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Questions after WAAS upgrade ....

Yesterday I picked up my SR22 after the upgrade to WAAS (GNS430W, new antennas, see other thread).

Why does it not surprise me that there’s a problems now?

- Wingwalk of left wing and paint below wingwalk damaged by mechanic (why would a mechanic put protection on the wing of a customer airplane? Maybe that’s a € 1000 extra?)

- Right large knob of GPS1 does not work (you cannot scroll through a list or setup the GPS, which makes it practically useless. Seller left the 2 units at the Avionics shop for me and the shop confirmed that there is nothing wrong with them before I paid € 13.000. Seller, who i met at EDMS accidentally, says “that they always worked fine before”. Why doesn’t that surprise me (that he said that)

- Door seals not installed properly again

Well, this was only a € 10.000 upgrade (because I sold my 2 GNS430s for € 8000, otherwise it would have been € 18.000). So maybe i am expecting too much?

I have some questions for the Avionics buffs:

- I have a “Lightning Error” message now before the Stormscope initalizes … goes away though. CAn that be fixed?

- Why do i get a Localizer indication on the PFD now and TERM (not ENR) when all i do is a normal “Direct” to my VFR home field? Is that WAAS specific? I guess it has to do with the WAAS precision, which obviously uses the same indicator as the localizer, but I have never seen that

- Maybe it was there before, but i have never seen it. When I away from the course (i switched to HDG to scud run home in 188 ft MSL…) … the CDI of the HSI turns yellow now? Is that a warning? WAAS specific?

Jesse, maybe … ?

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 25 Oct 08:20

Was this the company I am thinking of?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Would be the first squawk free avionics job In my various projects, they addressed all complaints and paid for all damage without discussion.

Flyer59 wrote:

the CDI of the HSI turns yellow now? Is that a warning? WAAS specific?

Have you studied the Avidyne manual? I’m sure that must be explained there.

Well, let’s leave it at that until the seller and the company asnwer my eMail … I told them that I would pay for the repair of the knob if it can be done inhouse, but that in no case would I pay for an overhaul by Garmin. …

The other damage. Well, i have not paid for the work yet. So that one is easy to solve.

This, again, shows what’s wrong with GA, and i would say it’s true for 90 percent of all shops. No quality control whatsoever. Why does my company (Mercedes) put plastic covers on the seat of GARBAGE truck that’s in for a repair and a typical GA shop will throw their tools on they shiny surface of a composite wing. That happened before, but this time they put a container with 2-K sealant on the wing, which got hot and burned a hole in the wing walk … and damaged the paint underneath.

It was another one of these days on which i thought about giving up all this, or buying a no radio J-3 Cub.

Achim,

i have no problems with mistakes. But what really bothers me is the way these companies treat you. The last time (other shop,…) a mechanic put all his iron tools on the composite wing … that’s hard to take for a sensible person:-)

Do that to a customer of a € 200.000 Mercedes GT …

To protect that wing before working on the plane would cost practcally 0. But they don’t give a sxxx

The cost will be no problem, because I have no paid them yet. But to me this means: half day of vacation, or one, drive to airport, fly to shop, discuss … fly back, … 2 landing fees (€ 50) ….

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 25 Oct 08:36
Have you studied the Avidyne manual? I’m sure that must be explained there.

Ah, the manual!

Yes, i have. And if it was in there I wouldn’t ask stupid questions ;-)

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 25 Oct 08:37

Are you saying the Avidyne manual (corresponding to the software version you have) does not talk about the indicator changing its color? I would be very surprised by that, in my experience the Avidyne manuals are very good at covering all aspects of the product. In fact it would be a major problem for them as the manual is required to provide details on that per certification.

No, the Avidyne manuals I have are terrible, and it is a bigg topic on COPA how many features and explanations are missing in the DFC90 manual.

Back then I even discussed that with Avidyne and the responsible writer confirmed that a lot is missing, and they even asked me if wanted to write the manual :-) (In my first of many lifes i was a technical writer for computer companies, but only little ones like DEC and Microsoft)

For example the DFC90 manual is completely wromng about the difference between GPSS and NAV modes. … becasue with the DFC 90 in a Cirrus Entegra environment, there is no difference between GPSS and NAV (which is common knowledge on COPA and is a topic of every seminar they hold) Only the manufacturer doesn’t know it … And that created a lot of confusion over the years.

And I am a BIG fan of Avidyne products!

PS: No i cannot find the answer to my question in the manual.

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 25 Oct 08:53

With modern car dealerships, the principal (e.g. Merc) exercises tight control over each dealer. I work above a Kia showroom/service place and Kia specifiy everything which the customer might see, right down to the desks, chairs, the colours of the floor tiles and everything else. You would never get away with the sort of stuff that goes on in GA.

But also the pay of the GA workers is a lot less than of the Merc people. In some cases it’s 50%.

It’s probably yet another manifestation of the frequent scenario where a guy wearing €500 sunglasses (I better not say that because I have a pair of Lindbergs ) jumps out of a €100k car, flies a totally shagged €20k plane, and moans about every item on the bill. Probably the only GA scene where you get a significant % of customers who pay like this guy pays for his Merc is the Cirrus dealership scene.

A broken knob is a “fixed price repair” which, according to posts on a US site, is $1200 for Avidyne and some slightly smaller amount for Garmin. Not everybody is happy about that.

there is no difference between GPSS and NAV (which is common knowledge on COPA and is a topic of every seminar they hold)

That’s bad design because flying a LOC (or even a VOR radial) is very different to flying a GPS track. You can have a lot of fun with that especially if the last leg of the enroute is a similar track to the LOC bearing Unless the system provides roll steering (a.k.a. GPSS) for LOC/VOR also. This sort of thing required a very detailed systems knowledge.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

I work above a Kia showroom/service place

That means your office rent must be very cheap

Peter wrote:

A broken knob is a “fixed price repair” which, according to posts on a US site, is $1200 for Avidyne and some slightly smaller amount for Garmin. Not everybody is happy about that.

Very often there are unofficial repairs that are much quicker and cheaper. Probably the GNS knob is one of them.

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