Peter wrote:
I reckon the answer is obvious: any issues with “glass” need a Garmin dealer!
Not correct for the G5s. They can be installed by any A&P. Ours were. AFAIK they are the only product(s) Garmin allows to be installed ‘freely’.
Certainly in the US I don’t think (m)any people replace a vacuum pump anymore. It’s pretty much a case of ‘vacuum pump failed, G5s go in’.
The G5 is not “glass” really. It is a standalone instrument, like e.g. my SN3500 EHSIs. And presumably you could swap it out, off the books if necessary, if you knew how, had photographed the config options, etc.
Peter wrote:
The G5 is not “glass” really. It is a standalone instrument, like e.g. my SN3500 EHSIs. And presumably you could swap it out, off the books if necessary, if you knew how, had photographed the config options, etc.
It most certainly is glass and there’s no need to do anything ‘off the books’.
172driver wrote:
It most certainly is glass and there’s no need to do anything ‘off the books’.
Of course it is “glass” in some sense, but AFAIK you don’t need EFIS training to fly with G5s,.
Modular glass (small instruments like the G5) seems quite a good way to go for a private owner to upgrade their panel. No, it’s not as fancy as a G1000, but if your backlight goes out in Greece on your G5, you can still at least get the plane home VFR, which isn’t really an option if your entire PFD goes dark.
Swapping out a G5 is also easy – just needs an allen key to release the instrument and a screwdriver (to get the connector off the back, which is a standard D connector).
The G1000 was marketed has having these wonderful things called LDUs (line replaceable units). Simple to upgrade. That was marketing hype, as any DA40 or DA42 owner will tell you.
The more modular approach of the Aspen, G5, Garmin 430w etc would all seem, in hindsight more futureproof.
Airborne_Again wrote:
Of course it is “glass” in some sense, but AFAIK you don’t need EFIS training to fly with G5s,.
OK, that EFIS training is an EASA reg. Interestingly, the addition of the GFC500 A/P to the two G5s made our C182 a TAA, Technically Advanced Aircraft, which is a thing for the CPL training requirements.
Peter wrote:
One of the things I’ve noticed over the years is that when you fly somewhere reasonably far away, most of the planes you see there (and which travelled a similar distance) is that very few are “glass”. You see very few SR22s and you see very few Diamonds.
That’s not true at all in my experience. If you fly a bit further, you see Cirrusses and a few upgraded Bonnies and Mooneys almost exclusively. The only other plane we met in the Canaries in March was a G1000 Cirrus. In the Caribbean and Central America they were the only other visitors. The only other foreign plane we saw ins South America was a G1000 Acclaim.
I don’t see what the problem should be and what would have to be done „off the books“. Last fall our transponder (GTX33) quit and two days later our shop had sent us a loaner device. I swapped the boxes and we were ready to fly again. I really don’t see why this should be any different for other LRUs.
Obviously those on EuroGA are a big exception
Yes, sure! How could I think that all of us here, flying around the world with our glass panels are just average pilots???
Peter wrote:
And after you’ve had a few issues with that, you are gonna stick to nice easy local trips, because getting stuck in say Greece is going to be a huge problem.
Come on, the reason why SR & DA with G1000 fly locally are the same for TB20 & Bonanza & Monney you may see at Sandown 
Also getting stuck can be said for engine & gear & propeller? I doubt it’s glass vs steam that makes an aircraft go UK to Greece 
in any case if there are any glitches one should be able to hand fly it all the way with only things working being radio & mags (it’s doable, a friend of mine did the trip in Stearman, Hedcorn to Heraklion, he was stuck in Egypt for some time, but got away after ordering & fitting new 2nd transponder, then finished his trip to Saudi)
What about RVSM?
I don’t know any modular glass panel that can do modern (with VDL2) RVSM.
