Page 16 - TNTApril2018

built-in AHARS, and some versions will be three-axis (meaning, it will keep coordinated flight in a turn; not just a yaw damper).
To make it even sweeter, Genesys Aerosystems is launching a deal that will extend the warranty on existing parts of the system to owners who buy into the package early. Imagine buying a new autopilot and having the existing trim servos (which are still used in the installation, making it much cheaper to install) being included in the warranty.
I am excited for the Cessna 300/400 market; those are great airplanes that have recently languished because Cessna doesn’t make them anymore. Someone needed to step in and help that market, and that someone is Genesys Aerosystems.
Remember that older King Air 200 mentioned earlier? The owner of that airplane can install the G1000 NXi and have an unbelievably nice airplane, arguably better than a factory-new. Own an early TBM 700? The GFC600 is on Garmin’s list to receive the STC. A
whole bunch of Cessna Caravan drivers are about to be smiling as the GFC600 should have STC approval this year.
Honeywell (Bendix/King) Avionics is also readying themselves to enter the market. They expect to have a drop-in replacement for the KFC150 in the very near future and should have the KI- 300 attitude indicator fully STC’d soon. Nearly every KFC150-equipped Malibu (which I think is a fabulous airplane) owner will consider this very cheap option for upgrade.
What does all of this mean? It means that some really great older airplanes are about to have a new lease on life. A wise buyer can soon consider an earlier version of an airplane, install a virtually new avionics panel, and have an airplane that has nearly all of the safety features and amenities that a new airplane would provide.
I suspect visionary investors will purchase a good airframe with low- engine hours, add a new interior and paint, remove the entire panel and install the latest avionics and autopilot, and will then own a very capable and good-performing aircraft. The 1989 Mirage (earliest year for a Mirage) goes just as fast and climbs just as quickly as a 2018 Mirage, but it has suffered on the market because of steam gauges and an autopilot with no safety features (KFC150). Many owners will still want “new,” but there are plenty of pilots who will realize the cost savings of buying an older airframe with low hours and upgrading.
I see a sunrise on the horizon of aviation, not a sunset. Avionics providers are•spending serious cash investing in retrofit products, and those of us who fly Twin & Turbine airplanes are about to benefit. The future is looking bright! T&T
David Clark
Joe Casey is an ATP, CFI, CFII (A/H), MEI, CFIG, CFIH, as well as a U.S. Army UH-60 standardiza- tion instructor/examiner. He has been a PA46 instructor for 14-plus years and has accumulated 11,800- plus hours of flight time, 5,000 of which has been in the PA46. Contact Joe at: www.flycasey.com, by email at joe@flycasey.com.
14 • TWIN & TURBINE
April 2018