Which feature?
I always fly with a route loaded – unless doing a trivial ferry e.g. Shoreham to Biggin which I might just do with the tablet, and the autopilot on HDG.
So? Maybe i don’t understand the problem. …
They have also done well with the DFC90.
Yes, I agree it’s an excellent autopilot and a huge improvement on the old Stec 55 I had before I installed the DFC 90.
The only real fly in the ointment is the Avidyne warranty policy I referred to earlier in this thread.
As regards buying either of the new GPS boxes, I’d advise some caution. There’s a thread running on COPA at the moment about the “imminent” availability of Synthetic Vision on R9. It’s been imminently available for a number of years now and is supposed to be provided free to those who bought R9 without it.
The latest news is that they will have to upgrade their hardware to accommodate it. No news from Avidyne about how or how much but, even if Avidyne don’t charge for the hardware, it still means either exchange units with unknown histories or a few weeks down time while the originals are upgraded.
As I said in an earlier post: I’d want to see any new Avidyne product properly finished and in service for at least a year before I bought one.
I’d want to see any new Avidyne product properly finished and in service for at least a year before I bought one.
I couldn’t agree more… it is completely beyond a joke, and in any other business these companies would be laughed out of the market. The charade continues only because the alternative is only Garmin, which
Avidyne are floating on a huge amount of anti-Garmin goodwill, not to mention customer deposits.
Am I biased? You might think that but I couldn’t possibly comment, but I have spent c. €14k on their kit recently 
I am critical of this because I’ve been in a business since 1978 (99% ethically) and I think these “business ethics” stink. However I am aware many pilots (who are otherwise perfectly nice people who I know personally) think these business ethics are perfectly normal.
Of course you are right, but the experience is not always bad, For example when i had these A/P disconnects Avidyne DID send me a replacement unit andit was even newer than the original one – withing 4 days. And they did answer all my emails (except one).
I also think that $ 12.900 for completely overhauled PFD+MFD with new glass (!) screens, new software + new DFC90 + Flap Wire installation + 2 years of warranty is a very good deal. The installation cost less than 500 USD.
If it doesn’t break that’s really all I need. And personally I prefer the Avidyne Entegra over the G1000 panel. For somebody like me who can not fly all the time and is NOT an expeienced IFR pilot it is really much easier to learn. I also like the graphics better, becasue it really does look less “Windows” like …(but that’s a very personal opinion, i know). Would I spend +100.000 more for a Perspective equipped SR22? I see no good reason …
Alexis
I think you have put your finger on it exactly.
The people at Avidyne are always helpful and the products are great once they make it to market and bed in. No argument from me there.
The problems arise before that when they sell vapourware or launch unfinished products (eg my DFC 90 was one of the early ones and was originally delivered without envelope protection). That’s why I said I’d wait until the new products had proved themselves in operation before buying one.
Then, later, you have the recently introduced warranty policy which is nothing short of a disgrace but, if you decide you are prepared to live with it, it’s just a straight commercial decision.
PS Do you know any more about what happened to Bill Schilhammer?
The charade continues only because the alternative is only Garmin, which
I don’t think Avidyne used to compete with Garmin and where they did, they basically lost. The Entegra cockpit was first but largely replaced by G1000. Their TAS product got a Garmin competitor lately which is probably going to eat a large chunk of the market and their IFD unit is going to be an uphill battle.
Their DFC90 does not have a single competitor today. S-TEC recently posted a mockup of a digital autopilot that they maybe have in some years. It looks like a screenshot from MS Flight Simulator. Garmin could trash the DFC90 with their GFC700 but they haven’t made that move yet by limiting it to new airframes. From their portfolio today, the DFC90 is the only product that is really unique in the market but without servos and only a handful of STCs, the market is very limited.
(well, in Turboprops for example, where the DFC90/100 is not certified, the digital Magic 2000 autopilot is competition). But of course for singles there’s no other retrofit like the DFC90.
The decline of Avidyne started when they lost Cirrus to Garmin. I am absolutely convinced that the R9 version of the Entegra is just as good as G1000/Perspective … only that they still don’t offer synthetic vision.
AFAIK Bill Schillhammer had a bad stroke and he will most probably not come back to work. He was very good salesman and did everythinh he could for me.
Thanks Alexis, I wrote to him right away.
MD / Alexis
Do you have contact detail? I’d like to write as well.
Thanks!
