switch to change which radio they
broadcast with, leaving the old frequency in the other VHFradio's window. Next time they get a frequency update,
they repeat the process in the opposite direction.
With flip-flop, they can stick with one radio for active,
monitor "guard" on the second radio, and be ready to jump
ahead a second and third frequency by having them ready
in the second set of windows on the second flip-flop radio.
The options here are significant - and affordable, relatively.
Transponders?
Here's the topic of the decade among a lot of olderaircraft owners - specifically in light of the pending ADS-B
mandate of Jan. 1, 2020.
Barring a transponder failure as the catalyst, this equipment decision is likely best made in conjunction with deciding how the aircraft owner plans to equip the aircraft to
meet the mandate.
Nothing wrong with now, but considering the growing
list of options, waiting another year or two might not hurt
too much, provided shops can handle the demand closer to
the deadline.
Options already exist priced comparably to a Mode S
transponder without an ADS-B Out connection - but with

all the bases covered: GPS position source, broadcasting
on both Out frequencies (978 megahertz universal access
transceiver and 1090 extended squitter), receiving 978 MHz
UAT ADS-B In services, with a wireless link to show ADSB In products on a portable computer in the cockpit.
So on this one, consider recommending the pilot/aircraft
owner decide on an approach - and then see if lower-cost
options fit. But insiders among regulators and FAA officials
all recommend planning to complete the project before the
end of 2018 - to avoid an expected backlog.
Autopilots? Dare we consider one?
The move to digital autopilots as aircraft owners upgrade
to glass cockpit packages is putting a lot of older flightcontrol systems out of work - or, at least, the brains of
these systems, since the servos often get to stay behind in
the aircraft.
This means options for those older analog autopilots -
many of which offer significant functions for reasonable
costs. And for many older-aircraft operators, the prospect
of adding - or replacing an older electronic or pneumatic
system can be a boon to their flying.
For the pilot who has long flown without, the option of
a still-useful second pilot option will be more than a little
attractive.
How to proceed: All at once? On an annual
(or other) progression?
As one pilot at Sun 'n Fun said, "Upgrades come to suit
me and my needs, and have to fall within my budget. And
every year or two we make that budget fit in some type of
improvement or another because it'll be my kids who have
to deal with selling the old bird. It meets our needs. So like
the song said, 'love the one you're with.' And we do."
Another pilot noted he and his airplane partner try to upgrade something every annual.
Yet another was adamant that the smartest approach is to
decide what's important and necessary; price the package as
a single project - and start saving.
"When you get within six months of having enough, order and schedule," said the owner, who confessed he does
this with a different airplane "every five or six years."
Determining the approach to take is as personal and individual as the aircraft-and-owner combination.
But with careful planning and shopping, many aircraft
owners can find a more-modern panel in their future, and
the repair shops that land the business can find other needs
to help keep a customer long-term. q
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Avionics News July 2014

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