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Bendix King KI 300 and KA 310 Installation


PWL

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I’m making this post in the event others are thinking about installing the Bendix-King (BK) KA 310 Electronic Attitude Indicator, KI 300, and newly certified Autopilot interface, KA 310.

I fly a 1985 M20J that until a couple of years ago had a KLN 94 for GPS navigation along with the other original electronics.  Two years ago I had a BK KNS 770 with a DAC GDC-31 roll-steering adapter installed to allow full use of the KFC 150 autopilot.  Last week I had a new BK KI 300 and KA 310 installed at Depot Avionics in Alamosa, CO to replace the original analog vacuum-driven KI 256.  It cost about $6,500 for everything.  Given the overhaul cost of the KI 256 and the fact that my vacuum pump was near end-of-life, I considered the price quite reasonable.

In my opinion, the KNS-770 is a great instrument, and with the KI-300 after 2,800 Mooney hours, am inching towards the digital world.  The KNS-770 performs flawlessly, is intuitive, and is relatively easy to update from maps downloaded to a usb memory stick.  Too bad BK has stopped further development and marketing.  The KI 300 is an enormous safety improvement over the old AI.  It has a lot of essential information in one place and a backup battery that allowed removal of the vacuum pump. This means no longer replacing the vacuum pump every 600-800 hours and no further KI 256 overhauls.

Edited by PWL
Extra spacing in post. Mispelling
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Got any pics, PWL?

1) Many MSers never thought the KSN770 would ever arrive...

2) When it did... its programming was a work in progress...

3) Reports of the BK AI came with pics showing display errors...  an attitude indicator with the leans...

4) keep in mind... my ship is all BK. Not trying to bash their product...

5) Do you know @PearceBK?

Are you confidently flying these in IMC?

Thanks for the Pirep... competition is good.

Best regards,

-a-

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I hope the KI 300 works well for you.  I have had a Quattro for 4 years which I bought from Mark.  I use it as a backup to the KI 256.  I have had lots of problems with flight into turbulence.  I have had five of these as one would fail and Sandia would send me another unit.  Sandia offered me a software update which is equivalent to a KI 300 without the flight director.  I had them do the update and after installation headed to Phoenix for some golf.  The mountains were providing the usual rough ride.  The first bump I hit crossing Moska Pass caused the artificial horizon to upset.  It showed a 45d roll and stayed that way for 10 or 15 minutes.  Finally found it sense and I got wings level on the indicator.  It may have have erected faster but I was in continuous turbulence till I got well southwest of Alamosa.  Lots more to this story but as soon as I got on the ground I called Sandia.  On my return trip I stopped in KABQ and Dennis brought a loaner out to the airport.  The loaner worked better but in the bumps would indicate a 5 to 10d roll when the wings were level..  I would say it was useable but not great.  If the KI 300 is the only AH in your airplane be very careful.  It would be a good idea to be proficient on  partial panel.  As I mentioned I have several Quarttro's and a few could handle bumps and a few not.  I hope Dennis has solved the problem but I have heard of at least one Mooney owner who installed one and it failed in the bumps.  

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At times I think going with the KI 300 seems like a good idea when the KI 256 gives up the ghost, but my recent experience with a bad trim servo reminds me of limited service options in the future.  The trim servo needed a transistor replaced. BK refused to send a copy of the circuit board diagram to Executive Autopilots.  My serial number servo was newer than the publicly released diagrams. David at Executive Autopilots was able to reverse engineer it.  He also calibrated HSI to autopilot to correct the one dot localizer error I have had for a while. Total under 1 AMU.  I believe I recall reading BK’s flat rate servo repair charge is $2600?

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At times I think going with the KI 300 seems like a good idea when the KI 256 gives up the ghost, but my recent experience with a bad trim servo reminds me of limited service options in the future.  The trim servo needed a transistor replaced. BK refused to send a copy of the circuit board diagram to Executive Autopilots.  My serial number servo was newer than the publicly released diagrams. David at Executive Autopilots was able to reverse engineer it.  He also calibrated HSI to autopilot to correct the one dot localizer error I have had for a while. Total under 1 AMU.  I believe I recall reading BK’s flat rate servo repair charge is $2600?


With every passing day and stuff like this I become more and more likely to rip out the king and retrofit everything including a glass panel and autopilot to Garmin... sigh


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Too bad Garmin is going to end up gouging you just the same, given half a chance (once enough market dominance is established).  How much did it cost to get G1000 upgraded to WAAS again?

That's why I really root for Avidyne, Trig, Aspen and hope for the likes of Dynon to get serious in order to keep the game interesting.

But yeah, King is interesting mostly as a case study.

Then again, things do change.  Remember Nokia, once the only name that counted in cellphones, that all but dissapeared but are sort-of attemtping a comeback?

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I’d love to choose Avedyne. I’d love the KI300 to be viable to kick this whole can down the path a few years. But at some point the Garmin solution is just really good and I’m not a big fan of the Aspen form factor...


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