According to the company, the approval applies to all M20J/K models that have Dynon Certified SkyView HDX systems.

The advanced three-axis autopilot includes a yaw damper, which is designed to improve situational awareness and reduce the demands of flying, according to Michael Schofield, Dynon’s director of marketing.

“Dynon is committed to enhancing flight safety and reducing pilot workload,” Schofield said.

According to Dynon, the unit is approach capable when paired with a compatible third-party IFR navigation device.

Pricing

The complete three-axis autopilot system, including yaw damper, starts at a list price of $6,434 for Mooney M20J/K series aircraft. The package includes all required hardware, mounting brackets, and servo harnesses.

Aircraft owners can select options such as the SkyView Autopilot Control Panel for $664, which provides the pilot with dedicated autopilot controls. The knob control panel, available for $335, has dedicated knobs to adjust the altitude heading, track, and altimeter settings for the autopilot.

The autopilot can be purchased from and installed by any Dynon Authorized Installation Center, or pilots can buy the equipment directly from Dynon and have it installed by a qualified avionics technician of their choosing.

The post Dynon Autopilot Certified for Mooney M20J/K appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 2007 Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey Adventure.

Progressive Aerodyne’s SeaRey amphibian started out in the early 1990s as a kitbuilt aircraft, though it evolved from designs that were flying in the 1970s, driven by enthusiasm for homebuilt ultralight and experimental sport aircraft. Today the Adventure and Elite models are available as production-line LSAs, and technological advances in engines, airframes, and systems have helped these aircraft develop into notable performers.

The SeaRey has built a following not because of speed, comfort, load-carrying capacity, or most of the other qualities pilots typically tout when discussing their traditional certified aircraft. Indeed, it does not excel in any of those areas. The aircraft’s fun factor, though, is extremely high according to people who fly them. They provide a tactile, engaging, even raw flying experience that can be difficult to find today, despite the vast number of aircraft types available.

This 2007 SeaRey Adventure has 208 hours on the airframe, its Rotax engine, and its three-blade carbon propeller. The aircraft’s avionics include a Dynon EFIS, King radios, Mode C transponder, and two-place intercom.

Pilots looking for a fun, engaging introduction to flying off water should consider this 2007 Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey Adventure, which is available for $58,500 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use their airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: FAA Certifies SeaRey Production LSA
• FLYING Magazine: Seaplane Adventures for Pilots
• FLYING Magazine: Rising Stars: Light Sport Universe
• Plane & Pilot: Beyond ICON: 5 Seaplane Alternatives
• The Aviation Consumer: SeaRey Elite: Upscale Amphib LSA
• AVweb: Progressive Aerodyne Offers Searey for Promotions

The post This 2007 Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey Adventure Is a Responsive, Modern, Amphibian ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 2019 Stemme S12.

I have thought many times about adding a glider rating to my pilot certificate, but certain details about gliding, such as dealing with towplanes and off-airport landings, have kept me from pursuing the idea any further. I know I am not alone with this internal conflict. Could a motorglider solve the problem?

Stemme is renowned for its high-performance, powered gliders that give pilots more control over their soaring experience, allowing them to forsake the towplane and travel farther in search of lift. Having an engine at your disposal also means you have the option of going around if things go wrong during the approach. In addition, the company unveiled an electric-powered motorglider in 2021. Perhaps the most notable feature of Stemme aircraft is the way their power systems are integrated. The aircraft’s nose cone moves forward to reveal the propeller, which folds away when not in use.

This two-seat Stemme S12 has 501 hours on the airframe and 134 hours on its Rotax 914 engine. The glider’s avionics include a Garmin Aera 660 GPS, Becker radio, ADS-B, LX9070 flight computer, V8 variometer, ClearNav variometer, dual oxygen bottles, fuel flow indicator, flap indicator, Dynon EFIS, SiriusXM weather, and autopilot for use during powered flight.

