toto

I've gotten these things in the mail and they go straight into the trash. It's trivially easy to renew registration via the FAA site (once you find the link). As long as the third-party services will get your registration renewed, I don't mind them existing, but it definitely feels like a solution in search of a problem.

This is covered in the pilot's guide (attached). See sec. 15.9. 190-01007-03_Q.pdf

You're good for 60 months.

I've never had an FBO decline to waive fees if I purchase fuel from the self-serve pump. (The only caveat is that you've got to buy fuel from the FBO you're parking at.. sometimes the place I want to park doesn't have self-serve, and then it's a painful choice for a CB.)

ESP definitely considers bank angle as well. You can't do steep turns in training without disabling ESP, or you'll feel the AP pushing back when you roll in.

I've heard very positive things about Gatts in Manhattan, KS. It's basically a one-week program with a checkride at the end.

Likely to be either experimental or a Carbon Cub. I doubt there are any Mooneys out there with a G3X yet..

Whoa, really? I didn't know that Garmin sold any rebranded transponders.

Sheesh, and here I thought *I* had too much avionics stuff in my basement. Holy crap.

For what it's worth, several of the functions are available directly on the G5, including heading and altitude preselect. Disabling the envelope protection can only be done from the G5, afaict, but setting the vertical speed can only be done from the 507. The 507 itself is very thin, about a half inch of plastic that's screwed into the panel with a bunch of buttons, a couple knobs, and a rotary thing. I have no idea how much logic actually lives in that box, but I'm sure that @flyingcheesehead is right (i.e., none at all - it's just an interface).

It took an insane amount of time to install the servo mounts. My shop went back and forth with Garmin for weeks. It definitely seemed like a learning experience on both ends.

It sort of feels like Garmin is on a 2-by-10 upgrade path, where they introduce a new thing, ten years later they offer a major update, and ten years after that they replace it with a brand-new thing that's a different form factor and requires a complicated install. I bought a 430 way back in the day, and then paid like $2k several years later for the WAAS upgrade. That upgrade iirc included a new processor and a much higher refresh rate. It was almost like a brand-new radio. But the install cost was essentially zero. They finally dropped support for the 430 about 20 years after it was introduced, and six or seven years after the GTN series was available. I'm not familiar enough with the G500/G600 setup to know whether the TXi upgrade was similar to the 430. But I'm definitely curious whether we should expect the next G3X upgrade to be like the 430->430W, or whether the G3X->Touch upgrade was the "easy" one, to be followed by a "hard" G4X upgrade six or seven years from now. Anyone have a crystal ball?

Personal experience with a GFC500+2xG5 install was less than 30, but not considerably less, for three servos.

Sorry, I actually meant to ask the opposite question.. Since there's no Garmin AP, why go Garmin for the AI and HSI? Why not do the 3100 with an Aspen or something? I follow him on YouTube and I know that he's done this piecemeal. But his AP was broken before the AI went out, so he was going to do an AP sooner or later.

I think it would be every bit of 40k.

But doesn't the G3X effectively eliminate coupled LPV approaches (even though the 430w can draw them)? I'm still trying to figure out the legacy AP approach. Would you keep a separate analog CDI?

I've seen at least one maintenance shop (i.e., not a radio repair station) that is heavily advertising ADS-B installs. Seems likely that we'll see more and more of these as the traditional avionics shops get backed up and aircraft owners start getting paranoid about missing the 2020 deadline. Maybe it's beyond hope that A&Ps getting into the ADS-B install game will actually reduce some of the back pressure?

So I'm a little surprised that the G3X doesn't support the GAD43e. Is the lack of legacy AP integration a limitation unique to the certified version? Or does every experimental owner have to use a Garmin autopilot if they want the G3X?

I was very curious about this, and afaict the screen dimensions and resolution are identical. But I dunno whether the TXi uses newer/better technology. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/682215/pn/G3X-TCERT-01#specs txi-onesheet.pdf

I was using "a little more" tongue-in-cheek, but my point is that this may result in more people going with an all-Garmin solution rather than a TXi hybrid with a legacy AP. I've just been through a GFC500+2xG5 install, and I'm very reluctant to go down the GFC500 road in the Mooney, largely due to the crazy install time. It's making my Century 2000 look nicer every day

Yep, based on the feedback here, the G3X offering has pushed many of us who were thinking about a G500TXi with a legacy autopilot into thinking about a G3X with a GFC500 for a little more money. That sounds like a pretty good business plan for big G.

Interesting that Kevin decided to go with two G5's and then the STEC.

I haven't read everything yet - is the GAD43e not compatible with the G3X?

Labor paid for a three-servo install in a Piper was 13ish, but that included installing two G5's. It took six weeks, and required a ton of back-and-forth with Garmin.