Avionics News February 2012 - 31

he Cessna 185 Skywagon is a flying pickup that will carry almost anything you can get through its doors, but the load carried by Dave Hayden’s 1973 model runs off its 100-amp alternator. Before he stepped up to glass, “it was running at about 45 amps all the time…and when you turned on the landing lights, it was pulling a hundred,” Hayden said. A flying showroom, glass now anchors both sides of the Cessna’s large panel. Garmin’s G600 is on the left, and Aspen’s EFD-1000 is on the right; both have synthetic vision. A Garmin stack separates them: GMA 340 audio panel; GMX 200 multifunction display; GTX 330 Mode-S transponder; and a GNS 450W and 530W nav/comm/GPS. The XM weather receiver is buried elsewhere. There are two Century autopilots, a IIB with pitch and a wing leveler that doubles as a turn and bank. An Insight engine monitor and Arnav FC10 fuel flow keep track of the turbo-normalized powerplant. A wingtip fuel mod gives it 6.5 hours of power and ups the maximum gross weight to 3,600 pounds, boosting the useful load 250 pounds. The Terra radar altimeter is accurate to 0 feet, and the Bendix/King KR-87 ADF survives “because I had it, and it’s still supported.” In the same breath, Hayden asked himself, “Who’s going to make an ADF approach anyway, when there are GPS overlays for all of them?” Hayden has been president of the International 180/185 Club since 2003. Some members, learning the empty weight of his 185 is more than a ton, have politely said, “Dave, you really screwed up that airplane.” But, he doesn’t think so. The airplane’s primary mission is not flying into short, unimproved strips. It demonstrates the full spectrum of modern avionics. With his partner Gary Morris, Hayden has owned Kings Avionics since 1974. It’s named for the fixed base operator that rented space to Hayden’s brother, Steve, who started the shop in 1969 at Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, Kan. In 1977, the company moved 20 miles northeast to the Kan-

sas City Downtown Airport, and it returned to the Johnson County Executive Airport in 1984. Outgrowing its facility there, in 1994, it built a hangar 10 miles west, in Gardner, Kan., at the New Century Air Center. Seeing is Believing When contemplating new avionics with capabilities once available only in science fiction, many pilots have to see it for themselves in the real world. “A lot of times, we don’t fly,” Hayden said. Climbing into the Cessna, turning everything on and showing the pilot how everything works is enough. “It really depends on the customer…I probably fly with one out of five or six.” Hayden can configure the 185’s avionics to closely match the purchase the customer is considering. His demo flights mirror the post-installation checkout he gives every airplane. “Typically I find some smooth air southwest of town and make sure everything is playing, autopilot included,” Hayden said. Once all the avionics have passed their functional checks, Hayden flies a fully-coupled GPS localizer performance with vertical guidance approach. Watching the airplane roll into the LPV intercepts amazes customers, and so does the missed approach and climb to the holding pattern, complete with the announcement of what entry the airplane will make. Running from block to block, synthetic vision mesmerizes most customers. Some risk whiplash as they compare what’s out the window and what’s on screen, from the runway size changing with altitude, the passing terrain and towering obstacles to traffic. “When you line up for the approach, there’s your runway sitting out there, and when you line up the sight (the flight path marker, or velocity vector) on the end of the runway, that’s where you’re going to end up,” Hayden said.
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LEFT: Dave Hayden parks his Cessna 185 outside Kings Avionics’ main facility, ready to demonstrate avionics capabilities to the next customer.
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Avionics News February 2012

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