Pilots who have often looked longingly into the sky at high-performance gliders circling overhead, but are concerned about the prospect of relying on thermals to get back to the airport, might have found the right combination in this 2019 Stemme S12, which is available for $410,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: We Fly: Stemme S12
• Plane & Pilot: Stemme Self-Launches New S12 Sailplane At AirVenture

The post This Stemme S12 Is an ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick for Aspiring Soaring Pilots appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

That’s the thought process behind the Advanced Instrument Panel Kit 172XP “alpha” update, developed specifically for Cessna 172 owners planning to upgrade their aircraft engine with Air Plains’ 180 hp supplemental type certificate (STC). Alternatively, if the owner has one of the more than 2,500 172XP upgrades already in the field, the new avionics panel is also an option. Both the panel and the engine updates can be installed by Air Plains at its Wellington, Kansas, facility, or it can be shipped as a complete kit for local installation.

According to Air Plains’ president Katie Church, the company has been supplying the horsepower-upgrade STC since the early 1980s. They noted that often when the customer purchased the 180 hp upgrade, they almost always paired it with a new instrument panel, resulting in what she describes as an “upgrade experience for legacy Skyhawk airframes.” 

“That led us to develop a new, advanced panel kit, available to be shipped along with the engine upgrade, that’s easy for your mechanic to install at the same time, giving the customer essentially a new airplane at a fraction of the cost of a factory model,” she says.

The Flight School Market

The Cessna 172 is the workhorse for many flight schools. Air Plains notes that many schools have taken advantage of the 180 hp upgrade, resulting in better engine performance and a gross-weight increase for their training aircraft. The avionics upgrade is the next logical step, Church says, noting, “With the Alpha avionics upgrade, they can offer a wider range of training programs in one airframe, and they get a trainer that meets a student’s idea of 21st century flying.” An aircraft equipped with the 172XPα advanced instrument panel kit meets all the requirements under FAA FAR 61.129(j) for a technically advanced aircraft (TAA) needed for logging time towards a commercial pilot certificate. 

According to Church, on average, the time between order and delivery of the kit is about six months. Another benefit of adding the 172XPα advanced instrument panel kit to an Air Plains’ engine upgrade order is that both packages can be installed at the same time.  

“You didn’t get your airplane for it to be worked on,” Church says. “If you’re planning on a new Air Plains’ 180 hp upgrade, get the most out of your planned downtime during your engine upgrade and leave the maintenance facility with an essentially new 172.”

What You Get

The 172XPα Advanced Instrument Panel Kit features Avidyne and Dynon components including:

• Avidyne IFD540 GPS/nav/com*
• Avidyne AMX240 bluetooth audio panel w/ 4 place Intercom
• Dual Dynon HDX 10-inch PFD and 7-inch MFD
• Dynon EFIS-D10A backup flight instrument
• Dynon ADS-B In traffic and weather
• Dynon Mode S transponder with 2020-compliant ADS-B Out
• Dynon com radio
• Dynon autopilot
• Dynon engine monitoring
• Air Plains custom pilot and copilot instrument panels

* IFD540 may be substituted for IFD440 or IFD550.

According to Air Plains, the 172XPα Advanced Instrument Panel Kit arrives wired, interfaced, plumbed (pitot-static), and configured for the Air Plains’ 172XP 180 hp engine upgrade STC SA4428SW and STC SA2196CE, if applicable. 

The instrument panel will be test fit for instrumentation, powder-coated, and laser engraved, with pilot holes pre-drilled for final fitting and installation. 

“We designed it so you do not have to go to a full-blown avionics shop,” Church says.

The installer will need to finish the remaining installation items in the aircraft including antenna, magnetometer, coax cabling, mic/phone jacks, radio and transponder rack, leveling, and return to service. 

Mechanics will find Air Plains’ technical support quick and easy to access for any questions that come up during the process. 

Air Plains has been in business for over 45 years and has sold more than 2,500 180 hp engine upgrades to customers worldwide.

The post Air Plains Offers Custom Avionics Panel for Upgraded Cessna 172s appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: A look at Dynon’s history and a peek into the future of the company and its growth path into certified aircraft.

DETAILS: FLYING’s Thom Patterson talks with Michael Schofield about the company’s journey from providing avionics for homebuilt and light sport aircraft to doing it for nearly 600 type-certificated airplanes.

SPEAKER: Schofield is Dynon’s director of marketing.

