IFD440 Certification
Printed From: Avidyne
Category: Avidyne General
Forum Name: IFD 5 Series & IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
Forum Description: Topics on Avidyne's IFD 5 Series and IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
URL: http://forums.avidyne.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=401
Printed Date: 12 Nov 2024 at 4:01pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: IFD440 Certification
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Subject: IFD440 Certification
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2014 at 2:45pm
|
Congratulations to the team
for the cert on the IFD 540 Now
that they are shipping I figured it is time to start a new topic for the
IFD-440 certification process. So Jake
I know you are still enjoying a deserved vacation but when you get back and settled
we would appreciate an update on the IFD-440. |
Replies:
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2014 at 7:30pm
|
We're very happy with how the IFD440 development is going. I'm flying it quite often now. For planning purposes, everybody should assume it's a December cert. That's 6 months after the 540 cert and means we go pencils down in Oct to get all material in the hands of the FAA in Nov to get cert in Dec. One of the things we'll work on during the early fall is to get an iPad app for the 440 out. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 18 Aug 2014 at 3:58pm
|
Thanks What
about a PC based 440 simulator? Primarily
to see how to arrange the boxes on the
screen for personal preference and so I don’t get overly used to the larger screen
on the 540. |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 18 Aug 2014 at 9:25pm
|
Working on it. It's a middle priority right now so it might be a fall kind of thing. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: Jack Seubert
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 7:50pm
|
Steve, I am wondering about the cert for the IFD 440 is the process similar to the IFD 540 or can some of the cert data be reused since it appears to be that both boxes at least have similar software and comparable hardware. Jack ------------- Jack Seubert |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 8:03pm
|
Hi Jack, I'm glad you asked. I was just about to make a IFD440 post. Yes, a lot of the 540 cert data will be reused for the 440 cert. The 440 and 540 software lines are one in the same. Among other things, that means the release of the IFD440 software (which will be called "Release 10.1.0.0" or just "Release 10.1" for short) will simultaneously be a release for the 540. It is premature to provide a precise definition of the new features that both the 440 and 540 will get when compared to the initial release of the 540 but I'll do that as we get closer to the cert finish line. Most of my flights each week now are IFD440 test flights. I've got a 540 in the top slot and a 440 in the bottom slot for the test flights. I evaluate the software changes on both boxes at the same time. The software loaded on the components of the units (e.g. VHF, GPS, I/O, main processor, maintenance modes, Operating System and drivers, etc) are identical so we can take previously certified credit and that's a huge help/times savings. We still believe we're looking at an end of the year cert (~ 6 months after IFD540) for the 440 and Release 10.1. I'll be sure to provide updates if that changes but I'm not expecting it. One of the more interesting changes that has come out of flight testing the 440 is that we're going to shave off some of the top edge of the IFD440 bezel in order to improve the viewing angle of the top edge and not make the top few pixels of the glass unviewable without moving your head significantly. Imagine shaving the top thin bezel such that we make it concave. So, when you're viewing it from above (as will be the case with many installs) you can see the entire glass with no un-natural effort on your part. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: ddgates
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 9:19pm
|
Jake: Are you thinking about doing a 440 experimental release like y'all did with the 540? ------------- David Gates |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 9:22pm
|
No plans for a pilot program (pre-TSO) for the 440. BTW, did you get word of your units ship date? ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: ddgates
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 9:43pm
|
Jake: NO, discussion, "probably", "maybe", "sorry dude you misssed it" and so forth. I have posted over and over again, dual messaging. I think y'all have a great future, but I also think you need some customer focus group feedback. Would like to be constructive. DMG ------------- David Gates |
Posted By: ddgates
Date Posted: 06 Sep 2014 at 7:55pm
|
Ok, chill on the adrenaline... We have shipped....my thanks to sales crew. DMG ------------- David Gates |
Posted By: wingmate88
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2014 at 10:28pm
|
Wondering if there is any literature or details on how the IFD440s will display on the Avidyne EX5000 PFD and MFD? All the Cirrus and Piper aircraft that have the Entegra EX5000 PFD/MFD displays bundled with dual 430s would have a rather easy upgrade path, but not sure if the IFD440 is the right size to be truly functional in that arrangement. ------------- Max |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2014 at 8:22pm
|
Max, I'll check with the Marketing folks. I can say we have that configuration running in our Integration Test Lab and it's all working just fine. Of course in those installations, they typically have two 430s and since the 440s are plug & play with the 430, from our perspective, they are exactly the right size (and you get bigger, brighter, and higher res glass). ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: wingmate88
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2014 at 8:29pm
|
It would certainly be easiest and most cost effective if one could simply replace the 430s with IFD440s, but do you think the screen size of the IFD440s will be of sufficient size to truly be useful (considering rubber-banding and pinch and zoom etc,)? Or, do you think the IFD540 is that much better to invest in some panel work to fit it (somehow). I guess I'm hoping (due to both cost and effort) you will say dual 440s will be just fine for the Entegra 5000 PFD/MFD aircraft looking to upgrade. Thanks,
------------- Max |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2014 at 8:31pm
|
(IFD440 Certification Update - 19 Sep 2014) We have concluded that we need to re-run environmental qual on the IFD440 hardware ("re-run" in the sense that we ran environmental qual for the 540 and all the internal cards are the same). There are enough physical differences (different custom glass, different bezel, different internal fan configuration, and different back plate) that we need to re-run these tests. That's going to result in a 10-12 week delay in cert so instead of looking at a Christmas-time cert, it looks like a spring 2015 cert. We're frustrated by this since the software appears to be done but we don't see any other option. On the hopeful front, we hope that delay means the software that supports the internal wifi functionality can actually be enabled with each shipping 440. Since there is so much cert friction on the wifi functionality, we had been expecting to ship the initial 440s with the wifi functionality software-disabled. We're running the wifi cert in parallel and *maybe* we'll be through all the hurdles in time for a concurrent approval. We'll see. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2014 at 8:36pm
|
Max, Tough call. I've been spoiled by flying dual 540s for so long. For the past few months, I've been flying a combined 540-440 configuration so that's still not completely representative of your expected combo. I find that I use the lower IFD, no matter the size, in a supporting role for the upper IFD. We have done some slick things in the 440 (which the 540 will get automatically too) that help maximize the usable screen space. For example, the user can elect to have the tabs along the bottom of the screen "sink down" after x seconds of no use (x is selectable by the user). Another example is that we've added a feature where the user can change the flight plan into single line depictions instead of 3-4 lines per leg. And yet another example is that the user can turn off the top strip datablock and the heading box at the top of the map, all of which increase usable space. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 10:33am
|
Jake How's the 440 cert coming along?
