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I went to the NW aviation trade show in Puyallup today looking for information. Here is what I learned: 1. Neither Trio nor TruTrak were there so I have nothing to report on them. 2. KI300. Surprise, shipping delayed until April 2018 due to software changes to handle turbulence better. Approximate price for the model to replace our KI256 in a two axis KFC200 autopilot system will be about $6500. It will actually be two boxes. The display includes the backup battery and has a 9 pin connector and connections for pitot and static lines. The second box connects to the indicator via the 9 pin connector. The other end of that box connects to the KFC200 and GPS navigator. He estimates less than a day to install. 3. Dynon Skyview HDX. Still my favorite if it's available in time. They have submitted all the paperwork to the FAA for the STC for Cessna's. Just waiting for the FAA to give approval. Unable to provide a timeline as to when the system might be available for other aircraft. I think he said it takes about 6 to 18 months to get an STC for another aircraft. That won't happen until they have approval for the Cessna. Based on the catalog he gave me, I'd estimate parts for a Skyview HDX 7" display based system to be about $10,900 for a two axis system. Another $750, or $11,650 for two axis plus autotrim. And another $750 or $12,400 for three axis plus autotrim. That includes a 7" display, primary and secondary AHRS, GPS antenna/receiver, ARINC429 box to talk to our GTN650, backup battery, autopilot control panel, 3 knob HDG/ALT/BARO bug panel, Wi-Fi adapter for use with ForeFlight, servos, and D10A backup EFIS. If you want to display traffic and weather on the main display, the dual channel ADS-B receiver is $795. If you want AOA with a heated pitot, that's $450. If you want their Comm radio, that's $1295 (pretty neat; can be loaded from the main display with buttons for ATIS, Ground, Tower, and ATC). If you want the bigger 10" display, that's another $1300. If the main display quits you fly off the D10A. If your GPS navigator (our GTN650) quits, you can still navigate and fly with the autopilot using the built in GPS system. You can also add engine monitoring if you want. About $1300 for parts plus $200 for fuel flow if you want it. Extra for MP and RPM. And if you don't already have ADS-B OUT, you can get that for another $2200. Very flexible system. Things it does that the GFC500 doesn't: Synthetic Vision (if you are into that) with terrain warning coloring, moving map, true airspeed, winds, minimums bug, maps, charts, and velocity vector. 4. Garmin GFC500. Nice system. Probably the nicest servos. Assuming everything I was told is correct: If you install the GFC500 with a single G5, the G5 is installed as the HSI. That means you may also switch it over to ADI if you need to. In a single G5 system, if the G5 dies you also lose the autopilot. If the GPS navigator fails, the autopilot still works for heading and altitude hold but it cannot navigate. In a dual G5 system, if at least one of the G5's is working, the autopilot will still work. Based on prices on Sarasota Avionics, a single G5/GFC500/2 axis system will cost $8149. Add the autotrim and you are up to $9849. Add yaw dampener and you're up to an estimated $11,549. If you want a two G5 system that's $10,889/$12,589/ and $14,289 respectively. The representative could not confirm when they would gain approval for either Mooney or Bonanza. However, other sources indicate 2018 for Bonanza and 2019 for Mooney. That is all. Bob

I got the update from Trio as well. He said he thinks it will most likely be the fall of this year and then followed up with this email: __________________________ If you are on any chat boards with the Mooney folks let them know that we are working with ex-Mooney people and some folks that still work at Mooney in Kerrville. We will be doing the prototyping at FletchAir in Comfort, Texas. The FletchAir folks are assisiting with the Grumman project. As soon as we complete the Grumman project we will be launching into either the T Tail Lance or the Mooney. The development cycle is pretty long since we are really anal about safety. So I don’t want to make promises I cannot keep. We are looking at project schedules right now and trying to determine what a project takes to complete going forward. P ________________________________ I gave him the production numbers of Mooney's so he can compare that with the T tails and then I told him simply reference controller.com and notice there are a total of 16 Lances on the market with only 9 T tails. Their are currently about 80 Mooney's on the market that an STC could easily cover. Competition is heating up!