Looking for budgetary numbers for J avionics total update

[mike_elliott]

12 hours ago, Marauder said:

 

Stephen - you sitting down? If not, you should be...

Here is what it feels like:



Let me preface the picture below. Costs for avionics installations will vary wildly depending on what you are doing at the time. An example, installing an audio panel is very labor intensive. It needs to be wired to everything that uses it. If you elect to put in a new avionics panel with your old radios and then a year later upgrade your radios, you will essentially be paying twice for the installations.

My advice:

1) If there is even a remote chance you will be selling this plane within 10 years, DON’T do a major avionics upgrade. You’ll never get your money back out. Fix what you have and don’t try to keep up with the Jones’s.
2) Think ahead on what you want your panel to look like. If you have aspirations of installing an Aspen or Garmin G500 TXi along with other radio upgrades, save up and do it all at once. Every time your panel is opened, you will incur costs, often duplicate costs.
3) Don’t get caught up in the whiz bang of avionics. You can spend a fortune on avionics. Make sure you have a need for it or you truly want it to enhance your flying.
4) Don’t finance avionics upgrades. If you need to finance, you have no business doing the upgrades.
5) Understand the difference between a quote and an estimate. DO NOT accept an estimate for an upgrade. If necessary, take the plane to the shop and have them look over everything before they issue the quote. When I had my STEC 60-2 installed in 1998, the shop tried to stick with me another $2,000 of “unexpected work”. I had a quote and refused the additional cost - READ THE FINE PRINT ON ANYTHING YOU GET IN WRITING FROM THE AVIONICS SHOP!!
6) Make sure your significant other is supportive. If not, an avionics upgrade can drive a wedge between you.

I’m sure there are others who can share their rules.

The prices below are ballpark. I recall that the avionics shop wanted $3,600 for the installation of one Aspen. When I decided on two, they wanted to charge $7,200. I argued successfully for a lot lower second installation charge since the plane was already opened and it was just a matter of the additional connections. There will be these kinds of discussion to understand and happen up front (see #5 above).

The cost below also doesn’t include any new panels made for you and labor to move things around to new homes (which may require rewiring). Avionics upgrades are NOT for the weak and certainly not for those who have weak finances.



P.S. I have two AoAs in the plane. The panel mounted one and the one of the Aspen.


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You should have circled the NGT 9000+ also, probably the nicest piece of gear in the panel

[Danb]

Mike he should have circled the complete panel and put up a six figure amount, the nicest panel I’ve see who ever did the install is remarkable

[Stephen]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:47 PM, mike_elliott said:

You should have circled the NGT 9000+ also, probably the nicest piece of gear in the panel

Hah, just watched the video; there is a lot packed inro that little box. Seems to be transponder + adsb in/out + a lot of WX functions from a foreflight /iPAD/stratus setup. 

[mike_elliott]

46 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Hah, just watched the video; there is a lot packed inro that little box. Seems to be transporting nder + adsb in/out + a lot of WX functions from a foreflight /iPAD/stratus setup. 

and it plays nicely with "foreign" hardware. It basically contains a wifi router and has firmware which features can be added and unlocked simply without the need of a fork lift replacement. Very well thought out scalablility.

[Yetti]

I have found this as a helpful aid to spend money.   http://www.avionicslist.com/

[jetdriven]

On 6/19/2018 at 2:26 PM, Marauder said:

 

Stephen - you sitting down? If not, you should be...

Here is what it feels like:



Let me preface the picture below. Costs for avionics installations will vary wildly depending on what you are doing at the time. An example, installing an audio panel is very labor intensive. It needs to be wired to everything that uses it. If you elect to put in a new avionics panel with your old radios and then a year later upgrade your radios, you will essentially be paying twice for the installations.

