G1000 Backup

[AustinKalb]

I just purchased a new Ovation 2GX with WAAS, SVT, and Jepp Chartview on the G1000 (I know, I'm a lucky guy). I have had several conversations with CFI's and other pilots at Flight Training Inc, MSC's, and my local area regarding what backup equipment I should be taking along.

There seems to be as many opinions as people. For example, a few people say just paper plates for a couple of intended and alternate airports, other say a complete approach plate set, other say that plus Sectionals, portable GPS's and handheld radios are in the mix as well.

I'm not really looking for more opinions, but maybe some consensus.

What backup would you bring, and why do you think its appropriate.

Thx

Austin

[RobertoTohme]

Austin, welcome to the Mooney world...

I fly both of my Mooneys with electronic charts (Jeppview) on my MFD's (G1000 on one and GMX200 on the other); the advantage of Jeppview over flitecharts from Garmin is that you can install Jepp Flitedeck on a tablet pc, hook up a bluetooth GPS and you have redundant backup for both enroute and approach phases of flight, fully georeferenced, as part of your Jepp subscription.  You spent big bucks in getting a great airplane, so the difference in price between Jepp and flitecharts subscriptions is well justified just for the possibility of having a fully redundant backup if you fly IFR on a regular basis, as I do; it's priceless peace of mind knowing you have that system running at your side should the aircraft avionics suddenly decide to take a hike, IMHO...

[RobertoTohme]

And forgot to mention...  a handheld radio too.  This will have you fully covered for the unthinkable (and undesirable too).  I had an alternator failure once on my Eagle where I had to shed all electrical load to save battery for flap and gear operation at landing since my nearest airport was more than 100 miles away in the middle of northern Mexico where everything is far in between and an off airport landing is considered a felony until the investigation proves it was a true emergency (really stupid, but that's the way it works there), and on another flight (same route, 3 weeks afterwards) the #2 nav/com burned and the heat damaged #1 too, so I was left NORDO...   Most people think that "it won't happen to me", but those handhelds can make the difference beween being just an inconvenience or having a really bad day.

[mooniac227]

My Acclaim has all the G-1000 "bells and whistles" as well (no SVT yet, still trying to decide).  For backup, I carry a Garmin 296, a Sporty's radio and an eFlyBook.  www.eflybook.com  In the extreme unlikely event that the entire G-1000 takes a dump, that covers all the bases to Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate.  (Assuming of course the big fan in the front is still turning!)

[AustinKalb]

Here's the thing - 99% of people I talk with say that an independent backup of the G1000 is a good idea. Then there's my CFII who is a smart guy and makes a very good argument that additional backup is a waste. Why you ask: two independent electrical systems, two batteries, two alternators, two displays, two GIA's w/ 2 GPS's. On top of that there are the "backup instruments" installed on the airplane.

A failure of these systems in IFR over the mountains at night - very unlikely to say the least!

Also, other than the AHRS failures a couple of years ago, I could find no record of G1000's ever failing

AK