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Does this mean (hypothetically) the next failure of a GIA63W will result in a permanent grounding of the airplane due to lack of spare parts?

Tim H wrote:Does this mean (hypothetically) the next failure of a GIA63W will result in a permanent grounding of the airplane due to lack of spare parts?

Ouch. I mean ouch!!

I don't know the price tags on GIA-64s / 63s, but I remember being in shock after upgrading my last DA-40.

Tim H wrote:Does this mean (hypothetically) the next failure of a GIA63W will result in a permanent grounding of the airplane due to lack of spare parts?

I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to get one repaired by Garmin. To reduce repair time, G1000 LRUs are usually swapped: your faulty unit gets shipped to Garmin while they send out a replacement unit that was originally installed in some other aircraft (not necessarily a Diamond). Re-installation of Diamond-specific G1000 software will then cause the replacement LRU to operate the same as your original unit.

Tim H wrote:Does this mean (hypothetically) the next failure of a GIA63W will result in a permanent grounding of the airplane due to lack of spare parts?

When I contacted Garmin about the issue. They were specific that they still repair units. They no longer sell parts/kits for upgrades.
Garmin did imply that there will come a point where they can no longer repair non WAAS systems, but that time has not yet come. Like the upgrade path, it will likely be announced to the OEMS some period before it happens. (Which makes sense, when you think of a their ability to get parts.)

Basically, the repair route will eventually become upgrading the G1000 to G1000 nXI when you want too, or when something breaks.

Tim

Does anyone know whether there is even an upgrade path from the G1000 to the NXi? Will another STC and different software be required? For that matter, are new DA40 XLTs being built? If so, what units are going into them? Are there both GIA64's and GIA64W's, or do all GIA64's include WAAS? If I'm correct that new planes are being delivered with NXi's and GIA63W's until Diamond runs out, but that they can also use the GIA64's (with WAAS), does that mean that there are multiple software versions being used to support both GIA types?

Partial answers to your questions:

Right now, the Lycoming DA40 XLT is temporarily out of production, awaiting certification of G1000 NXi for that aircraft. (Austro DA40 NGs are certified for NXi, and are being built as fast as London can make them.)

As for upgrading a legacy G1000 to G1000 NXi on a DA40, there is no news yet on that issue. However it's already possible to upgrade DA42 NG/-VI and DA62 legacy G1000s to NXi.

And I'm pretty certain that all GIA64's are "W" models with WAAS, since there's no demand for non-WAAS units.

Lately, I've been hoping that Dynon would make an STC for the DA40 like the did the C172. Then I could remove the G1000 in it's entirety and sell it on the used market. Install a Skyview system and have all the bells and whistles that my non-WAAS 2006 DA40 lacks. Probably come out ahead and save 10 lbs to boot.

I've been flying an AFS-5600 (owned by Dynon) equipped Glasair Sportsman for the past two years. I like it much more than the G1000 in my DA40.

Does anyone know why the new GIA64 was not made to be downward compatible with existing G1000 units?

Sandy

Sandy wrote:Does anyone know why the new GIA64 was not made to be downward compatible with existing G1000 units?

It is likely to be both and protocol compatible with the existing units. That said, Garmin may not taken it through a certification process for use with older software. Given that they're repairing older units and that the newer NXi displays are compatible with the older GIA-63/W units, there wouldn't be much point. There was a decade window to upgrade the GIA-63s to GIA-63Ws and I doubt that the corp strat folks at Garmin would be able to make a different economic decision.

pettromarx wrote,
There was a decade window to upgrade the GIA-63s to GIA-63Ws

That was all well and good for those who knew, in advance, that there was a "window" and that it would be closing. I did not know anything about that until the window closed before I knew there was one.

Sandy