A very good friend has an extremely nice 160hp PA-18A with most of the mods. Returning from the Texas STOL Roundup we found ourselves on top of an overcast and had visibility problems around in a few places. I have the Sandia Quattro installed in my Husky but my friend had no gyro/adahrs type instruments. After that flight he had expressed an interest in installing some sort of backup efis instrument for emergency use.
So we did a little panel makeover last month and installed new Garmin gear such as a com (GTR 200), Mode C transponder (GTX 327), ADS-B out (GDL 82) and in (GDL 52R), a GPS (aera 660) and Mid Continent USB power port (TA102). While we were at it we removed a Davtron OAT gauge and replaced it with the Aerovonics AV-20-S 2 1/4" electronic AI / EFIS. Here is the result showing the AV-20 in the panel:
We opted to re-use the Davtron OAT probe as it is the same one used by the AV-20-S to give density altitude and TAS so that was a nice time saver.
The attitude display and slip ball are dead on with the Garmin ADAHRS (GDL 52R) and the turn and bank. I was skeptical at first as to how useful the device would be based on the small stature (2.25" diameter with square display). But I was pleasantly surprised with the usefulness and smooth operation of the attitude and slip sensors. The development team really nailed the algorithms to make the display display exactly like traditional gyros.
This unit might be just what a normal VFR aircraft pilot could use in case of an emergency. It works exactly as advertised.
Having flown it a few hours I was impressed enough that I ordered another AV-20-S for our Luscombe. And other friend ordered two of the larger AV-30's for his Glasair III. Those look extremely nice and those who have installed them are very happy with them. And the folks at Aerovonics are very easy to call and talk to and offer great support.
While the AV-20-S is currently approved for type certified aircraft the AV-30 is not. If and whenever they do certify the AV-30 I will seriously consider installing one in another aircraft.
Jim
So we did a little panel makeover last month and installed new Garmin gear such as a com (GTR 200), Mode C transponder (GTX 327), ADS-B out (GDL 82) and in (GDL 52R), a GPS (aera 660) and Mid Continent USB power port (TA102). While we were at it we removed a Davtron OAT gauge and replaced it with the Aerovonics AV-20-S 2 1/4" electronic AI / EFIS. Here is the result showing the AV-20 in the panel:
We opted to re-use the Davtron OAT probe as it is the same one used by the AV-20-S to give density altitude and TAS so that was a nice time saver.
The attitude display and slip ball are dead on with the Garmin ADAHRS (GDL 52R) and the turn and bank. I was skeptical at first as to how useful the device would be based on the small stature (2.25" diameter with square display). But I was pleasantly surprised with the usefulness and smooth operation of the attitude and slip sensors. The development team really nailed the algorithms to make the display display exactly like traditional gyros.
This unit might be just what a normal VFR aircraft pilot could use in case of an emergency. It works exactly as advertised.
Having flown it a few hours I was impressed enough that I ordered another AV-20-S for our Luscombe. And other friend ordered two of the larger AV-30's for his Glasair III. Those look extremely nice and those who have installed them are very happy with them. And the folks at Aerovonics are very easy to call and talk to and offer great support.
While the AV-20-S is currently approved for type certified aircraft the AV-30 is not. If and whenever they do certify the AV-30 I will seriously consider installing one in another aircraft.
Jim
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