Todd,

I too have had that concern, but, so far, in my 13 months in the Experimental world, I have not heard many complaints in that regard.....whether it be with the Garmin product, or with the stuff from Dynon, Grand Rapids Tech, ASF, etc. It seems that they've all mastered their digital boxes' reliability pretty well.

Oh, and these digital autopilots are.....amazing! And, very inexpensive for the E-AB planes.

"Approach, Request airspeed my discretion."

Well in the SX it can be a problem. It's real easy to exceed 250 indicated. I suspect similar in G3

Played with the panel tonight. It is just too cool. The ability to split screen, pinch to zoom, select items just like the Garmin pilot app etc. is nothing short of amazing.


The shop had not set up the autopilot yet, but we engaged it anyway. The pitch went the opposite direction it should have - no problem simply tap the menu screen, select autopilot, and tap the reverse setting for the servo. "Hey, I would like it to go a little faster." No, problem turn the torque value up from 30 to 50. "Ok, but I want it to also react quicker." That is easy also - simply turn the gain up from 40 to 60.

You can set this autopilot to have any reaction time you want and enough torque to rip the stick out of your hand if you like. Takes all of 5 minutes to configure the system and you don't have to re-wire or send in the computer for programming - you simply use the touch screen for everything!

There are so many options and settings available that it makes your head spin and will definitely take some time to figure out before I fly the plane IMC.

So far, I am extremely happy that I made this huge panel change. The touchscreen interface makes inputs and selections so much easier and quicker. Having the traffic on the SVT display along with the large moving map and everything else available will be very nice.

This video is not real good quality and I kind of fumbled around a bit, but it gives an idea of the basic installation. We plan to have the VIRB installed for the test flight and should get a good video then:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/54PVWfbVYnM[/youtube]

That G3X is awesome. Sweet plane Todd.

Thanks Lee. It is an interesting airplane. I need to lose 10 lbs so I can get in and out of it

The G3X should really change the way I fly the plane. WHile I had a great panel with the 530/430W, 55x with pre-select, etc I still had separate systems requiring switches and knobs in various places and moving maps in places that were no ideal. Weather was on my iPad and lots of knob twisting to get information.

I know many people will knock the touchscreen, but I see it as a real advantage along with the "smart" features of the units such as simply selecting a waypoint because it is near or anticipates what you are seeking. The ability to have the traffic on the PFD in SVT mode and have the airport chart appear right in front of you while in taxi is very helpful. Being able to set up the autopilot to automatically fly to a waypoint in range and altitude is very nice. I could go on and on, but the real learning will come in the air. Should be able to fly tomorrow if the weather is not too bad. It has been brutal cold here with 30-40 MPH winds and white our conditions.

Flew the G3X today - will post video later. Absolutely wonderful system. The autopilot is dead on. When I say dead on - I mean dead on. It was -9 degrees today with winds 15-20 on the ground crosswind on landing and 40 knots at 3k with constant bumps. The autopilot pre-select works perfectly and flies the approach like it is on rails. The highway in the sky with synthetic vision is absolutely awesome.

As you will see in the video, I am still learning the knobs and such. My only gripe is the GTN 650 audio quality. The radio is constantly breaking squelch and when you transmit the side tone you hear sounds like you are talking through a can. My #2 comm sounds great. The installer said this is the 3rd plane with poor GTN audio that sounds like talking in a can. For the squelch I have tried 25 and 50% settings. Should I try higher?

Other than that - I love this system!

Todd yes, you will have to play with the side tone and the squelch in the GTN.
You can do this yourself.
I took me a couple of tries to get it right.
The default settings are no good.

Here is the video. Will make a better one when the weather is better, I learn the system better, and I get my cold air leak into the cabin fixed.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/8Pb8Y4jJ0_I[/youtube]

I keep getting a "Private Video" notice of some sort.

Won't let me play it

Todd, it's says the video is privates.

Try it again please.

I put the squelch on my 750 at 80% before it stopped breaking. 2 software updates. The rey has the built in com on the g3x, same story.

Garmin, pay attention and fix this issue, its annoying.