BIO: A lifelong aviation enthusiast, Schofield joined Dynon after reading an early magazine profile of the company that highlighted how much more affordable its EFIS-D10A was than any competition. He’s a Dynon “old-timer,” with 16-plus years at the company in roles across product management, sales, support, and marketing. A private pilot since 2006, Michael flies a SkyView HDX-equipped Glasair Sportsman that he built with other Dynonians.

KEY QUOTES FROM SCHOFIELD:

“We wanted to certify for a long time because there’s a lot of legacy aircraft that still need affordable upgrades.We couldn’t really find a path at first, you know, the traditional ‘TSO your instruments’ path really wasn’t going to work for us for our size. The FAA kept saying ‘just propose something, propose something’. We broke the ice with EAA when we certified the EFIS-D10A, which was the original, you know, 10-in-1 instrument that we’ve sold for many years. That was then the catalyst to get us on a different certification path with [the] FAA that doesn’t use that traditional TSO means of compliance.”

“What we’ve discovered is that since Skyview HDX is an integrated system that can do just about everything in the aircraft, the one thing that people really want, it really makes the sale, it really adds to the capability, the safety enhancing capabilities—and, you know, the pilot delight—is an autopilot.”

“We took panels of avionics that simply weren’t available to…low-end general aviation—and if you could get them, they would be like $100,000—and we took that and we turned that down to like 10, 20 percent of that.”

The post Virtual Event: Avionics for Everyone appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Next came active-matrix LCD displays and early versions of synthetic vision, which represented an important technological leap but still were priced out of the reach of most buyers. Again, early adopters couldn’t reach for their checkbooks fast enough, while the majority of pilots watched the market with curiosity but without any overwhelming compulsion to upgrade their old but serviceable six-pack instrument clusters with the shiny new glass displays.

Fast-forward to 2018 and that’s all changing. Suddenly, prices for retrofit avionics have come way down and functionalities have exploded. After the FAA relaxed avionics certification rules a couple of years ago, products originally destined for the Experimental market, such as the Garmin G5 display and Dynon D10A EFIS, were made available to owners of Part 23 piston airplanes for enticingly low prices. Those who faced expensive repair bills to fix or replace older electromechanical instruments realized they could make the relics in their panels magically disappear forever by purchasing a new solid-state EFIS with built-in inertial sensors and backup battery for about the same price as a replacement mechanical ADI.

The FAA sweetened the pot last year by allowing approval of non-TSO’d autopilots in Part 23 airplanes. Suddenly, an owner of an aging piston airplane like a Cessna Skylane or Piper Archer could upgrade to state-of-the-art glass displays and autopilots from a half-dozen manufacturers for prices that make sound economic sense.

While this revolutionary change was occurring at the low end of the market, several avionics-makers began introducing highly capable retrofit avionics systems for high-performance piston airplanes, turboprops and light jets that could transform dinosaurs into technological beasts boasting the same capabilities, or in some cases better capabilities, than new airplanes rolling out of the factory.

Clearly, the market for retrofit avionics has matured beyond the early adopter stage. According to the Aircraft Electronics Association, retrofit avionics sales exploded last year, surging more than 20 percent over the previous year. So far this year the trend is continuing, with retrofit avionics sales rising another 12.6 percent versus last year. We’re well into the “early majority” stage that product marketers so covet, soon to be followed by the “late majority” of buyers and finally the “laggards” who will upgrade their crusty old Skyhawks only after everyone else on the field is already flying with upgraded avionics.

Of course, there will always be those pilots who prefer flying with round instruments to glass, and that’s OK — but let’s face it: They haven’t made it this far in the article to know we’re talking about them.

For the rest of us — the “majority” of pilots, who understand the value of the latest cockpit technology — we want to know what the newest products to hit the market can do for us and what they cost. On the next pages we’ll take a look at what’s new in the retrofit avionics market today.

