201 MSE steam equipped ship going Dynon/Avidyne

[Aerospace]

Starting with this:

The transponder in the pic has already been changed to a Stratus ESG which will work until the Dynon system is in.

The current step is to upgrade the navigator, which will ultimately an IFD540 or 550. I don't have that kind of money right now, but I must have a navigator. So, @Jesse Saint is going to install a GNS 530 as an interim solution that will serve my current needs and have negligible installation rework when it's 540 time. It would be nice to get the ADF and DME out as well, maybe the Hobbs too. Lots of negative space could be opened up, maybe enough room for my iPad mini.

I am considering whether to install a PAR200b audio panel right now as well to fully eliminate the KX-155 presence, and have fresh stereo audio infrastructure. That may be something I do later, probably have to sell my motorcycle to do it now.

Whether I do the AudiCom now or later, the next major upgrade step will be the Dynon HDX system. Most likely will be late 2024.

Anyway, I'll post the progress here and share things I learn along the way. In the end, I hope to have a tidy and well-integrated panel.

[Hank]

I'm waiting for the Dynon AP to be approved, then will swap my steam gages for it. Will keep the 430W for a little longer . . . .

[NotarPilot]

On 8/25/2023 at 6:45 PM, Aerospace said:

Starting with this:

The transponder in the pic has already been changed to a Stratus ESG which will work until the Dynon system is in.

The current step is to upgrade the navigator, which will ultimately an IFD540 or 550. I don't have that kind of money right now, but I must have a navigator. So, @Jesse Saint is going to install a GNS 530 as an interim solution that will serve my current needs and have negligible installation rework when it's 540 time. It would be nice to get the ADF and DME out as well, maybe the Hobbs too. Lots of negative space could be opened up, maybe enough room for my iPad mini.

I am considering whether to install a PAR200b audio panel right now as well to fully eliminate the KX-155 presence, and have fresh stereo audio infrastructure. That may be something I do later, probably have to sell my motorcycle to do it now.

Whether I do the AudiCom now or later, the next major upgrade step will be the Dynon HDX system. Most likely will be late 2024.

Anyway, I'll post the progress here and share things I learn along the way. In the end, I hope to have a tidy and well-integrated panel.

I think you’re really going to like the Dynon Skyview HDX system. I’ve had mine about a year and a half and I love it. It makes flying safer and IFR is MUCH easier. There’s so much situational awareness for the pilot that it makes flying just a lot more fun. It’s very intuitive and easy to use. One of the downsides of the system is that I lost most functionality of my S-TEC 30 so I really don’t even bother with using the AP anymore. I just hand fly it everywhere now but with the highway in the sky, I can fly a near perfectly straight ground track that looks as good as an AP had flown it. I can’t do that with an HSI. Maybe others can but with me you’ll still see a little wiggle on my flight path on Flightradar24 that tells you it was human flown.

Only negatives I can say about the HDX are that ADS-B traffic sometimes disappears on the moving map and PFD then will all reappear. I’m not sure what might be causing that. The only other negative is waiting for STC approval of the Dynon AP. But I love hand flying it too much to let that bother me right now.

The Dynon paired with the Avidyne IFDs work very well together. I can usually be airborne in 7 to 8 minutes with an IFR clearance with the IFDs. They make it super easy to program flight plans into the FMS. It quickly predicts where you want to go next so, the next fix, VOR or airway just populates on the menu. It’s very easy to learn. 

[Aerospace]

Several weeks have gone by, but it's finally time! I'm dropping the ship off at the shop on Monday. Also, I was able to get the money together to do the PAR200b in addition to the GSN530. It will be nice to have a fully new stereo audio system from stack to jacks.

[Aerospace]

Today was the day for dropping off the ship, but the morning started out with a thick layer of fog up to a few hundred feet agl. It finally cleared up around 0930 and I was in the air at around 1000. The flight there was an absolutely perfect 45 minutes spent enjoying, for the edit:(last) time, the vintage mono experience that one gets from KX 155s through a KMA 24 audio panel.

The Marion County Airport was not busy and my arrival and taxi were uneventful. I will say, however, that Saint Aviation is not in the location that is shown on Google Maps. They have moved two doors south. For me, this meant shutting down in front of the wrong hangar, poking around inside until I got some guidance, and then showing off my excellent hot-start skills.

Once I arrived, for real this time, I received a greeting and directions to the office from the friendly folks on the shop floor. Once inside, I met Jesse for the first time and we went through the planned work with all the new parts on the table in front of us. Josiah, the assigned technician, was present and engaged in the interaction with note taking, answers for my questions, and questions for me as well.

