As LCD and GPS display technologies get further commoditized in the consumer display and mapping markets, those technologies are trickling down to the aviation world in the form of lower-cost, higher-capability avionics displays – now including synthetic vision..
10 years ago, glass panels were only available in airliners and cost $2+ million.
Last year, Cirrus and Cessna trainers offered glass panels for about $100,000, included in the price of a new plane.
In 2009, a glass panel is now $10,000 for experimental and LSA (under 1,320 pounds) aircraft:
avweb.com: Garmin Displays Non-Certified Glass
We’re now at the point where installing the glass panel, testing and doing the Form 337 for IFR will cost more than the equipment does.
Just as with notebook computers, it will be cheaper to replace an avionics display than to troubleshoot and fix it.
One mfg. is actually selling a glass panel version of their aircraft for $10,000 less than a round-gauge model:
avweb.com: Gobosh Discounts Glass
It seems like the Avidyne MFDs have a poor MTBF and maintenance turnaround time record, while Garmins are both reliable and well-supported. Eclipse blamed Avidyne for their slow FAA certification time, and Cirrus has switched to Garmin recently.
One disadvantage of glass panels in general is that navaid, terrain and weather data updates can be $1,300/year or more, plus the regular cost of paper charts. Also, some avionics will not allow display of outdated data, making them less useful in case of an emergency.
Adding synthetic terrain can cost $10,000.
| Year | Vendor | Model | Resolution | Softkeys | Navaids | Terrain | Weather | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King | KMD-150 | 5″ | Yes | |||||
| King | KMD-250 | 3.8″ | Yes | |||||
| King | KMD-550 | 5″ | Yes | |||||
| King | KMD-850 | 5″ | Yes | 550 plus radar display. | ||||
| 2009 | King | KSN 770 | 5.7″ (640×480) | Yes | Announced | |||
| 2009 | King | Av8or Horizon 3D | 5″ | Yes | ||||
| 2009 | King | Av8or Vision 3D | 5″ | Yes | Announced | |||
| 2009 | King | KFD 840 | 8.4″ | Yes | Announced | |||
| Avidyne | EX500 | 5.5″ | Yes | |||||
| Avidyne | EX5000 | 10.4″ | Yes | |||||
| Apollo/UPS/Garmin | GNS 480 | 6″ (320×240, 256-color) | Yes | Good IFR flow but discontinued | ||||
| Apollo/UPS/Garmin | MX20 | 6″ (640×480) | Yes | |||||
| Garmin | GMX 200 | 5″ (640×480) | Yes | |||||
| Garmin | GNS 430 | 3.5″ (128×240, 16-color) | No | |||||
| Garmin | GNS 530 | 5″ (320×234, 8-color) | No | |||||
| Garmin | G1000 | 10″ or 12″ | Yes | |||||
| 2008 | Garmin | G600 | 2×6.5″ | Yes | $30,000 Retrofit for 6-packs | |||
| Sandel | SN3500 | 3″ | No | |||||
| 2009 | Garmin | 696 | 7″ (480×800) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MFD, GPS, daylight viewable, XM, SD, USB |
From a technology standpoint glass panel progress is amazing. From an airmanship standpoint, not so much…
Pilots are likely to spend more time programming their avionics than looking outside the window to “see and avoid”, which needs to be addressed in pilot training courses, and perhaps ratings.
Interesting quote from Frank Robinson …
“The R66 will not be fitted with a glass cockpit, says Robinson: the manufacturer says that this sort of thing would be inappropriate in a VFR machine. ‘I’m not interested in anything that distracts the pilot from keeping his eyes outside the cockpit,’ says Robinson, implying that once such systems could provide everything that a pilot needed at a glance, they would be considered.”
Ironically, Microsoft lays off the whole FlightSim team:
gamasutra: Microsoft Makes Big Cuts At Flight Sim Studio
avweb: GPS — From VFR to IFR
Avidyne versus Garmin G1000 glass cockpits
AirGizmos.com Panel Mounts for Portable GPS
Garmin Flight Deck Aviation Products