Piston Airplane Avionics

When the FAA a couple of years ago relaxed approval standards for certain avionics in certified Part 23 airplanes, it opened a pathway for manufacturers to skip the lengthy and expensive TSO certification pathway and create new products for general aviation based on ASTM standards rather than the cumbersome DO-178 standards for software, in the process sometimes slashing millions of dollars from the development costs of a single product. By achieving parts manufacturing approval (PMA) and supplemental type certification (STC) for products more typical of Experimental-category avionics, manufacturers were able to bring prices down considerably for hundreds of types through the approved model list (AML) process. Even the avionics manufacturers themselves say they did not anticipate how quickly aircraft owners would adopt these products, but it turns out that the combination of lower prices and additional capabilities makes for a winning formula.

While a stand-alone display will add some nifty capabilities to an older airplane, to truly bring your cockpit into the modern age, a complete panel retrofit is the way to go. It’ll cost more, but nowhere near the astronomically high price of a cockpit overhaul just a decade ago as products have greatly improved and the prices have come down to earth.

Garmin G500 TXI and G600 TXI

Touchscreens are going mainstream, and why not? As long as an alternative means of entering information in turbulence is offered, touch interfaces clearly are superior, as we all learned the first time we picked up an iPad. Garmin’s new touch-series cockpits, the G500 TXi and G600 TXi, incorporate touchscreens and superfast computer processors that support lightning-quick map and chart rendering, fast panning and single-finger zoom and pinch-to-zoom capabilities.

Three TXi display sizes are available, offering flexibility for panel configurations. Our favorite is the large 10.6-inch display, which just looks right in the panel of an airplane like a Beech Bonanza. There are also two versions of 7-inch displays, in portrait and landscape orientations. The 10.6-inch display can operate as a PFD, MFD or optional integrated engine indication display. The 7-inch portrait display can be dedicated to any one of those functions, while the 7-inch landscape unit is available exclusively as an engine display. The G500 TXi system is intended for Part 23 Class I/II aircraft under 6,000 pounds, and the G600 TXi for Class III aircraft weighing up to 12,500 pounds.

When the TXi series is paired with a GTN 650/750 touch-screen navigator, Connext wireless connectivity offers additional capabilities. Flight Stream 510 is an option with the GTN 650/750, which enables Database Concierge, the wireless transfer of aviation databases from the Garmin Pilot app on a mobile device to a GTN and the TXi system. Flight Stream 510 can also share information with compatible mobile devices running Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight Mobile, including two-way flight-plan transfer, traffic, weather, GPS information and backup attitude information.

Here’s the quick rundown of prices: The 10.6-inch G500 TXi display is $15,995, the 7-inch display is $11,995; the 10.6-inch G600 TXi display is $24,995, and the 7-inch display is $18,995.

BendixKing AeroVue Touch

BendixKing has been on a roll lately, introducing several new products that are turning heads and giving competitors reason to believe the storied brand is back in a big way.

The new AeroVue Touch cockpit introduced this spring is a single-box PFD retrofit option for certified general aviation aircraft that will be available for installation on 353 different aircraft types through an AML STC. AeroVue Touch features a 10.1-inch touchscreen and a “near-4K” high-resolution display offering the choice of a full-screen PFD or a split-screen shared with a moving map and other flight information. Large display buttons and infrared scanning allow easy use even by gloved hands, BendixKing says, and shallow menus provide access to all system functions with a maximum of four touches.

Additional features of the cockpit include Honeywell’s SmartView synthetic-vision system, 2D and 3D moving maps and taxi diagrams, and VFR sectional charts and IFR high- and low-altitude charts. Pilots can update databases via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or through a dedicated USB-C port.

Future software updates are slated to include engine parameter indications, radios and autopilot control. AeroVue Touch is priced at $12,590. BendixKing expects to submit the STC documentation to the FAA this month.

Dynon Skyview HDX

Dynon Avionics made its mark in aviation with a highly capable portfolio of products for the Experimental market. Now, the company is beginning to seriously encroach on the market for certified avionics. It has received its first supplemental type certificate for the SkyView HDX avionics system aimed initially at older Cessna Skyhawks. Cessna owners can now replace the vast majority of their legacy instruments with a SkyView HDX system offering complete primary flight instrumentation and a whole lot more.

