Avionics Additions Update

Guest Discussion
1

I’m picking up N567AB, SR22 #30, in two weeks. Shortly afterwards I’m leaving the country for a month, so this is the perfect time to have any gizmos added to the a/c. I solicit feedback and would like to explain what I’ve found for others who may be in a similar situation.

  1. Cirrus advises against all additions to their a/c, except for the Arnav engine monitoring. It isn’t strong advice, but it keeps coming up. I think they want to control what goes into their planes and they would like to be the ones making the sale. Due to my schedule, I don’t want to wait for them.

  2. Cirrus says that when they do have TCAD, it will probably be the BF Goodrich Skywatch system. I find this odd, because Arnav has already done the work to interface to the Ryan TCAD. Arnav is waiting for Ryan to get the TSO on their top-of-the-line model, the 9900BX, which, like the Skywatch, does active interrogation in non-radar environments. When this happens, Arnav will dust off the software their wrote years ago and get a TSO (or is it an STC?) for their interface to the Ryan unit. So why does Cirrus want to go with the system that Arnav hasn’t interfaced to yet? Has BF Goodrich given them a better deal? Is it due to the lack of the TSO on the 9900BX?

  3. Lack of panel space isn’t a problem for the Ryan TCAD (and perhaps the Skywatch, I don’t know) because it can be completely controlled and displayed by the Garmins. Perhaps it can be displayed by the Arnav too, once Arnav does the last step (see #2).

  4. I’d like to add a radar altimeter, because based on my understanding of the Arnav terrain feature, it is not helpful and its database has a lot of errors. I like the low-tech, direct-measurement aspect of a radar altimeter, even though it doesn’t help much with obstacles. However, there is no panel space for even the 1" high Trimble unit, so I don’t know what to do about this. I don’t relish moving anything already installed.

  5. I plan to add the Arnav engine monitoring. Has anyone done this or investigated it for the SR22? Cirrus says it “should be fine”, but it would be nice not to be the very first one (hey, Paul, how about adding this to N415PJ? :-)).

  6. Low on my list, but something I’m still considering is a Shadin air/data computer. It tells you winds aloft, true airspeed, and density altitude. It can be accessed entirely via an AUX page on one of the Garmins. My inclination is to pass on this, but I’ve never used one and perhaps I’m missing something and this is really a great thing. Anyone out there use one?

  7. According to Cirrus, they haven’t mounted an RS-232 connector for use by the pilot. I normally do flight planning with Jepensen FliteStar, get wx, then download the route to my GPSMAP 295. I hope the big brother of the 295, the GNS 430’s, can also accept routes over a serial interface. If so, I’d really like to be able to do this and this requires an RS-232 connector somewhere convenient to the pilot.

Additional Question: may I have the audio for new gizmos, like the TCAD, come through one of the unused channels of the audio panel, like the DME or ADF inputs? That way, I wouldn’t have to mount a remote mute button for the Ryan TCAD. I could afix a label to say that “use DME button for TCAD audio”. But perhaps this FAA inspector giving the Form 337 approval wouldn’t like this. I have no idea.

2

At the risk of repeating myself, lack of panel space is why the Arnav problem is so important!

In trying to make the Cirrus more “car-like” panel space was sacrificed in favor of cosmetics. The “sheetmetal” panels in other aircraft, so often criticized here as being inelegant, at least have the advantage of being flexible. Cirrus was probably betting on the Arnav as an interface for add-on equipment (much like the Garmins have proved to be). But with Arnav so slow to respond, many have decided to deface their panels in order to accommodate new equipment.

A less-than-satisfying situation, IMHO.

Joe

I’m picking up N567AB, SR22 #30, in two weeks. Shortly afterwards I’m leaving the country for a month, so this is the perfect time to have any gizmos added to the a/c. I solicit feedback and would like to explain what I’ve found for others who may be in a similar situation.

  1. Cirrus advises against all additions to their a/c, except for the Arnav engine monitoring. It isn’t strong advice, but it keeps coming up. I think they want to control what goes into their planes and they would like to be the ones making the sale. Due to my schedule, I don’t want to wait for them.
  1. Cirrus says that when they do have TCAD, it will probably be the BF Goodrich Skywatch system. I find this odd, because Arnav has already done the work to interface to the Ryan TCAD. Arnav is waiting for Ryan to get the TSO on their top-of-the-line model, the 9900BX, which, like the Skywatch, does active interrogation in non-radar environments. When this happens, Arnav will dust off the software their wrote years ago and get a TSO (or is it an STC?) for their interface to the Ryan unit. So why does Cirrus want to go with the system that Arnav hasn’t interfaced to yet? Has BF Goodrich given them a better deal? Is it due to the lack of the TSO on the 9900BX?
  1. Lack of panel space isn’t a problem for the Ryan TCAD (and perhaps the Skywatch, I don’t know) because it can be completely controlled and displayed by the Garmins. Perhaps it can be displayed by the Arnav too, once Arnav does the last step (see #2).
  1. I’d like to add a radar altimeter, because based on my understanding of the Arnav terrain feature, it is not helpful and its database has a lot of errors. I like the low-tech, direct-measurement aspect of a radar altimeter, even though it doesn’t help much with obstacles. However, there is no panel space for even the 1" high Trimble unit, so I don’t know what to do about this. I don’t relish moving anything already installed.
  1. I plan to add the Arnav engine monitoring. Has anyone done this or investigated it for the SR22? Cirrus says it “should be fine”, but it would be nice not to be the very first one (hey, Paul, how about adding this to N415PJ? :-)).
  1. Low on my list, but something I’m still considering is a Shadin air/data computer. It tells you winds aloft, true airspeed, and density altitude. It can be accessed entirely via an AUX page on one of the Garmins. My inclination is to pass on this, but I’ve never used one and perhaps I’m missing something and this is really a great thing. Anyone out there use one?
  1. According to Cirrus, they haven’t mounted an RS-232 connector for use by the pilot. I normally do flight planning with Jepensen FliteStar, get wx, then download the route to my GPSMAP 295. I hope the big brother of the 295, the GNS 430’s, can also accept routes over a serial interface. If so, I’d really like to be able to do this and this requires an RS-232 connector somewhere convenient to the pilot.

Additional Question: may I have the audio for new gizmos, like the TCAD, come through one of the unused channels of the audio panel, like the DME or ADF inputs? That way, I wouldn’t have to mount a remote mute button for the Ryan TCAD. I could afix a label to say that “use DME button for TCAD audio”. But perhaps this FAA inspector giving the Form 337 approval wouldn’t like this. I have no idea.

3
  1. According to Cirrus, they haven’t mounted an RS-232 connector for use by the pilot. I normally do flight planning with Jepensen FliteStar, get wx, then download the route to my GPSMAP 295. I hope the big brother of the 295, the GNS 430’s, can also accept routes over a serial interface. If so, I’d really like to be able to do this and this requires an RS-232 connector somewhere convenient to the pilot.

The GNS430 does not do this.