PFD for a Dragonfly

[toast]

My dragonfly has all steam gauges, and I'd like to upgrade the panel to something little more modern. Things I'd like to have

• A heading indicator
• An engine monitor
• A com radio with dual watch (a necessity in busy bay area airspace)
• The ability to add a Garmin GPS 175 later on

I don't care too much about having an autopilot

The panel won't fit a 10" PFD, but the 7" landscape g3x or dynon screen should fit. Between those two it seems mainly just a question of which interface I prefer.

Is there anything else I should consider?

[Marc Zeitlin]

41 minutes ago, toast said:

My dragonfly has all steam gauges, and I'd like to upgrade the panel to something little more modern. Things I'd like to have

• A heading indicator
• An engine monitor
• A com radio with dual watch (a necessity in busy bay area airspace)
• The ability to add a Garmin GPS 175 later on

I don't care too much about having an autopilot

The panel won't fit a 10" PFD, but the 7" landscape g3x or dynon screen should fit. Between those two it seems mainly just a question of which interface I prefer.

Is there anything else I should consider?

In no particular order:

• Cost (Garmin is more)
• Upgradeability (Garmin has more flexibility and better integration of components, as long as they're all Garmin)
• Customizability (Dynon for the clear win here wrt UI)
• Support (Dynon generally wins here)

If you're interested in future IFR, you WILL want a 2-axis autopilot (and if you're not, you certainly don't need the GPS175). With IFR, you'll also want a backup ADAHRS (either Garmin or Dynon can have dual ADAHRS's). But with only one screen, if the screen craps out, you'll need another screen, so rather than a 2nd ADAHRS for the single EFIS, you might consider a G5 which has a built in ADAHRS (and backup battery, if you buy one). If you use a G5 as a backup for the G3X, it can automatically take over driving the Autopilot. If you use a G5 as a backup for the Dynon, obviously it is completely standalone and cannot pickup A/P control. But you also have no common mode failures, since they're built by different MFGs.

Lots to consider.

[toast]

Thanks for the reply! Definitely lots to consider.

It may be worth just slotting a G5 in for now doing the full IFR upgrade later since that'll likely take me quite a few months to get everything installed.