What is this? Avidyne FlightMax

[rbp]

Can someone positively ID these two boxes for me? There's no model number, and I have seen a few different models called "FlightMax"

[N201MKTurbo]

Avidyne FlightMax 5RR Flight Situation Display

 

[N201MKTurbo]

Some people used these for a radar display. Do you have radar?

[rbp]

On 3/9/2022 at 4:48 PM, N201MKTurbo said:

Some people used these for a radar display. Do you have radar?

its not in my plane. i saw it in another bravo and was curious. is it useful (in 2022) for anything? 

[LANCECASPER]

53 minutes ago, rbp said:

its not in my plane. i saw it in another bravo and was curious. is it useful (in 2022) for anything? 

It would receive XM weather, display traffic from an active traffic system, had a moving map, terrain I think.  For it’s time it was great. Until the panel is re-done, still useful.  https://www.aviationconsumer.com/avionics/avidyne-flightmax/

[carusoam]

Looks like the time before memory sticks and BT…

Check to see if CD roms are still available for updates…

PP thoughts only…

-a-

[rbp]

1 hour ago, LANCECASPER said:

It would receive XM weather, display traffic from an active traffic system, had a moving map, terrain I think.  For it’s time it was great. Until the panel is re-done, still useful.  https://www.aviationconsumer.com/avionics/avidyne-flightmax/

Would this have been a factory option in a 98 bravo? 

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, rbp said:

Would this have been a factory option in a 98 bravo? 

Starting in 1997 Mooney simplified their avionics options to two packages,  "Classic" and "Classic Plus". The Classic Plus had a Stormscope and a KFC150 (FD) with Pre-Select instead of a KAP150, an non-precision approach capable GPS (KLN89B) and a 4 place intercom. But then they had a list of other avionics available. The airframe logs should show if the FlightMax was installed later by another avionics shop (most likely).  A shop would have been less expensive back then than having the factory service center do it. They were building about 80-100 airplanes a year and were generally swamped.

[amillet]

Our 97 MSE (1st 97 built in October 1996) came with KFC 150 without altitude preselect, and a KLN90B

[LANCECASPER]

14 hours ago, amillet said:

Our 97 MSE (1st 97 built in October 1996) came with KFC 150 without altitude preselect, and a KLN90B

That makes sense. That one was in the pipeline a few months before the date of the A/W certificate. The Classic/Classic Plus announcement was made right around MAPA time in '96 which was in October that year if I remember correctly. Unless the center caps on your yokes say "Classic" or "Classic Plus" the avionics in the panel before that were nearly unique to every airplane. Classic/Classic Plus was an an attempt to standardize and save some man hours.

I owned a '97 Encore (serial #12) built months after yours that had the Classic Plus package.

 

[amillet]

Would Mooney be selling Encores today if the price were the same adjusted for inflation?

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, amillet said:

Would Mooney be selling Encores today if the price were the same adjusted for inflation?

I think they would, except I believe parts to make airplanes have gone up faster than the CPI. However, in real dollars avionics have actually come down and have more features. Engines, props, labor, raw materials, overhead are probably another story though.

The original owner also added TKS before purchase, so total was around $435,000 back then.

[rbp]

17 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

he Classic Plus had a Stormscope and a KFC150 (FD) with Pre-Select instead of a KAP150, an non-precision approach capable GPS (KLN89B) and a 4 place intercom

this is what my '98 Bravo came with. and an Argus 7000 (?)

[LANCECASPER]

this is what my '98 Bravo came with. and an Argus 7000 (?)

Yeah the Argus 3000, 5000 & 7000 were all on the additional options list, over and above the Classic Plus package. For its time they were pretty amazing. They were the first of the moving maps, they could display the ADF, freeing up panel space. They could display the WX-1000E stormscope. 
I had an Argus 3000 interfaced to  an Apollo Flybuddy Loran in my Mooney 231 when I took my instrument checkride in '95. The examiner was amazed by it and said it was almost like cheating on your checkride . . lol. I kinda felt the same way 
Later I had an Argus 5000 in the first Bravo I owned. Al though these were very basic by today's standards. they really helped with situational awareness.

[rbp]

1 hour ago, LANCECASPER said:

like cheating on your checkride

i cheated on my checkride by not having an ADF! GPS, LOC, ILS FTW!