AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2013 - 87

THE ORIGINAL PANEL (left) will be replaced

with a modern design (below left) loaded with the latest avionics.

only dial up a certain range of frequencies, and the heading indicator precessed like mad—probably because the (wet) pneumatic pump produced such feeble suction that its gauge seldom pointed much above rock-bottom redline. In short, the panel was a hodge-podge of obsolete and dysfunctional instruments. This made the airplane perfect for a fullblown restoration project, so shortly after AOPA bought it the search began for an avionics shop up to the task. We found it in Santa Fe Aero Services, based at both the Santa Fe Municipal and Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico, airports. Santa Fe Aero Services has a reputation for quality, ambitious panel makeovers, as well as plenty of experience installing Aspen Avionics’ Evolution series of primary and multifunction displays and their related components.
CENTER STAGE. Familiarity with Aspen technology will definitely come in handy with the Debonair Sweepstakes. That’s because a three-screen Aspen Avionics avionics suite will take center stage on the instrument panel. The Aspen setup will be the Evolution 2500, which comprises a central primary flight display (PFD), plus two multifunction displays (MFDs). This makes it possible to show a wide range of information that boosts situational awareness immensely. Want to show primary flight information superimposed on synthetic vision views of the surface below, plus electronic charts, terrain and obstacle warnings, datalink Nexrad and other weather overlays—and much, much more? You have it with the Evolution 2500, along with PFD redundancy, dual HSIs, and dual GPSs. All of these features make Aspen a popular choice in the retrofit market—and that regard makes our/your Debonair a stellar candidate for this spectacular upgrade. How better to bring a creaky, early sixties panel into contemporary status? Pride of place in the center stack goes to a full set of the latest Garmin avionics.

Garmin, contributors to AOPA’s sweepstakes renovations since 1994, is providing its new GTN750 GPS/nav/com navigator which, with its touch-screen functionality and large, 6.9-inch diagonal screen size, is capable of showing flight planned routes, plus traffic and datalink weather. We’re adding Garmin’s GDL 88 datalink receiver to the package as well, so that all ADS-B and other traffic will be displayed—as well as XM WX datalink weather. Together with the Evolution 2500’s information, that means redundancy to the max. But wait, there’s more. Garmin’s GTN650 will serve beneath the 750, providing additional capability via its own GPS/nav/com capabilities. And it, too, has touchscreen tuning. PS Engineering’s PMA8000BT will serve as the audio panel managing all the nav/com inputs, but this unit is much more than a traditional audio panel. It can record your recent radio transmissions and ATC calls, keep passengers in or out of the communications loop and—best of all, in my opinion—be used to make telephone calls via a Bluetooth (that’s the “BT”) connected smartphone. Kelly Manufacturing Company’s R.C. Allen standby attitude indicator will be on board in case the very worst happens. This two-inch diameter instrument has its own battery backup in the rare event that all electrical power is lost. CO Guardian is providing its Aero-553 carbon monoxide detector/clock, which will also be aboard the Debonair. And speaking of clocks, a new Davtron MB800, yoke-mounted clock is to grace the pilot yoke.
ENGINE MANAGEMENT, AND NEW TWISTS.

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Sorry, but the original analog engine gauges will be tossed—in favor of J.P. Instruments’ EDM-900 engine analyzer system. The EDM-900 will permit a complete accounting of engine parameters such as exhaust gas temperatures, cylinder head temperatures, power output, as well as fuel and electrical system status. Before the EDM900, the best a pilot could do when leaning the mixture was to use the Alcor singlepoint EGT gauge. Now, operations both rich and lean of peak EGT can be precisely set with the EDM-900.
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 87

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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2013