Navigator recommendations?

[Bdflies]

Hi folks,
I am the proud new owner of an RV-14a with an AFS 5600, Dynon com, transponder, audio panel and autopilot. I’m more used to Garmin stuff, but I’m growing fond of the 5600. In the G3X, Vnav descent profiles were easy and intuitive. I’m working on doing that, but I’m not there yet….
To the point of the post; I want to install an IFR navigator with a com. Is Avidyne preferred? Or does Garmin play nice with the AFS stuff? I’ve been looking at the Garmin 355, but haven’t seen it mentioned with regard to AFS. I’m wanting to move forward, but not in a rush. Cost is less important than compatibility and functionality.
Just wanting to hear from those who’ve gone before me.

Thanks,

Bill

[Jonathon]

Either Garmin or Avidyne navigators work great with our displays. Unfortunately it is not currently possible to have enroute phase vertical navigation profiles push over from either brand navigator to our EFIS, due to limitations of the ARINC protocol with which the two devices communicate. Garmin is able to work around this limitation with their own products by having an additional backchannel of communication between their navigator and their EFIS. Unfortunately, since Garmin will not share the details of this proprietary protocol, it is unavailable to us.

The workaround is that either navigator will push the flight plan to the EFIS, and then for vertical flight planning you can go into the EFIS FPL page, manually edit the VFPL profile there, and engage VFPL mode from the EFIS AP page. This does work a bit better with an Avidyne navigator for the reason that the AF5600 flight plan display mimics the Avidyne display in the general look and feel, making it easy to read your profile from the Avidyne display and copy it over to the EFIS flight plan display. Longer term, we do plan to work with Avidyne on implementing a backchannel of our own, allowing the Avidyne to automatically push vertical flight plan profiles direct to the EFIS. However, work on this has not yet begun, and we do not currently have a timetable for when we will be able to get to it.

[Billm]

Bill,
I installed an AFS Dual 5600T VFR Quick Panel in my RV-7. Recently I added a GNC355 Navigator/com and a PDA360XR remote audio panel. AFS made up the harnesses and it was a true plug and play operation, the GNC355 is fully integrated into the system. I could not be happier.
Bill

[Bdflies]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the great information! That’s really good to know..

Bill

[ssturges]

Either Garmin or Avidyne navigators work great with our displays. Unfortunately it is not currently possible to have enroute phase vertical navigation profiles push over from either brand navigator to our EFIS, due to limitations of the ARINC protocol with which the two devices communicate. Garmin is able to work around this limitation with their own products by having an additional backchannel of communication between their navigator and their EFIS. Unfortunately, since Garmin will not share the details of this proprietary protocol, it is unavailable to us.

Jonathon, Is this ever going to happen with the Avidyne? Of all the things missing this seem like a major for Avidyne as so many of there IFDs are integrated with 3rd party EFIS systems. I keep dreaming that with be in backend of 10.3

[Jonathon]

Steven we will know if your dream can spring to life soon enough. 10.3 of the Avidyne software should be released very soon, we have been told it will include a new label to push over waypoint altitudes. We'll need some time to play around with it once we get 10.3 loaded ourselves, but hopefully this will have what we need to allow VFPL profiles to autopopulate from an IFD flight plan.

[ssturges]

Steven we will know if your dream can spring to life soon enough. 10.3 of the Avidyne software should be released very soon, we have been told it will include a new label to push over waypoint altitudes. We'll need some time to play around with it once we get 10.3 loaded ourselves, but hopefully this will have what we need to allow VFPL profiles to auto populate from an IFD flight plan.

I sure wish there was more information about the AP/FD and how it interacted with the IFD and the AP/FD modes and states in general. Example, I watch Rob's youtube video of the KMMV ISL22 approach, when I fly that sometime it kind of works, sometimes it does not and not in the way it works for Rob, things like the LOC/GS needles work but the vertical on the AP/FD does not work. It's like I am missing the requirements for FD locking to the GS and giving direction, it sees the GS, Vertical Nav is armed but never goes active , while lateral works just fine? It would be nice if if there was a series of documentation that matches the scenarios in Michael F. Bauer's "Flying with the Avidyne IFD". I am a learner but my CFI and I are often left wondering what the heck just happened. Other times I see a pretty big deviation between AP/FD and the lateral needle pretty far out in the approach, like 1 dot on the needle while the FD is locked in tight, is this normal?

I want to be able to do things like load an approach simulate a heading vector from ATC drop in to heading mode with AP/FD intercept an intermediate leg mid leg and have the LOC/GS and lock and switch modes, a common thing. Tried this unsuccessfully as going into heading mode after loading the approach looks like kind of messed things up even though I made the intermediate approach leg active on the IFD but it flew right through it. In GPS enroute this seems to work but have not tried GPS approaches yet. Like I way most of this is just my learning or understanding what the system can and cannot do.

[ssturges]

I sure wish there was more information about the AP/FD and how it interacted with the IFD and the AP/FD modes and states in general. Example, I watch Rob's youtube video of the KMMV ISL22 approach, when I fly that sometime it kind of works, sometimes it does not and not in the way it works for Rob, things like the LOC/GS needles work but the vertical on the AP/FD does not work. It's like I am missing the requirements for FD locking to the GS and giving direction, it sees the GS, Vertical Nav is armed but never goes active , while lateral works just fine? It would be nice if if there was a series of documentation that matches the scenarios in Michael F. Bauer's "Flying with the Avidyne IFD". I am a learner but my CFI and I are often left wondering what the heck just happened. Other times I see a pretty big deviation between AP/FD and the lateral needle pretty far out in the approach, like 1 dot on the needle while the FD is locked in tight, is this normal?

I want to be able to do things like load an approach simulate a heading vector from ATC drop in to heading mode with AP/FD intercept an intermediate leg mid leg and have the LOC/GS and lock and switch modes, a common thing. Tried this unsuccessfully as going into heading mode after loading the approach looks like kind of messed things up even though I made the intermediate approach leg active on the IFD but it flew right through it. In GPS enroute this seems to work but have not tried GPS approaches yet. Like I way most of this is just my learning or understanding what the system can and cannot do.

I few this today with the flight director and few right through the glide slope and did VNAV was armed but not lock, stayed in VS mode. Have the log files if you want them so you can tell me how I messed up. It it interesting that you can get in modes with VS or Heading were you cannot disable the mode and say force it into NAV mode, sure wish I understood this better