Garmin's New Retrofit Autopilots 

Gary C spl

Oh... it’s still cool to have a full King stack. I used to love flying one specific company aircraft because it had TWO KX-170s and a KT-76 plus a King HSI... vs the other ones that had a mix of old Narco and Cessna 300 crap. Having dual KX-155s and a King flight director plus RMI would be like I died and gone to heaven. Now I fly a Proline 21 flight deck. Not as pretty or full of fluff features as Garmin, but it’s military grade hardware that can do things a lot faster, more efficient, and more effective than any Garmin suite.

Hector Rodriguez You cant buy one yet, and since the training materials and operating manuals are part of the STC, I would imagine that Garmin is keeping a very tight lid on those until the STC gets final approval. I would also bet that it will share a great deal of operating characteristics with the GFC 700 which has been in G1000 Cessnas for a decade now.

Both are nice options both are great value depending what you need, or how much of your panel you are planning to upgrade. I would personally go G500/G5/GFC 500 and ditch the whole vacuum system in the plane to save some weight, save on maintenance, and increase reliability, if there was anything left in the budget I would add a GTN650 to integrate comms and nav and have WASS capability. Needing a G5 is not a big deal due to the low cost and it doubling as a standby instrument allowing the removal of the vacuum system which is a huge benefit and it having a 4 hr built in battery for piece of mind. Would make a beautiful panel with everything a boy could ever want.

Honestly as someone who is interested in a new autopilot for our A36. I can't agree more. The best part of it is they just announced certification for the g3x touch in the bonanzas yet there is still no Garmin autopilot that can run it in an A36 Bonanza. The GFC 500 isn't certified in the A36 yet. But the GFC 600 is. But the GFC 600 doesn't work with the g3x touch and many A36 owner have them installed. Their only option is to pay 30k more to get a g500txi and GFC 600 which might I add isn't really any better than a g3x touch and gfc500 just a whole lot cheaper. It's also the same for people who have dual G5s. The GFC 500 can work with them yet it's not certified for the A36 so logically you would think the 30k (after install) GFC 600 could but .......nope............ I really love garmin equipment but I can't help but to question the poor decisions The certification is pending for the GFC 500 A36 combo but no one knows how long that will be. I know of a number of people including me who refuse to buy a GFC 600 that's cost 2x the price of a gfc500.

Sounds like the estimates I received as well.

These are for Certified Aircraft. Garmin has been beating the snot out of Dynon's Experimental market for years now.

Paul Yes, but Dynon is now entering the certified market. Get a Skyview HDX system, with Autopilot, ADS-B In and Out, charts, maps and a backup display for 20K? Garmin is going to have to work hard to beat that!

All things being equal, Garmin wins hands down in my book (airplane!).

Well, you've said that Garmin is taking aim at Dynon, in your first post. I think it's the other way around, Dynon is taking on Garmin. For the price of the GFC 600, you'll be able to retrofit your certified single engine aircraft with two displays, autopilot, ADS-B transponder, synthetic vision, charts, engine monitoring, traffic and weather, and with an IFR certified GPS navigator, IFR flight. Now, since Dynon has been in the certified market for only a year, with the D10/A and D100 on the EAA STC, they certainly don't have the certified Market Share that Garmin has. But, with the new certification and as soon as the AML starts to grow, think of all the 1960's to mid 1980's airplanes that are going to be replacing their panels, for under $20K! Garmin currently does not have a solution for that, at least announced. Granted, if Garmin does the same thing that Dynon is doing with Skyview HDX for the G3X touch, then they'll go head to head, and Garmin will probably win that one, but until they announce it, Dynon's first out of the gate at a very affordable cost. When Garmin released the G5 to the market, there's an experimental version and there's a certified version. The Experimental version is $1,200 USD and the certified version is $2,149! On the other hand, Dynon is charging the same for either version! A two screen G5, with ADI and a HSI, is over $5,000. The 10" Skyview HDX display, with ADI, HSI, synthetic vision and mapping is less than $4900! The comparable G3X Touch is actually priced less at about $3,900, but based on the G5, I expect for the certified market it will exceed $7,000. Both systems require additional components, but the Skyview system accessories are less costly. So, unless Garmin introduces an 'all in one' system, like the G3X Touch, to the certified market, and relatively soon, Dynon is going to eat their lunch in the older retrofit market. Probably will make up for it in the GPS Navigator sale, but I've been taking a hard look at Avidyne's IFD FMS systems. They're less expensive than the GTNs, and can do some things that Garmins can't do, like Victor Airways. PLUS, Avidyne as a really cool app for iPads, which is called IFD100, and it replicates one of your IFD units on an iPad. Wireless connection to the iPad, about the only thing you have to actually touch on the IFD FMS's is the frequency swap button, everything else is done on the iPad! Imagine a GTN650 with a 9 or 12" display!

No we didn't. The GFC500 flown in the Cessna is $6995.

AVweb, true; however, you are not stating the true cost of the Cessna panel upgrade. While the GFC 500 onlt costs $6995, I saw two Garmin G5 units that are integrated with the GFC500. The cost of a PDF G5 is $2149 and THE cost of a HSI/GPS is $2975. You also need the GMU 11 magnetometer that costs $275 and GAD 29 ARINC interface at $499. This brings the cost of equipment to $12,923.00, not including cost of labor. Also, I am not including the cost of equipping the Cessna with ADSB or the increased tax bill due to increased value of the Cessna due to new upgrade. So, Hippie is right! Yes, you will have a better IFR ship, but at a price close to the value of the ship! The financials will not work for most owner pilots.

Avweb was demo'ing Garmin's new autopilot(s). Why a discussion on value of the plane it was installed, or if it makes sense? That is NOT what the article is about.

Buck Buchanan, unfortunately you responded to Hippie With A Cowboy Hat's comment that dealt with the cost of equipment and install verses total value of the Cessna. In your response AvWeb countered Hippies statement by stating the cost of Garmin's GFC500, $6995.00 only. If AvWeb did not want to engage in a discussion of equipment and install cost verses ship value, then AvWeb should have addressed Hippies comment with your comment you provided in response to my comment.

Agreed, I meant to direct at Hippie. My apologies.