Avionics News March 2014 - 46

 





























































CAD drawings are
important to the
process, according to
Rick Peavley of Vero
Beach Avionics.

CREATING THE PERFECT AVIONICS SUITE
Continued from page 45

a major upgrade without knowing what the owner/operator
wants to keep, or more importantly, can't afford to change.
"You must look at the level of compatibility between the
new equipment and what's in the airplane already. Nothing's harder than having a customer get all excited about a
new panel upgrade, then to tell them that those new displays
won't work with their existing radios or, worse yet, autopilot. When you're talking turboprops and jets, it can be
thousands more to replace the radios. And the autopilot is a
whole different problem.
"With certain Citations, for example, you can have any
of three or four different autopilots in that panel. So if you
have a certain autopilot, you must know if there's an STC
(supplemental type certificate) for those displays and that
autopilot. If there isn't, then you're looking at a new STC,
and no customer is going to be up for the cost of that."
"If the airplane can't be flown here, then I ask the owner
to email me lots of panel photos," Peavley said. "If you
know the aircraft well enough, you'll have a real good idea
of what type of avionics work has been done over the years
by just looking at what's in the panel today.
"I also ask for exterior photos of the locations of the various antennas. The location of the antennas can be clues to
other problems. I still see guys doing antenna installations
on pressure vessels without having DER approvals. They
just sign them off in accordance with 43-13s. That's illegal.
"If I see antennas in suspicious places, I want to see the
signoffs before I quote the job. Over the years, I've done
46

avionics news

*

march

2014

enough of these types of fixes not to know to ask up front."
If a prospective customer comes to your repair shop and
you're not familiar with that particular aircraft, then take
time to find a fellow Aircraft Electronics Association member shop that does know. The small investment in research
could end up saving you more that you imagined.
Would you like EICAS with that?
Another common misunderstanding that routinely occurs
when planning a panel upgrade today is the owner assuming
that a multifunction display or some kind of electronic engine/instrument display is part of the glass package.
According to Wilson, if that's their expectation, they're
going to be right about 50 percent of the time - especially in
the turboprop and jet market. "The simple fact is there may
not be a certified digital engine indicator upgrade for their
aircraft," he said. "That means, like it or not, they're going
to have to stick with their current round or vertical analog
engine instruments."
Again, he stressed this situation is about as predictable
as the weather. Avionics and instrument manufacturers are
always adding new products, so you must invest the time to
stay ahead of the what-works-with-which power curve.
And while it may seem like a letdown to have to use original equipment manufacturer engine instruments, remember
that, from a repair shop's perspective, there's a revenue
opportunity here. If customers are going to have a "new"
panel, why not make the most of the opportunity to refurbish
any current instruments or displays that will be reused?
Continued on page 48
Avionics News March 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News March 2014
