Dynon Certified Program Update

[Igor_U]

Following is the message I received from Dynon:

 

Hello from Seattle,   With 2021 coming to a close, we wanted to give you an update on our Dynon Certified programs.   First, thank you for your partnership. 2021 is Dynon Certified’s best year yet, and that’s despite autopilot approvals taking longer than expected and the current supply chain crisis. We are really excited for 2022, even though there are tough challenges ahead.   There are two specific challenges that we want to share updates on.   First, the Bonanza 36 series autopilot approval is taking longer than expected - over a year longer. The reality is that although we’ve been “done” for months, we are not really across the finish line until we have our signed approval documents from the FAA. Their final reviews are taking much longer than we ever expected. Over the past couple of years, progress with FAA projects has slowed considerably.    Related, the resumption of shipping SkyView HDX displays is tied to the Bonanza 36 autopilot approval. Earlier this year, we made a minor internal change to SkyView’s display hardware that required certification. For multiple reasons, including efficiently packaging projects to work with the FAA, we decided to include that revision in the Bonanza 36 project. With a lot of schedule slack already factored in, this should have been a transparent change to customers. The approval should have been in hand long before we ran out of the previous hardware revision. Unfortunately, with the certification delays, that is not what transpired. As a result, Dynon Certified displays are currently backordered.   Where does that leave us? As of right now (Dec 16, 2021), we believe we are waiting for final FAA signatures. There is a chance that instead of the signatures we need, we get additional requests for information. But we have closed out all of the FAA’s outstanding documentation requests. Whether this means that we’ll be able to ship in days or weeks, we can not honestly say.   What we can say is that once we have the approval, we will be able to ship displays immediately. We are preparing our manufacturing operations in advance of approval so that we can rapidly clear out the existing backlog. Similarly, the Bonanza 36 autopilot will be available right after approval.   Going forward, we have three more airframes currently in-house actively receiving work towards autopilot approval. Those are the Cessna 182, Beech Baron 58, and The Mooney M20. Details about the progress of these projects can be found at www.dynoncertified.com. Going forward, we will no longer estimate approval dates, as our ability to estimate the FAA’s responses and timeframes has proven to be more difficult than anticipated. However, know that if an airplane is on our website, it is actively being worked on, with one caveat: The exact sub-models a particular approval applies to is not precisely known until relatively late in the project. Therefore, if autopilot availability is crucial to you or your customer’s panel plans, please wait until autopilot is available for your airplane before making upgrade decisions.   One final note: The current supply chain crisis means there may be longer lead times for some products. Please contact the Dynon Sales team if you have specific questions about the availability of particular products.    Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate through this challenging time.

[TNIndy]

Thanks for the update. I have Dynon products on order. Sad that I get this update from someone other than Dynon. 

[231MJ]

I got the same email this morning.  I'm a Dynon user so that may be why I got the email and others did not - not really sure.

From the message it seems Dynon understands that the autopilot is a critical component to upgrade decisions and they are essentially telling us "we can't predict when the autopilot will be approved so keep that in mind when you make an up-grade decision".  I feel for Dynon because they will lose some customers.  Dynon is  a great product at a reasonable price but FAA is just not cooperating.  I have put money down on an AeroCruze 100 with Spruce in hopes that it gets approved sooner.  Frustrating in any case.

Happy holidays, all.

[toto]

Fwiw, I got the email and I’m not a customer. I think I just signed up for email updates from the Dynon website at some point. 

[carusoam]

Same here…

I got two emails today from Dynon…

Really nice company…

-a-

[midlifeflyer]

I have a new student with an LSA with a dual Dynon HDX panel. I'm really impressed with the system and with customer service - he's a brand new student so I'm the one asking the questions when I come across something I don't understand. Very responsive.

[TNIndy]

Dynon just let me know they are shipping my 10" HDX in the next few days! They got their FAA approval

[Hank]

43 minutes ago, TNIndy said:

Dynon just let me know they are shipping my 10" HDX in the next few days! They got their FAA approval

Yaay!! Time for me to check prices and installation quotes. Been waiting to see who got there first.

[LANCECASPER]

I guess this means that the autopilot for Beech also got approved since that was tied to this. Sometime in 2022 hopefully for a Mooney autopilot.

[TNIndy]

I gambled and I am prewiring mine for the Dynon AP and a second 10" screen. AP in 2022 would be nice. 

[Hank]

6 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

I guess this means that the autopilot for Beech also got approved since that was tied to this. Sometime in 2022 hopefully for a Mooney autopilot.

Gotta have both. Just filled out the Dynon survey. No A/P, no glass--compatibility between manufacturers is poor and getting worse.

[TNIndy]

I should have been more specific when I said they had FAA approval. I meant FAA approval for the hardware change in HDX screens. Mine had been on back order for a while. 

[Jesse Saint]

They received approval for the modified screen, Bonanza 36 auto pilot and the trim amp. The new 16.0.8 software was approved as well. They shipped me 6 screens on Tuesday. 

[carusoam]

11 hours ago, Jesse Saint said:

They received approval for the modified screen, Bonanza 36 auto pilot and the trim amp. The new 16.0.8 software was approved as well. They shipped me 6 screens on Tuesday. 

Nice to see you Jesse!

it’s been a while.

Best regards,

-a-

[cliffy]

My screen is at the shop going in next week maybe 

I'm gambling on the autopilot also but I have a couple Brittian A/Ps in boxes as stby just in case. 

[Hank]

20 hours ago, cliffy said:

My screen is at the shop going in next week maybe 

I'm gambling on the autopilot also but I have a couple Brittian A/Ps in boxes as stby just in case. 

Whatever is approved first, Dynon or TruTrak.