diamondaviators.net

It's likely going to come to a matter of economics, i.e. how much is an owner willing to invest/spend to upgrade the avionics in their airplane relative to the current market value and the expected market value after an upgrade. This may be regionally dependent, e.g. depending on the 'value' of things like WAAS approaches, ADS-B weather & traffic, and other features. Looking forward to seeing what becomes on offer from Diamond.

All of the aircraft should of course have LPV upgrade pathways.

But are you saying that Flying did a big article a couple years ago about the new and improved G1000 NXi and cleverly ignored the fact that it cannot fly an LPV approach? Can that really be true - and if so is it for all G1000 / G1000 NXi aircraft or does that limitation only affect Diamond aircraft for some reason?

https://www.flyingmag.com/we-fly-g1000-nxi/

rkaplan wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 1:39 am All of the aircraft should of course have LPV upgrade pathways.

But are you saying that Flying did a big articles a couple years ago about the new and improved G1000 NXi and cleverly ignored the fact that it cannot fly an LPV approach? Can that really be true - and if so is it for all G1000 / G1000 NXi aircraft or does that limitation only affect Diamond aircraft for some reason?

https://www.flyingmag.com/we-fly-g1000-nxi/

All G1000 NXi flight decks have WAAS and can fly LPV and LP approaches. Diamonds included.

All G1000 NXi flight decks have WAAS and can fly LPV and LP approaches. Diamonds included.

So that means most DIamond aircraft since about 2018?

But no upgrade path is planned or announced for earlier models?

rkaplan wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 2:39 am

All G1000 NXi flight decks have WAAS and can fly LPV and LP approaches. Diamonds included.

So that means most DIamond aircraft since about 2018?

But no upgrade path is planned or announced for earlier models?

Earlier models that have WAAS installed can also fly LPV and LP approaches. The issue is that it's no longer straightforward to add WAAS to the older G1000 models that don't have it.

Thanks for the clarification

Earlier models that have WAAS installed can also fly LPV and LP approaches. The issue is that it's no longer straightforward to add WAAS to the older G1000 models that don't have it.

Does this mean that all of the currently affected aircraft were at one time eligible for upgrade but the owners chose not to upgrade then?

Or does it mean that Diamond never offered a WAAS upgrade path for some of the early G1000 aircraft?

rkaplan wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:44 pm

Earlier models that have WAAS installed can also fly LPV and LP approaches. The issue is that it's no longer straightforward to add WAAS to the older G1000 models that don't have it.

Does this mean that all of the currently affected aircraft were at one time eligible for upgrade but the owners chose not to upgrade then?

Or does it mean that Diamond never offered a WAAS upgrade path for some of the early G1000 aircraft?

Many models (e.g. G1000 Lycoming DA40s originally with non-WAAS GIA63s installed), were upgradable to WAAS GIA63Ws back when Garmin still produced GIA63Ws. Software exists to take advantage of WAAS on these aircraft (e.g., to fly LPV approaches).

However, many owners in past years chose not to upgrade primarily because of the high cost: more than $20K. Now they're unable to upgrade at any price because there are no more GIA63Ws available from Garmin, and these aircraft aren't certified for (nor will their software support) newer GIA64Ws that *ARE* being produced by Garmin.

CFIDave wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 12:01 am However, many owners in past years chose not to upgrade primarily because of the high cost: more than $20K. Now they're unable to upgrade at any price because there are no more GIA63Ws available from Garmin, and these aircraft aren't certified for (nor will their software support) newer GIA64Ws that *ARE* being produced by Garmin.

That is very helpful - thanks. I agree it is unfortunate it has evolved this way.

But doesn't that put the first paragraph of this thread in different perspective? Does this issue truly affect "virtually all" Diamond aircraft including those with G1000 or G1000 Nxi?

Sweet upgrade paths are not beyond the realm of possibility for Diamond Aircraft. From the DA40NG AFM Supplement A02:

Phase II of the NXi installation is accomplished in accordance with MÄM 40-1007. This
- upgrades the GIA 63W to GIA 64W, GMA 1347 to GMA 1360, GEA 71 to GEA 71B and
- installs a Flight Stream 510 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transceiver.

My guess is that this was pushed by a major purchaser such as the Government of China or Russia for its training fleet. I would not be surprised to see similar MÄMs for the DA42-VI and/or DA62 in the near future, as any such major purchaser would inevitably like to see similar upgrade paths for twin training vehicles as well.

Money talks...