Bottom line is the interaction left me feeling confident in the shop due to their professionalism, shop appearance, and proactive engagement.

I'm excited.

[hubcap]

1 hour ago, Aerospace said:

Today was the day for dropping off the ship, but the morning started out with a thick layer of fog up to a few hundred feet agl. It finally cleared up around 0930 and I was in the air at around 1000. The flight there was an absolutely perfect 45 minutes spent enjoying, for the edit:(last) time, the vintage mono experience that one gets from KX 155s through a KMA 24 audio panel.

The Marion County Airport was not busy and my arrival and taxi were uneventful. I will say, however, that Saint Aviation is not in the location that is shown on Google Maps. They have moved two doors south. For me, this meant shutting down in front of the wrong hangar, poking around inside until I got some guidance, and then showing off my excellent hot-start skills.

Once I arrived, for real this time, I received a greeting and directions to the office from the friendly folks on the shop floor. Once inside, I met Jesse for the first time and we went through the planned work with all the new parts on the table in front of us. Josiah, the assigned technician, was present and engaged in the interaction with note taking, answers for my questions, and questions for me as well.

Bottom line is the interaction left me feeling confident in the shop due to their professionalism, shop appearance, and proactive engagement.

I'm excited.

Please keep us informed on your progress as the project moves along!

[NotarPilot]

On 10/30/2023 at 10:40 AM, Aerospace said:

Bottom line is the interaction left me feeling confident in the shop due to their professionalism, shop appearance, and proactive engagement.

I'm excited.

It’s always nice when the shop interacts and engages with the customer.

[birdofjoy]

How's the install going @Aerospace? I'm currently flirting with an HDX to clean up my Frankenstein panel

[LANCECASPER]

Personally if I was going to go Dynon, I'd wait for the autopilot to be approved and do it all at once. It's on the list but has been on there awhile

https://www.dynoncertified.com/upcoming-approvals.php

[Hank]

6 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Personally if I was going to go Dynon, I'd wait for the autopilot to be approved and do it all at once. It's on the list but has been on there awhile

https://www.dynoncertified.com/upcoming-approvals.php

That's my situation, but I haven't heard from Avidyne in quite a while.

[NotarPilot]

Mooney just moved up on the certification process for the AP. 

 

[ArtVandelay]

Mooney just moved up on the certification process for the AP. 
 

The fact that exact sub models and serial numbers are TBD means there’s still substantial work to be done. I remember Garmin had to make changes to J installations depending on serial numbers because of differences.
I’d bet we’re still talking about this next year.

[Aerospace]

On 1/20/2024 at 12:31 AM, birdofjoy said:

How's the install going @Aerospace? I'm currently flirting with an HDX to clean up my Frankenstein panel

 

It went well enough. I picked in up at the end of November just in time to take it straight to Daytona Aircraft Svc for annual; so no real PIREP from that.

 

The next update is that I just picked it up from annual last Monday the 12th because it was delayed waiting on the speed brakes and a vacuum gauge until late January. At that time, I was already in SoCal for my new job and didn't make it back until last weekend. I picked it up from DAB and flew it to CRG during which time the new audio and comms were wonderful. It's just a GNS 530 making a hole for the IFD 5xx, but my old GX55 was dead, and my comms were terrible. I couldn't wait. The harness work was done in a way so as to integrate with the Dynon harnesses once the autopilot is certified.

 

On 1/20/2024 at 11:15 AM, LANCECASPER said:

Personally if I was going to go Dynon, I'd wait for the autopilot to be approved and do it all at once. It's on the list but has been on there awhile

https://www.dynoncertified.com/upcoming-approvals.php

 

I agree. In my case, I had to do a GPS now and address the suspect audio panel and harness now anyway, and keep it no more than all the money I have plus maxed credit cards.

Jesse Saint gave me such a good rate that I couldn't pass on this approach when I looked at the likely cost of diagnostic/repair labor to keep my original architecture until I could do it ALL at once... after some unknown months/years in the future when Dynon finally wraps up the AP. This really did makes sense for my situation.

 

Now, I've pretty much recovered financially, got a great new job, planes out of both the avionics shop and annual sporting hugely increased reliability and features, has working speed brakes, new gear pucks, new battery, and lots of small irritating things fixed. The plane is very usable during this stopping point on the upgrade journey and still has a C2000 AP.

Bottom line:

The PAR200b + GNS 530 is WAY better than two ebay KX155s on a marginal original audio panel and harness and a dead GX55... and I made $2k selling the KX155s bringing me well under $10k total.

[DRH4249]

The budget is always a big consideration. Nice to hear someone keeps an eye on it as you have. It would be nice to see a pic or two of what you have accomplished in the mean time. 

David