AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024 - 86

RUDDER & WRENCH
the options Garmin offered, I became
more and more enticed. I've learned the
hard way that trying to save money on
electronics is usually a way to end up
spending even more money to get it right
the second time. And having an entire
package from the same manufacturer
would all but guarantee that everything
would work the way it was supposed to
from day one.
Talking to other pilots, avionics gurus,
With an Aspen Avionics primary flight display, Garmin navigator, and S-Tec autopilot, the
author's panel on his Piper Arrow wasn't too bad prior to the complete retrofit.
and trolling various web forums led me
to finally decide to go all-in with Garmin.
I opted for a single G3X display for the
multifunction display/primary flight display
and engine instrumentation system
(EIS). This turned into the only surprise,
because my airplane is a turbocharged
model, and the EIS doesn't support turbocharged
engines because of a required
fuel pressure differential reading. I had
no idea, and it wasn't caught until the
installation was underway. Fortunately,
the shop didn't charge me for the extra
GI 275 since they didn't catch the issue
either. However, I'd lose the ability to
use the fuel flow and quantity information
that the G3X provided, and that was
important to me.
For a primary navigator, I opted
After doing extensive research, the author selected Garmin avionics. He then had to wait nine
months for an open slot at Cincinnati Avionics, a highly respected shop at his home airport.
of Apple in that they sometimes try to tell
you what you're going to like, even if you
don't like it. Garmin was also expensive,
both to buy and to support down the road.
At the time, the Garmin GFC 500 autopilot
was having some well-documented pitch
servo issues. I was leaning toward Avidyne
because they had a true plug-and-play
replacement for the 430W, which would
be easy, but I didn't want to solve only part
of the issue of an aging panel.
My airplane is based in Clermont
County, Ohio, home of Cincinnati
Avionics. My initial point of contact was
Scott Cole, a point-blank, no-holds-barred
wealth of information. I mentioned that
I'd like to use the S-TEC 55 autopilot. The
fact that it wasn't digital wasn't something
that bothered me, but hearing about some
of the issues they had seen with the servos
not holding up as well as they should have
86
AOPA PILOT / December 2024
been got my attention. Cincinnati Avionics
was only putting in a couple of S-TEC systems
a year, but they were doing several
dozen Garmin packages, and they raved
about the support from Garmin with the
GFC 500 issues. I couldn't ignore that.
The Avidyne navigators were enticing,
but the Avidyne digital autopilot isn't
certified for my airplane, and according
to the reps I spoke to, it isn't going to be.
The S-TEC 3100 could work and would
be in the ballpark of a Garmin for installation
costs.
As I spent more time flying my
airplane and understanding " Garminology "
and system logic, I found myself
looking more and more at replacing the
430W with a modern system. I was skeptical
about trying to use touchscreens
in turbulence (a concern that has since
been validated), but as I looked at all
for the GTN 750Xi, which is a powerful,
amazing unit, and unlike the 430W,
allowed for programming holds. With
the Smart Glide feature, it allows a pilot
to program in criteria for a suitable airport,
and the system will display an arrow
to the nearest such airport on both the 750
and the G3X, another major consideration
for passengers. With the GFC 500 autopilot,
it also offered full vertical navigation
(VNAV) for descents, a tool I use every day
in the Boeing 737s I fly. I didn't feel the
need to add a smaller 650Xi, but I did opt
for a GNC 355 GPS/com to use if needed.
I also swapped out an older transponder
to get ADS-B In and Out.
The waiting list for shop space was
approximately nine months, and I was
told the entire project would take anywhere
from four to eight weeks. When
I finally got notified that I was next up,
I was ecstatic. Because the airplane was
being gutted, I was getting a new panel
as well, and Greg Meisman, the tech who
would be assigned to my airplane, went

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024

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