True Installed Cost of [Aspen / S-Tec / Century] Question

[Charles Schefer]

[WMD]

Charles,
If you do decide to go with the Aspen Pro EFD, consider also installing an Aspen ACU (EA100). The ACU allows DG and attitude information to come from the Aspen Pro EFD unit directly to your autopilot. No other input required.
That is what I very recently had done on my Comanche - and it is pretty amazing. JVB did the install and found the combination made the aircraft handling quite precise.
Regards,
Bill

[Andrew Foster]

The Aspen Pro 1000 comes with one ACU( analog controll unit) . Ours was mounted on the avionics rack behind the baggage bulkhead. From what I understand it changes analog signals to digital so the display can use . One unit was enough for our Stec 50 autopilot, kx155 w g/s and the 430 w.
The other components are the display, and the antenna unit( this unit also has integral in it a oat sensor and a magnometer)

Andrew

[WMD]

Andrew,
My autopilot is the C2000 which may be why it required the extra box. JVB told me it was "interesting" finding a place to mount the second box. From Aspen's website - http://www.aspenavionics.com/products/e ... autopilots

How do you find the flight control using the Aspen to supply DG and Attitude information to your STEC?
Regards,
Bill

[Andrew Foster]

The Aspen is great. Customer support outstanding. I would say it took me five to ten flight hours to make the transition and feel comfortable with all the capabilities. The best was the gpss steering. I can hit the obs on the 430 and the Aspen will fly the complete missed approach including the hold entry. While I am a strong advocate of keeping instrument skills proficient, in single pilot operations an extra added degree of saftey is added. There is a lot of information available.
I do not have the synthetic vision, but I hear it's cool. Much like automatic vs manual transmission.
I'm thinking about adding the trig transponder to add ads b compliance and TIS to the display.
We'll see. Trying to get through my baffle project as it is
Good luck

Andrew

[jeffrey aryan]

Andrew,

FYI,

If you can afford it buy two Aspens do so. Then you will get a back-up and you can put some moving map functions on it. You will also be able to eliminate a couple of other things according to your instrument setup. I want to do that to my plane.

Also, the synthetic vision is nice but not really worth the money they are asking for it. There is a 20 percent markup on the retail end, so if you subtract the 20 percent it's not bad. I would try to wait for a AOPA event or an airshow too haggle with price. Talk to the Aspen sales rep and make a deal with him. Then go to your avionics shop and tell them they will be getting a call from the sales rep because Aspen won't let anyone but a authorized shop do an installation the synthetic vision takes about 1-2 hours labor.

On the ADS-B front, my shop says to wait and see what is going on with ADS-B. The FAA has finalized what it can and can't do. There are too many variables right now with the system the way it is set up. I think waiting is a good thing on this. FWIW.

Please keep everyone informed of your progress.

Jeff Aryan

[Andrew Foster]

Jeff
I Would love to do a second one, but it's just not in the budget.
The trig transponder is a cost effective solution for TIS. The ads -b is just a bonus .
Thanks for the feedback about the synthetic vision.

Andrew