My advice:

1) If there is even a remote chance you will be selling this plane within 10 years, DON’T do a major avionics upgrade. You’ll never get your money back out. Fix what you have and don’t try to keep up with the Jones’s.
2) Think ahead on what you want your panel to look like. If you have aspirations of installing an Aspen or Garmin G500 TXi along with other radio upgrades, save up and do it all at once. Every time your panel is opened, you will incur costs, often duplicate costs.
3) Don’t get caught up in the whiz bang of avionics. You can spend a fortune on avionics. Make sure you have a need for it or you truly want it to enhance your flying.
4) Don’t finance avionics upgrades. If you need to finance, you have no business doing the upgrades.
5) Understand the difference between a quote and an estimate. DO NOT accept an estimate for an upgrade. If necessary, take the plane to the shop and have them look over everything before they issue the quote. When I had my STEC 60-2 installed in 1998, the shop tried to stick with me another $2,000 of “unexpected work”. I had a quote and refused the additional cost - READ THE FINE PRINT ON ANYTHING YOU GET IN WRITING FROM THE AVIONICS SHOP!!
6) Make sure your significant other is supportive. If not, an avionics upgrade can drive a wedge between you.

I’m sure there are others who can share their rules.

The prices below are ballpark. I recall that the avionics shop wanted $3,600 for the installation of one Aspen. When I decided on two, they wanted to charge $7,200. I argued successfully for a lot lower second installation charge since the plane was already opened and it was just a matter of the additional connections. There will be these kinds of discussion to understand and happen up front (see #5 above).

The cost below also doesn’t include any new panels made for you and labor to move things around to new homes (which may require rewiring). Avionics upgrades are NOT for the weak and certainly not for those who have weak finances.



P.S. I have two AoAs in the plane. The panel mounted one and the one of the Aspen.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Coffee came out of my nose when I saw this it was so funny. Now I have to do the same.  below

 

[jetdriven]

my wife, being rather cheap, suggested we get a GPS and ADS-B, since we couldnt hardly fly anywhere IFR.

before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DURING: yes I did this in the hangar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER:

 

 

AFTER the first trip.....

 

@Becca

 

[Marauder]

Hah, just watched the video; there is a lot packed inro that little box. Seems to be transponder + adsb in/out + a lot of WX functions from a foreflight /iPAD/stratus setup. 

It’s an impressive box. Has the ability to display all of the TIS-B and FIS-B features along with my WX-500 StormScope’s output and terrain warnings. My favorite features are TAS and ATAS (voice warning for traffic). ATAS has been 100% accurate on calling out traffic.


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[Becca]

35 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

my wife, being rather cheap, suggested we get a GPS and ADS-B, since we couldnt hardly fly anywhere IFR.

before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DURING: yes I did this in the hangar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER:

 

 

AFTER the first trip.....

 

@Becca

 

 

This project was worse scope creep than anything I've ever seen as an engineering project manager.  And the scope creep was on top of scope creep.

It started out with an insurance settlement for hail damage.  We were going to do a lot of the paint and body work ourselves rather than use a shop, and then we'd have $10,000 left over.  Then we'd bring $10,000 of our money and upgrade to an IFR GPS.  That was the only requirement for this project, IFR GPS approach capability.  Nothing more, nothing less.

However, after speed mods, checkerboards, paint masks, and who knows what else, we only had like $3,000 left over from insurance.  But I'm game, let's keep the total budget to $20,000.  Which, for the record, will meet the minimum requirements which as far as I was concerned was an IFR GPS unit (a G430 used was fine with me, or an Avidyne or whatever) and the accompanying indicateder ($2,000) or so.  But, heck,  I'll make some allowances for a cost overrun.

But apparently, because we're tearing into the panel, we also couldn't live without an HSI, and ADSB that was compatible with the GPS that we purchased (which was double some of the more economical ADSB compliant options), a new intercomm, a new comm 2 radio (I am still not certain why except for ours was old), and a panel rearrangement.  Bleeding our budget one finger prick at a time until we were almost 100% over budget.

For the record, the autopilot worked just fine before this project.

Also the hairy legs in the photos are Byron's not mine, rare time he's in the left seat.

[thinwing]

Answer:a milleion dollars!!!..snort snort