GTN 750 to GTN 750 Xi Upgrade

[wombat]

Last year I bought a whole new GTN-750 Xi plus an install kit for maybe $17k.    Had the avionics guy at the shop swap them during annual, he charged me $1,500 I think.   I now have a whole GTN-750 plus install kit to put in the other plane.

[toto]

3 hours ago, wombat said:

Last year I bought a whole new GTN-750 Xi plus an install kit for maybe $17k.    Had the avionics guy at the shop swap them during annual, he charged me $1,500 I think.   I now have a whole GTN-750 plus install kit to put in the other plane.

I already have an Xi in the other plane … where did you find a deal on the new radio?

Garmin describes this as a slide-in replacement. Isn’t it just like four screws plus configuration?

[Jackk]

Doesn’t seem like much of a upgrade

 

if you have a good AP, just pitch for best glide, FLC/IAS, nearest direct to, nav

Avoids having to clutter a panel with yet another button

 

For the pilot incapacitated fantasy, I’d say if one can’t do the simple motion above, what’s the chance they can drop the gear and land, sooo

[wombat]

16 hours ago, toto said:

I already have an Xi in the other plane … where did you find a deal on the new radio?

Garmin describes this as a slide-in replacement. Isn’t it just like four screws plus configuration?

One screw, I think.    I had some problems at one point and slid the Xi out and the old one back in.    Then later I swapped them again.    It was that easy.      The configuration of both was correct, so there wasn't much to do for that.   I never flew with the old one back in, just testing some stuff.

[Little Dipper]

I like the much faster up speed of the 750XI.    

[toto]

There are definitely things that I don’t love about the Xi. I don’t like having to push the right button before changing frequency. I prefer the GTN where it’s always in “frequency entry” mode by default. And I prefer the home button at the top right. 

To be honest, I’ve never really noticed a difference in processor speed between the Xi and the non-Xi, although I understand that that’s one of the significant changes.

The only real reason I’ve been looking at the Xi is the GCO that I can’t install.

 

[toto]

12 hours ago, Jackk said:

Doesn’t seem like much of a upgrade

 

if you have a good AP, just pitch for best glide, FLC/IAS, nearest direct to, nav

Avoids having to clutter a panel with yet another button

 

For the pilot incapacitated fantasy, I’d say if one can’t do the simple motion above, what’s the chance they can drop the gear and land, sooo

You’re talking about Safe Glide?

It’s interesting, not worth the money to buy an Xi for that feature alone. It can help with some of the high-workload things when dealing with an engine failure, but I suspect most pilots don’t practice it enough to save any time at all. I’ve tried a few simulated engine-out emergencies with Safe Glide and I thought it was mostly a gimmick. Squawking 7700 and broadcasting to ATC is the least of my concerns, and the navigator already has a nice “nearest” function (with a continuous “nearest” pointer on the G3X) without Safe Glide. 

Auto-land / Safe Return is a whole different animal, and I could see that being very valuable to passengers in a pilot incapacitation scenario. 

[Jackk]

19 hours ago, Little Dipper said:

I like the much faster up speed of the 750XI.    

 Where do you notice CPU speed?

 

 I can load a approach just as fast on a Garmin 430.

 

 I’ve also flown planes with a MMO in the .92 range and never flown faster than my nav system CPU?

[Pinecone]

On 7/31/2025 at 11:18 AM, Jackk said:

Avoids having to clutter a panel with yet another button

 

For the pilot incapacitated fantasy, I’d say if one can’t do the simple motion above, what’s the chance they can drop the gear and land, sooo

You actually don't need the extra button.

A coupled approach with gear up will get the plane on the ground and most likely survivable.  All they need to do is pull back the throttle.