Hello,
I have just acquired a 1972 Robin DR253. The airplane is very well maintained, the wooden structure is probably just as good as in a brand new Robin 401. The flight manual says the airplane is IFR capable in non icing conditions and has the following equipment:
2 Becker NR200 VOR/ILS
King KR85 ADF
mode C transponder
plus the usual stuff from late 60/early 70: 2 altimeters, clock, gyro AH, electrical T&B etc
The airplane was sold as VFR only, and the previous owner probably never flew it IFR. As far as I can tell the panel has never been upgraded since 1972 and was indeed compliant with regulations in it’s early days.
As I will have to install a new 8,33 kHz compliant radio I thought it would be a good opportunity to refresh the panel and make it / keep it IFR complaint. I would like to use the Robin for enroute IFR. I don’t want to shut any approaches, at least not in the foreseeable future. The engine is a normally aspirated lycoming o360, so I will not be flying very high either.
The first option that I thought about is to keep the steam gages, just get a nice iPad panel mount and a skydemon license. As far as I can tell it would be legal to fly it in non-rnav environment. Or wouldn’t it?
The second option is to scrap the VORs and ADF, and get two Garmin GNS430. It has been stated many times on this forum that cost of EASA paperwork necessary to install a GNS is prohibitively high though. Are two GNS430 necessary or should I get one and keep the prehistoric ADF?
Is there a better way?
What would be your recommendation?
Thanks in advance for your answers!
> two Garmin GNS430.
This is a major mod and pricey.
I know about at least one other Robin 253 which already has the GNS430 installed and approved. If someone has done it before, would it make things easier / cheaper?
Why do you want two units? Two can be expensive indeed. In the past it was possible to get two GNS installation as a minor mod, nowadays this is no longer possible. CS-STAN would not allow this either, as you would be upgrading from VFR to IFR.
Do note that your aircraft is not on the AML from the Garmin GTN series, as the aircraft was not FAA certified.
You might also need to consider an DME as you want to fly IFR.
Robin_253 wrote:
If someone has done it before, would it make things easier / cheaper?
If you can get hold of an STC (Supplementary Type Certificate) for that installation and you get the permission to use it (usually involves paying the STC holder), then maybe yes.
Maybe you can find something in the EASA STC list; I haven’t…
It seems that a lot of these modifications before EASA have been done on a serial number specific approval, so that won’t help you…
I would check whether the manufacturer of the Robin ever certified the airframe with 2 × GNS.
For example Socata (TB range) certified 2 × GNS430, or GNS430+GNS530 (IIRC), on their Type Certificate. Unfortunately only for some airframe serial numbers, however! Whether this TC allows the installation of the “W” versions I don’t know but I heard it has been done 
Has EASA spent 0.001% of their “N-reg shafting EASA FCL” budget on compiling a database of pre-EASA modifications done in Europe, they would have done a useful service to GA. What we have is some national databases but most mod approvals are not possible to find in any systematic way.
Peter wrote:
I would check whether the manufacturer of the Robin ever certified the airframe with 2 × GNS.
It’s certainly worthwhile to check, but given that the DR200 Robins were mostly produced end of the 60ies / early 70ies, and the GNS430 was introduced to the market in 1998, I somehow doubt that.
Jesse wrote:
Why do you want two units?
My understanding is that I need two independent nav boxes. So either I get two GNSs and get rid of everything else or install just one GNS and keep one of the original steam gages, I guess keeping the King ADF would make most sense since as I heard it’s required to cross the north atlantic, which would be a good excuse by itself :-)
That one is easy: Jesse wrote:
CS-STAN would not allow this either, as you would be upgrading from VFR to IFR.
Peter wrote:
I would check whether the manufacturer of the Robin ever certified the airframe with 2 × GNS
I always thought of the avionics requirements being the least problem as there would be some boxes available for the job. When I researched the IFR upgrade of our DR 250, I found the autopilot would be the most expensive part. Is there an autopilot for the DR 250/DR 253 with STC around or is it possible to fly E-IR without?
mh wrote:
is it possible to fly E-IR without?
It’s even possible to fly the full IR without; whether that’s desirable is another question