The SkyView HDX cockpit includes synthetic vision angle of attack indication and engine monitoring with CHTs, EGTs, fuel flow, fuel computer and lean assist. Dynon’s integrated two-axis autopilot also earns approval for IFR-approach capability when SkyView is integrated with a compatible GPS navigator. The approved installation includes a Mode S transponder with 2020-compliant ADS-B Out capability and moving map with ADS-B traffic and weather overlay. The backup flight instrument is the Dynon D10A, which has a built-in backup battery.

A complete SkyView HDX system costs about $20,000, plus $2,000 to purchase the STC. The initial approved model list covers Cessna 172F, 172G, 172H, 172I, 172K, 172L, 172M, 172N, 172P, 172Q, 172R and 172S models, and you can expect a diverse line of aircraft types to follow.

Aspen E5

Aspen Avionics has followed the path forged by Dynon and Garmin by introducing its own non-TSO’d electronic flight instruments for owners of Part 23-certified airplanes. Aspen’s new Evolution E5 flight instrument, unveiled this spring, is essentially the same unit as the latest certified Aspen products but with features geared toward buyers looking to keep costs in check.

The Evolution E5 display consolidates traditional attitude indicator, directional gyro and course deviation indicator instruments into a single display that retails for just under $5,000. The E5 unit also includes global positioning system steering (GPSS) and air-data computer and attitude heading reference system (ADAHRS), as well as a backup battery. Aircraft owners can also upgrade to the Evolution E5 display and a compatible TruTrak Vizion autopilot for less than $10,000, Aspen says.

What we like best about the E5 6-inch active-matrix LCD is that it’s brighter and more vibrant than previous Evolution displays, while retaining Aspen’s ingenious form factor intended to keep installation costs down by slotting into the panel space of electro­mechanical attitude and heading indicators.

Turboprop Retrofits

When we talk about retrofits for turboprops, what we primarily mean is the market for King Air upgrades, since many thousands of these airplanes continue to serve admirably for their owners with hull values that can justify spending a fairly substantial chunk of change to transform the flight deck into a masterpiece. All it takes is one flight in a King Air with any of the latest retrofits from the major avionics manufacturers before you decide you never want to go back to round dials or older EFIS screens again. These cockpits are so good that you’ll totally forget you’re flying an airplane that left the factory decades ago. Here are three newer King Air avionics upgrade options worth considering.

BendixKing AeroVue

BendixKing’s AeroVue cockpit is the latest to receive FAA certification in the Beechcraft King Air 200, bringing “business jet technology and functionality” to the twin turboprop’s cockpit. We visited BendixKing’s test center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to put that claim to the test and came away impressed. The AeroVue cockpit for the King Air is a worthy competitor from a company that’s clearly focused on regaining a leadership position in the market.

The AeroVue integrated avionics package is similar in form and function to the Apex glass cockpit in the Pilatus PC-12 NG turboprop single, which pilots have been raving about since its introduction.

The AeroVue system incorporates three high-resolution 12-inch LCDs featuring Honeywell’s SmartView synthetic-vision system. AeroVue also includes a full flight management system and HUD-like symbology on the primary flight display. The flight deck includes an excellent cursor control device mounted on the center console next to an alphanumeric keypad.

The AeroVue system weighs 125 pounds less than currently installed equipment, allowing King Air B200 owners to carry more payload. All the avionics boxes are mounted in the nose rather than behind the panel for ease of maintenance. Price is competitive with the King Air G1000 retrofit cockpit from Garmin, with a fly-away price predicted at between $300,000 and $425,000, depending on what options the buyer picks.

Garmin G1000 NXi

Garmin’s G1000 NXi is a faster, modernized successor to the original G1000 cockpit now available in the King Air 200 and 300/350 models. Thanks to its improved computer processors, the system supports faster map rendering and smoother panning throughout the displays, which now initialize within seconds after start-up.

Garmin’s Connext wireless connectivity can optionally transfer aviation databases from the Garmin Pilot app on a mobile device to the G1000 NXi, as well as support two-way flight plan transfer, the sharing of traffic, weather, GPS information and backup attitude data with compatible mobile devices running Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight mobile.

G1000 NXi also supports geographical map overlays within the HSI of the PFD, as well as animated Nexrad graphics, FIS-B weather, weather radar, SafeTaxi airport diagrams, traffic and terrain information, and a whole lot more.

