This is an interesting new product
I wonder what happens when the terrain database expires 
But it may not even exist. The above picture is CGI.
Why would it not exist?
You can even display VOR/LOC and GPS deviation bars on it.
It looks like there’s a micro SD card in the slot (just like with the Garmin G5). Presumably when the database expires you load a new one using the micro SD card slot.
It’s also twice the price of the (certified) Garmin G5 and five times the price of the non-certified G5.
Peter wrote:
This is an interesting new product
Looks good. And reasonably priced (these things usually cost 4…5 times as much I am told, at least for the aircraft I fly at work). But way too cluttered. It is difficult enough to fly on such a standby instrument in IMC. And cluttering a three inch (that’s smaller than my cellphone!) screen like this certainly doesn’t help, especially when one sits more than 30cm away from the instrument panel. I find this terrain display very distracting and quite useless.
Less is sometimes more… if I had to select a “Meggitt” replacement, I would probably choose this one, because I will need no extra pair of glasses to read it: http://sarasotaavionics.com/avionics/md302-sam
But it has no EASA certification (yet … but I doubt the L-3 one has) and costs twice as much.
In light GA, I guess 90 of 100 potential buyers will go for Dynon or Garmin because of the massive price difference.
It looks like there’s a micro SD card in the slot
What I was getting at is that if they terminate the functionality when the database expires, this will become a nice database subscription collection machine
The ESI-500 has an FAA AML STC for Part 23 aircraft and EASA validation is in progress (application was made in late July). The MidContinent MD302 SAM is approrved on several EASA STCs currently.
@wigglyamp would you know about what it does when the database expires?
The SVT database is an option but the pilot’s guide doesn’t make any suggestion of what happens if it’s expired.
Just out of interest, on the Garmin G500 with SVT, the SVT continues to work fine with an expired database.
alioth wrote:
It’s also twice the price of the (certified) Garmin G5 and five times the price of the non-certified G5.
But it’s significantly cheaper than their Trilogy. I noticed it about a year ago. They got AML-STC early this spring IIRC so it shouldn’t be vaporware.
