Twin Lakes Avionics has been given the "Leading Edge" award by Garmin for the 2nd year in a row !!!

This award is given to the top 15% of distributors for "superior level of sales, technical expertise, and customer service".

We are proud to have received this award and will strive to provide this level of service for years to come.

GARMIN WAAS Upgrades Are Underway.......

The long anticipated WAAS upgrades have begun and are progressing nicely.  There hasn't been a rush on the upgrade since most don't want to be the first to experience the associated problems with new releases. This in and of itself has helped Garmin and those of us in the field sort out some of the glitches in the process.

There have been a few bumps in the road, from accounting glitches in Garmin's facility, to a needed software update from the initial release.

• One of the most noted things associated with the upgrade is that many of the EFIS & EFDs do not support WAAS and some never will. For example take the Collins 85 EFD, anything below the -E model will not support WAAS and King has yet to decide if they will offer a software upgrade to the 40/50 EFD to support WAAS.

• The antenna coax has to be within certain loss limits, 3 to 7 db of loss which equates to a minimum of 14 feet of RG-142 coax and a maximum of 35 feet. (see update below).

• Installs that require an annunciator (most Beechcraft) have to have the anunciator changed or one added. To meet the new TSO an additional annunciator has to be added (Integrity). This was not required in the original GPS IFR installations.

We are also pleased to announce that according to Garmin Twin Lakes Avionics is the first (and so far the only) facility in the country that has engineered a way to interface to some of the non-WAAS supported EFDs!!

This was accomplished basically by using external relays (quite a few) to put the EFD into a V-Nav mode while also in L-Nav mode when Glide Slope information is available while at the same time activating both the flight director (and autopilot if pilot selected) into an ILS mode.

We are also pleased to say that during a recent flight test of a King Air 300 the flight crew reported that even though it was a turbulent day that the WAAS unit flew "the smoothest approach I have flown, even smoother than an ILS", and "Coupled to the autopilot it flew a perfect path right down to 50 feet above the runway" (VFR of course).

The good news for most GA aircraft is that most analog CDIs and HSIs are compatible with WAAS.

The process for the basic upgrade: We fill out a Garmin form including the unit Part Number, Serial Number, Database required, and a requested update date. If this date is available we ship the unit to Garmin, they swap out some components, then ship the unit back to us with a new antenna and database.

We then change the GPS antenna and check that the installed coax cable is within the loss limits, and unfortunately most aircraft will need to have their coax changed or extended to meet the minimum loss (length).

And then of course there is the paperwork, which is easy if the components interfaced are listed as approved (tested by Garmin) in the installation manual. Garmin has an AML list for the "W" units. If they are not listed in the install manual then a field approval will have to be submitted to the local FSDO.

We feel responsible to inform everyone that the annunciator upgrade and the coax min/max is a requirement of the TSO and if these items are not addressed then the install is illegal.

We feel it necessary to mention this as we have seen many normal IFR GPS installs (non-WAAS) performed in the past (not by us) without the required annunciator, mostly in Beechcraft. An annunciator is required for an IFR GPS if the GNS unit is not "center stacked", many older Beech aircraft have the radio stack located to the right of centerline with the angled bezel.  These aircraft require an external annuncator located in the "pilots normal field of view".

The WAAS install manual is even more strict and no longer uses the phrase "pilots normal field of view", instead they have given us specific measurements to conform to. An excerpt of this requirement can be found here: Field Of View

Update:

Garmin has conducted tests and determined that if one of their WAAS antennas is used, the GPS antenna cable may be reduced to 7 ft. They have issued a service bulletin to this effect.

Aspen Avionics:

This an excerpt from the latest information received from Aspen Avionics on their new PFD

"EFD1000 PFD Approved for Installation in Almost 400 Airplane Models

Aspen Avionics received on March 28, 2008 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) its Approved Model List Supplemental Type Certificate (AML-STC) for the EFD1000 Primary Flight Display (PFD). This certification, combined with the TSO (Technical Standard Order) certification granted to the company two weeks ago, authorizes installation of Aspen’s Evolution PFD in almost 400 airplane makes and models.

Coming before the end of March 2008, this AML-STC enables Aspen Avionics to start

shipping, and its dealers to start installing, Evolution Flight Display systems by March

31st, fulfilling the company’s promise to its customers.

This initial AML includes almost 60 percent of Class I and II airplanes (those under 6,000 pounds).  We wanted the initial AML in place before the end of March to support most of your planned April installations, and got as many into this first list as we could by this date. 

The initial AML does not yet include those airplanes with Vne greater than 210 KIAS, and does not include conventional gear (taildragger) airplanes.  We are continuing work to add these remaining Class I & II airplanes within the next couple of months.  We are also working to add approval of the Century and ARC line of autopilots within the next two months.  As we've told you previously, Class III airplanes (>6,000 pounds) will require even more certification work, which we plan to address later in 2008."

A few notes on this unit:

While the pictures seen on the EFD1000 make it seem like it will be a quick slide in installation

While the physical installation of the PFD will be relatively simple this unit will take approximately 30 to 40 hours on average. What you don't see from the pictures is that this unit also gets a GPS antenna with an internal Magnetometer (compass). This internal Magnetometer may require us to relocate existing antenna already installed on your aircraft. Also to be installed is a AHARS unit and a converter box that will interface all existing radios to the PFD.