Price to upgrade G1000 to NXi in the King Air is about $53,000 plus installation, while a from-scratch install will cost an estimated $350,000 to $450,000.

Sandel Avilon

Sandel is attacking the King Air retrofit market with a retrofit cockpit called Avilon that is unusual for a few reasons, most notably its “guaranteed” installed price of $175,000, well below the price of cockpits from Garmin, Rockwell Collins and BendixKing.

The Avilon avionics system includes four large LCD flight displays, two smaller data-entry touchscreens, radios, flight management computers, dual AHRS, audio panel, ADS-B-compliant Mode S transponder, and flight director/autopilot (minus the autopilot servos, which are retained).

That’s a lot of features for not a lot of dough. The price is piquing the interest of King Air 200 owners who have been quoted prices of close to $100,000 just for the labor to install competing systems.

Sandel Avionics president and CEO Gerry Block explains that the installation cost is predicted to be so low because the entire Avilon instrument panel is shipped to dealers as essentially one piece.

“It takes only about five days to install our system, with 80 percent of the work being removal of the old equipment,” he says.

The system is currently flying in a company King Air 200 certification test bed, with certification expected by this fall. Sandel says it has partnered with three dealers in the United States (Stevens Aviation, Cutter Aviation and Landmark Aviation) and one in Canada (Rocky Mountain Aircraft), which have all agreed to honor the guaranteed $175,000 fly-away price.

“There are a lot of King Air cockpit retrofit choices, but very few people have been buying them because they are just too expensive to justify,” Block says. “We think this price and the capability our cockpit offers will get a lot of King Air operators off the fence.”

The post What Pilots Need to Know about Retrofit Avionics appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Dynon Certified, a division of Dynon Avionics based in Woodinville, Washington, today announced a significant expansion of the Approved Model List STC for its SkyView HDX line of products that will allow the products to be installed in nearly nearly 600 type-certified single-engine aircraft.

SkyView HDX is Dynon’s top-of-the line avionics suite. Features include primary and multifunction flight displays, synthetic vision, moving maps, flight planning and navigation, engine monitoring, Mode S transponder with 2020-compliant ADS-B Out capability, ADS-B In traffic and weather depiction and Dynon’s comm radio.

“From the moment Dynon Certified introduced its groundbreaking STC for SkyView HDX, we’ve heard from thousands of aircraft owners wishing we’d add their aircraft to the approved model list next,” said Michael Schofield, Dynon director of marketing. “Now, with FAA approval for nearly 600 aircraft models, we can deliver on those requests.”

The basic SkyView HDX system including primary and backup flight displays, synthetic vision, VFR mapping, flight planning, and navigation start at $7,630. STC pricing for all aircraft models in the AML expansion is $2,000. Displays are available in both 10-inch and 7-inch sizes to suit a variety of instrument panel configurations. Engine monitoring, additional displays and other features and controls are optional, Dynon said.

Dynon describes the SkyView HDX system as “fully integrated but modular,” allowing pilots to tailor installations to their aircraft’s unique mission and needs. Additional options available for all AML STC approved aircraft include complete engine monitoring with CHTs, EGTs, fuel flow, fuel computer and lean assist; Mode S Transponder with 2020-compliant ADS-B Out; ADS-B Traffic and Weather display; comm Radio; and Electronic Flight Bag features.

Dynon’s integrated autopilot featuring IFR approach capability when SkyView is integrated with a compatible navigator is also available in the Cessna 172 F through S models and Bonanza P35 through V35B models. The Bonanza approval, Dynon notes, includes yaw damper capability. Autopilot approvals for additional aircraft will be continuously released “over the coming months,” Dynon said. As of this month, Dynon said it is actively working on autopilot approvals for Bonanza 36s, Cessna 182s and Piper Seneca models.

Dynon Certified products are available through a nationwide network of Dynon Authorized Installation Centers. Pilots can also opt to buy directly from Dynon and have it installed at their preferred avionics shop or by an A&P/IA.

