G1000 vs. Avidyne

MirageCM

MirageCM

Well-Known Member
Just curious to see what everyone's thoughts were as to which system they like the best...G1000 or Avidyne.

I haven't flown the Avidyne much, most time is with the G1000. Are there any features that Avidyne has that the G1000 does not?
 
Having used the avidyne in the air and a G1000 trainer, I prefer the avidyne. For me personally, I feel it is just a little more user friendly and has a more simplistic layout.
 
the_dmn8tr said:
Having used the avidyne in the air and a G1000 trainer, I prefer the avidyne. For me personally, I feel it is just a little more user friendly and has a more simplistic layout.
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I like the Avidyne for the Garmins are seperate and you can do things with their screens as well, and that the autopilot will still work with the GPS for an approach if you lose the PFD. Note I am slightly bias in my thoughts.
 
g1000 all the way.

more capability. more reliability. plus it looks cooler.

it is comparing nintendo 64 with an xbox :D
 
I've never flown a G1000 equipped aircraft, but I can't imagine it gets any more straightforward than the Avidyne. A retarded pet rock could operate it, which is probably why I like it so much. The only thing I'm wary of is the fact that the Avidyne doesn't have a reversionary display mode; if one screen craps out, you're SOL.

I have had a few problems with the Avidyne though (in a Cirrus). It may or may not be the Avidyne's fault, but we've had the MFD sent out for repair due to the display flickering, the autopilot stopped talking to the PFD yesterday, the MFD loses communication with the TAWS, Skywatch and heading data on a regular basis (I think this one is cause by a faulty transponder that is causing electrical interference; we'll know for sure when the new one comes in).

Avidyne really crapped the bed when it came time to do a WAAS upgrade. Six weeks of downtime waiting for them to do the software upgrade on the PFD. After working our way up the chain of command at the company through phone calls, the company president informed us that he had no idea that delays were that lengthy. On the other hand, every avionics tech we've ever talked to has said that Avidyne takes forever in getting their boxes repaired and returned to service.
 
Have only flown G1000 but from what I've heard the main difference is that the G1000 has a lot of sub menus and seperate screens while with the Avidyne everything you need is right in front of you. Limited sub menus, etc...
 
Seems like all (i.e. 80% +) of the articles and news is about the Garmin. Not much "noise factor" for the Avidyne.

Anyone know what the current market shares are?
 
I've flown both. It's pretty much the same as everyone has said above. The G1000s are definitely more capable than the Avidynes. However, the Avidynes do their job. After one flight, you can be extremely comfortable with an Avidyne display, whereas it might take awhile to familiarize yourself with the G1000.
 
I have extensive experience flying both avionics suites. I think I like the Avidyne better. My main reason for that is, even if you lose both of the screens, you still have a Nav/Com/GPS. In the G1000, if you lose both screens, you have no way of using ANY com nav or gps.
 
jwp_145 said:
In the G1000, if you lose both screens, you have no way of using ANY com nav or gps.
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not entirely true, but mostly true.

I have had the screen go blank, but the GIA behind it was still working so we still had coms; couldn't read anything, couldn't navigate, couldn't change the freq without counting clicks, but we still had coms.
 
bdhill1979 said:
not entirely true, but mostly true.

I have had the screen go blank, but the GIA behind it was still working so we still had coms; couldn't read anything, couldn't navigate, couldn't change the freq without counting clicks, but we still had coms.
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What's a GIA?

Thanks
 
Polar742 said:
What's a GIA?

Thanks
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Garmin Integrated Avionics.

It is the brain of the G1000, there are two of them GIA1 and GIA2 respectively. Each is a complete NAV/COM and GPS system. They communicate with each other, but are fully functional by themselves if the other one craps out. They receive all the data from the ADC, and AHRS, process it, combine it with GPS data, and display it on the PFD/MFDs
 
Polar742 said:
Thanks... I learn alot about this stuff from ya'll.....
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It is a pretty cool system when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it. Though a lot of the specific information is not published, probably since nobody else in GA is producing a system near as capable.

Makes me wonder what the G2000 will look like.
 
bdhill1979 said:
It is a pretty cool system when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it. Though a lot of the specific information is not published, probably since nobody else in GA is producing a system near as capable.

Makes me wonder what the G2000 will look like.
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I flew a Cirrus something or other (the first model they produced) as the company that owned the company I used to work for thought about buying Cirrus.

What a machine, I was amazed with the avionics. More advanced than the Primus 1000 I was driving around. Too much for me to handle. The Cirrus demo pilot showed us all the bells and whistles. The TAWS was the first I saw in GA, and was the BEST feature.

The G1000 has amazing capability. I'll be interested to see how it flushes out.


...back to my Kona Longboard:D
 
Yes you are correct that the radio will still work. But yeah if you want to change freqs you'd need to count clicks.

WOuldn't it be great if they had a small frequency annunciator panel down by the standby instruments? Really shoulda thought about that!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Garmin1000, but I just feel like the Avidyne package is more user friendly, and I have 10X as much time in the G1000.

I also don't like in the G1000 the fact that the Localizer and Glideslope needles are about 6 inches away from each other at a strange angle.

And to think that I used to have the AHRS failure modes for the G1000 memorized in order to still keep your heading indicator. Ah, to be a student and only have to study. :)
 
I have about 40 hours in a G1000 and about 3 hours in an Avidyne.. I really like the G1000, but correct me if I'm worng ( and probably am) but for traffic the G1000's TIS requires a ground station, so only works around certain areas, where as the Avidyne works at all times receiving transponder data from its transponder and not using a ground station.

At least this is the way it was explained to me...
 
wildwezul1 said:
I have about 40 hours in a G1000 and about 3 hours in an Avidyne.. I really like the G1000, but correct me if I'm worng ( and probably am) but for traffic the G1000's TIS requires a ground station, so only works around certain areas, where as the Avidyne works at all times receiving transponder data from its transponder and not using a ground station.

At least this is the way it was explained to me...
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The traffic depends on the system. You can get active traffic for both. I think you just flew a G1000 with TIS and an Avidyne with active traffic.

I think the G1000 with the GFC 700 is the better overall package. The Avidyne seems dated now and just doesn't have the integration of the G1000.

Michael

PS: I have significant experience with both.
 
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