Until today I had only one problem, and that was very soon after the install. The DFC90 autopilot was installed in my plane in June 2013. No big deal, I think, because you have to monitor it anyway, so you can just as well do it manually. Of course, you will still not have the VNAV functionality, meaning the airplane will not automatically fly the stepdown altitudes of RNAV/GPS approaches. Not so with Garmin: You will have to set the descent rate every time. Want to dial in a new lower altitude? Select the altitude and press ALT+VS (or ALT+IAS and the airplane will automatically use the default descent rate of -500 ft/min. Avidyne Entegra, although introduced in 2003 is still a very good glass cockpit and it even has some features that are clearly superior. Many pilots, especially beginners with less experience with avionics think that “it has to be” Garmin G1000/Perspective. Perspective will still have more features, some of them (like the AHRS redundancy and the TKS gauge) very good, but you have to ask yourself if you want to spend between 50 and 100 thousand Euros more for the plane, and if you really need those features. The DFC90 autopilot, especially in combination with WAAS brings a G2 or G3 Cirrus to a different level, i would even say it is the best upgrade for an original Avidyne-SR22. The complete package was $ 14.990 (plus European VAT) and it was so attractive that I ordered it before my first flight in the plane while it was still in the pre-buy inspection. When I bought the airplane in 2013 Avidyne had a very attractive offer: The DFC90 autopilot plus a complete overhaul of both the MFD and PFD with the necessary PFD software upgrade (Minimum requirement is Version 6.2.2) which i would later need for WAAS too) and the replacement of the scratched Screens with real glass. The DFC90 is a digital attitude based autopilot that was developed as a retrofit for the S-TEC55X that was delivered in thousands of SR airplanes. The first step was to replace the S-TEC autopilot with Avidyne’s new digital DFC90 autopilot. Much better than an NDB approach but much less safe than an ILS – or 3D GPS Approach.įirst Upgrade: DFC90 Autopilot and Overhaul of the Entegra Glass Cockpit The only “GPS approach” that was available with the original 430 navigators is the 2D “LNAV” approach without vertical guidance. While this equipment was better than what (estimate) 95 percent of all GA airplanes (twins and turboprops included) had in 2013 it would soon become apparent that 3D GPS approaches like LNAV/VNAV, LPV and LNAV+V were on the rise – all of which need SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System) navigators, known as “WAAS” in the USA or WAAS/EGNOS in Europe since over here we can use both satellite systems. When I first bought my 2006 SR22-G2 GTS in 2013 it still had the standard equipment typical for that vintage: Avidyne Entegra PFD and MFD, 2 x Garmin GNS430 non-WAAS navigators, GTX330 Mode S-Transponder, Garmin GMA340 Audio Panel, S-TEC55X rate based Autopilot and the Honeywell KGP560 EGPWS system
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