Dynon’s updated approved model list covers 592 type certified piston single-engine aircraft, including most aircraft made by Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft, Mooney, Grumman and nearly 40 other manufacturers. The complete AML is available at dynon.aero/stcaircraft.

The post Dynon’s SkyView HDX Avionics Come to Hundreds More GA Airplanes appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

After Dynon introduced the SkyView HDX system, originally designed for the experimental market, to the Cessna 172 as an aftermarket STC, the company has made progress in expanding the STC for other Part 23 certified platforms. While the government shutdown slowed the progress, the company will soon be able to ship SkyView HDX systems to operators of Beechcraft Bonanza 35-series airplanes. The company also announced that it is working on STCs for the A36 Bonanza and Piper Seneca, both of which are expected to be complete by the middle of the year. Dynon also hopes to have the SkyView HDX STC for the Cessna 182 by the end of the year.

Dynon has a limited number of installation centers evenly spaced around the country. The company recently added Air Plains in Wellington, Kansas, and Five Rivers Aviation in Livermore, California, to the list.

Dynon has also reduced its pricing to make the systems available to a greater audience. The top of the line SkyView HDX has the highest resolution screen and the latest in touchscreen technology. It comes in two sizes: a 10-inch system starting at $4,490 and a 7-inch version for $3,190. Dynon also offers lower cost systems: SkyView SE and SkyView Classic, starting as low as $1,495 for the 7-inch SE. The SkyView Touch is discontinued.

“Many builders want a reduced, simplified feature set and are targeting a lower budget,” said Dynon’s vice president of marketing and sales, Randy Lervold. “Dynon will help them get there.”

The post Dynon Continues Progress on SkyView Installations in Certified Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Dynon’s new DRX is a low-cost ADS-B traffic and weather receiver. Small enough to fit in a pocket, the DRX will run all weekend on a single charge of its internal battery. DRX supports connectivity with most mobile apps, including ForeFlight and FlyQ, allowing pilots to see the entire traffic picture with both 978 MHz (UAT) and 1090 MHz ADS-B reception. Pilots will benefit from in-cockpit ADS-B weather products such as NEXRAD Radar, METARS, TAFs, and more.

DRX additionally provides WAAS GPS position to mobile devices and has auto-dimming status lights for night flight. Available now, the DRX lists for $395. Dynon said some dealers are offering the unit at prices as low as $349.

The post Dynon Introduces DRX Portable ADS-B Receiver appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Owners of older Cessna 172s will be excited to learn that Dynon Avionics just received its first supplemental type certificate for the flagship SkyView HDX avionics system aimed at the classic four-place aircraft. Cessna owners will now be able to replace the vast majority of their legacy instruments with a SkyView HDX system offering complete primary flight instrumentation.

Dynon said the STC, “ushers in a new era of truly affordable, safety-enhancing integrated avionics systems for type certificated aircraft.” Pricing of the STC is another plus for Cessna owners. “Pricing and availability pricing for the certified/PMA versions of approved Dynon products will be the same as existing experimental/light sport products.”

SkyView HDX includes synthetic vision and angle of attack, complete engine monitoring with CHTs, EGTs, fuel flow, fuel computer and lean assist. Dynon’s fully-integrated two axis autopilot also earned approval for full IFR approach capability when SkyView is integrated with a compatible navigator. The approved installation includes a mode S transponder with 2020-compliant ADS-B Out, navigation and mapping with flight planning ADS-B traffic and weather display and electronic flight bag features. Backup flight instruments are provided by a Dynon EFIS-D10A.

The price for the Cessna 172 STC is $2,000. A complete SkyView HDX system is expected to add an additional $20,000 to that total. First installations will be available in the coming weeks via US Sport Aircraft + Thrust Flight in Texas, Merrill Field Instruments in Alaska and a Dynon-affiliated facility in the Pacific Northwest.

The initial approved model list covers Cessna 172F, 172G, 172H, 172I, 172K, 172L, 172M, 172N, 172P, 172Q, 172R, and 172S models. Approval does not restrict the operational use of the aircraft and allows both IFR and VFR flight.

The post Dynon Receives First FAA STC for SkyView HDX Upgrade in Cessna 172s appeared first on FLYING Magazine.