Avidyne SynVis - General

(R9.3 and SynVis Cert Update - 8 Apr 2014)

The latest roadblock in the saga was an FAA issue with the DO-254 cert documents.  It would appear that this issue (they wanted a different set of documentation) should be resolved to their satisfaction some time this week.  As soon as that is resolved, they have pre-authorized TIA to begin.

The FAA has completely delegated TIA back to Avidyne so that formal flight testing should start next week, presuming the DO-254 data is accepted this week.   That should last about a calendar week after which it's just a matter of the FAA signing the STC/TSO approval letters.

 

R9.3 TIA was completed without a hitch last week.   We had a face-to-face session with the FAA this past Monday (19 May) to sort out the approval delay.

 

The FAA remains hung up on two issues that are preventing issuance of the TSO/STC:

 

1.  They asked for another round of changes to the DO-254 documentation.   There were no actual product changes, just documentation changes that were requested.  We made this 3rd round of document changes and submitted that yesterday for their review.

 

2.  They now require a DO-200A LOA.   This is a letter of authorization vouching for the integrity of the nav data in the system.   When R9 was first certified, RNAV approaches like LPVs were not considered RNP approaches.  Over the last year or so, the FAA has redefined RNP to now include RNAV approaches.  So, that now means that the previously not applicable regs that governed RNP now apply to R9 and one of those requirements calls for this Type 2 LOA letter.   Can't tell you how frustrating this is but we are now cranking out the supporting data that allow issuance of the LOA.   We think this will take 5-6 weeks to get this approved.   If the stars align, it could go faster but there hasn't been any stellar alignment observed on this program to date and it's not inconceivable it will take even longer.  If there is a sliver of good news, the FAA has made it their goal to have this all behind us at or prior to Oshkosh.  So I would anchor current expectations around an Oshkosh TSO/STC date for R9.3.

 

As for Garmin being subjected to the same rigor/scrutiny, I think the basic answer is yes.   There are always minor differences from ACO to ACO but at the macro level, I'd say it's a wash.  In fact Garmin often challenge something they think Avidyne "has gotten away with" and we do the same.   For better or worse, that behavior polices a level playing field.

As some of you may have heard already, we did (finally) receive TSO/STC approval for R9.3 and SynVis.  Thank you all for hanging in there.

You should coordinate with Avidyne Sales/Service and your local Avidyne Service Center for the logistics of getting your airplane updated.