AEA Pilot's Guide 2022-2023 - 48

HOW TO UPGRADE YOUR AVIONICS
Continued from page 46
EXTRA TIPS TO
SAVE MONEY AT
INSTALLATION TIME
1. Work with an established avionics
shop that knows your aircraft type.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Ask for references from
recent customers.
Let them know how you use
the airplane and if that use
will change.
Define what your goal
for the upgrade truly is.
Give them a budget you
can live with.
Give them a list of all the
equipment currently
in your airplane.
Spell out any operational or
reliability issues you have.
Tell them about any recent
maintenance that has been
performed on the airplane.
9. Work to develop a plan for your
new panel and stick to it.
10. Don't fall in love with
a particular unit or brand.
11. Be open-minded about
options and solutions.
12. Don't fall into the trap of
believing buying pre-owned will
always save you money.
13. Trust your avionics shop to help
you make well-informed decisions.
14.
15.
If you feel the shop is pressuring
you to buy a particular unit, ask
them why.
If you don't like the answer, find
another shop.
it. Nothing's more frustrating than
doing an upgrade only to put the
airplane back in the shop for more
repairs. "
Quality is essential in instances
where you are doing a phased
upgrade. It's not ideal, but it's
often the best way to get the panel
you want because of budgetary
constraints.
" If you know your long-term goal
- what kind of equipment you want
to ultimately have - you can take
steps in phase one that will save
time and money in the following
installations, " Lee said. " You can do
things like prewiring or precutting
holes that will pay dividends later.
" Repeatedly removing and
reinstalling the panel adds to the
cost. The more you can do to
minimize those extra steps, the
better. Of course, you have to be a
little flexible. Avionics technology is
changing fast. "
While we all understand avionics
technology is in a constant state
of flux, that doesn't mean you can
change your panel's plan midflight
and not expect it to impact the
bottom line.
" I had a guy with a Cessna
P210 who ordered a Garmin GFC
600 autopilot, " Gallagher said.
" Originally, he didn't want the yaw
damper. Then once we got the unit
and had started the installation, he
changed his mind and wanted the
yaw damper installed.
" That's kinda hard to do. It
ended up adding a lot more time to
the project, which raised his final
cost quite a bit. If he had planned
earlier, he wouldn't have been hit
with all of those added expenses. "
It can be like herding cats
Integrating the equipment that's
currently in your panel with the
new instruments and/or avionics
you want to add is often one of
the most challenging (read costly)
parts of an upgrade. Sometimes it
can take a lot of convincing to get
the old stuff to play nice with the
new stuff.
Knowing about any possible
integration issues is especially
important if you are doing a phased
upgrade. In fact, this is probably
the most common type if for no
other reason than it spreads the
final cost over two or three years.
As Lee mentioned, if you have a
good plan, there are steps you can
take now that may well save you
money in the long run.
Now, back to integrating your
old and new components. This,
again, is where working with an
experienced avionics shop can pay
big dividends. They've done this
before and already know the ins
and outs of making it all work.
Sometimes they can point
out optional solutions that can
help mitigate future issues with
your aging aircraft components,
like your aging vacuum-driven
components.
" If the aircraft has an older
autopilot like a King KFC 200
with a vacuum attitude indicator
that's going bad, well, that's about
$3,500 to overhaul, " Gallagher
said. " Instead of spending money
on an already old unit, we can put
in a new Garmin GI 275 digital
instrument, which will drive the
autopilot now and provide input to
a new autopilot later. The old King
unit can't do that.
" Another option is to put in a pair
of (Garmin) GI 275s or G5s. It's not
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AEA Pilot's Guide 2022-2023

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