AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - 84

P&E

AVIONICS

84 | AOPA PILOT July 2020

SYNTHETIC VISION on the Dynon HDX matches the view out the windshield on final

approach. The right side of the HDX screen is a moving map with terrain, weather, and
traffic. An engine monitor is shown across the bottom. The smaller screen on the right
side of the cockpit is a GRT Mini, which can serve as a moving map or a backup, all-in-one
attitude instrument.

"Remember our last plug-and-play instrument
panel required completely rewiring the entire
airplane," he said. "Are you sure you want to
open that can of worms?"
suites-including autopilots-for certified
aircraft, it's sure to be an even more formidable competitor to industry leader
Garmin than it is now.
Garmin has an unmatched lineup of
both certified and non-TSO products,
industry-leading engineering depth, and
an almost supernatural ability to get FAA
approval for new avionics across a broad
spectrum of aircraft models. Garmin's G3X
PFD/MFD-which was originally made for
experimental aircraft and is now approved
for hundreds of FAA-certified models-
is an exquisite piece of technology that
shares information seamlessly with the
G5 standby instrument, Garmin GPS systems, and radios-and wireless devices via
FlightStream. The G3X and its supporting
cast are being widely adopted for both new
aircraft and legacy panel upgrades.

Dynon has long been a leader in
experimental and light sport aircraft,
and its products have a well-deserved
reputation for being economical, and
easy and enjoyable to use. Dynon also
provides navigation and obstacle database updates to customers free of
charge, a contrast to competing firms
that charge subscription fees that, over
time, can significantly increase the cost
of their products.
For Dynon, however, every installation in an FAA-certified airplane brings
a new customer. And if Dynon's history
in light sport and experimental aviation
is any indication, it will be a scrappy competitor with staying power in the certified
market.
AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

DAVE HIRSCHMAN

out the SkyView in about 10 minutes-
and all it took was removing four screws
and disconnecting a single 37-pin, D-sub
connector.
Then Cilliers unboxed the HDX and
clicked it into place. Two of the four
screw holes lined up, and two didn't.
Those that didn't required a couple of
new nut plates. Then Cilliers reconnected the electrical connector on the
back of the unit by feel.
He flipped on the airplane's master and avionics switches, and the HDX
came to life. Even with a protective
film over the screen, it was a noticeable
improvement.
We transferred the previous SkyView
settings to the HDX via a thumb drive
and installed new firmware and navigation data. But, for some reason, the new
unit wasn't communicating with the
Dynon transponder, autopilot, GPS, or
ADS-B system. Cilliers did some clever
detective work to unlock the HDX serial
ports-and that got all the components
talking again.
Then it was time to recalibrate the
magnetometer (for heading information)
and the fuel tanks-which meant draining
them completely and then refilling them,
two gallons at a time. The entire process
from removal to fully functional replacement took about four hours, and that's
blazing speed for an avionics upgrade.
Dynon scored a breakthrough four
years ago when it became the first avionics firm to win FAA approval for
installing non-TSO primary instruments
in standard category aircraft. That initial
approval for a relatively simple, all-inone attitude instrument-the D10A-has
been followed with similar approvals for
much of Dynon's product line. Dynon
even started a separate division for standard category aircraft products that it
calls Dynon Certified. The HDX system
is its flagship, and it's been FAA approved
for installation in about 600 piston airplane models.
Dynon also builds an integrated digital autopilot that, so far, only has been
approved for a few standard category
aircraft. When Dynon gets the FAA's
blessing to offer fully integrated avionics

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - July 2020

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