|
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 8:10pm
|
(IFD440 Certification Update - 27 Oct 2014) Cert progress is trucking along. Still looking at a spring release. Another piece of good news today involved temperature. Heat creation/dissipation was an issue we've been actively working on and test results reviewed today showed that a few minor design tweaks have made a big improvement. That clears the way for the new hardware qual to start in the winter which is essential to keeping it on a spring release path. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2014 at 5:19am
|
Well, another year goes by and another annual, once again without being able to install the new electronics. Very frustrated that the 440 delayed until spring. I will probably not be able to pass my medical by the time this gets sorted out. Yes, a good deal to buy early but was it really considering the delays? Dan |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2014 at 5:22am
|
P.S. Two years, 4 months. |
Posted By: tony
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2014 at 10:31pm
| Will the 440 provide terrain alerts (audio) just like the 540? |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2014 at 7:24am
|
Yes. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 11 Dec 2014 at 7:33pm
| 2years 5 months |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 12 Dec 2014 at 7:25am
|
(IFD440 Certification Update - 12 Dec 2014) Everything still nicely on track for a spring time release. The hardware qual should be all done by late Feb/early March. Software is looking to finish at the same time. Software release 10.1 covers both the IFD540 and IFD440. Flight test is going fine too - no hiccups of any meaning discovered. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2015 at 2:52pm
| Thanks for the reply back in Dec. any updates? |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2015 at 4:00pm
|
(IFD440 Certification Update - 5 Jan 2015) No issues of any kind have been encountered since the last update. Hardware and Software qual are all still on track to complete by March which should be mean certification 2-4 weeks after that. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2015 at 6:57pm
| 2 1/2 years. Still waiting. |
Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2015 at 8:13pm
It will have been worth the wait, pretty much guaranteed. * Orest |
dnally wrote:Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2015 at 6:53pm
| That remains to be seen. My issue is not the equipment but as most all bloggers have expressed it is the lack of meeting promises and Avidyne's treatment of early adopters vs retail sales today that approach the value we should have received. As pointed out in other parts of this forum, they haven't a clue about how to truly treat and appreciate the customers that have supported them with their capital, patience. I really should have kept my cash and bought a 540/340 this month. |
Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2015 at 9:01pm
Well, the 440 is not shipping yet, so you should be able to request a refund, and do exactly that. * Orest |
Posted By: brou0040
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2015 at 11:06pm
| You are missing the point. |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2015 at 12:22am
|
I don't think he is. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: Gring
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2015 at 7:35am
| Dnally, The Avidyne sales team is quite accommodating. I'm sure you can exchange your preordered 440 for a 540 and a transponder. You should give them a call. |
Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2015 at 9:25am
That may well be so. Perhaps it is just that my view is different. I remain quite happy with the healthy discount that I got on my IFD540, and then a similar discount on the AXP340 that was offered to pre-ship customers. Whether the pre-buy program was to raise capital or just to stave off customers moving to a competitor, I don't know, I would guess probably a bit of both. I do have to say that that is what caught my initial interest -- and for that I'm forever thankful. I would be really ticked off now, if I had gone to a "lesser" *armin product a couple of years ago. Personally, I don't begrudge the short term discounts that Avidyne is offering to new buyers currently (or may in the future), that is a relatively common phenomenon at product releases to garner interest, to get the ball rolling. And from a selfish perspective, it is in my interest as well to have the product succeed in the market! But, honestly, I can also say that once I got the product(s) installed, I was much more ready to forgive any delays I had endured. Reportedly, in the next month that should include all the 540 pre-ship folks, and the backlog of 340s. Obviously the 440 folks still have a bit of waiting, which leads into my initial note on this. * Orest |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2015 at 11:20pm
|
The specific point is I am 60 yrs old with medical issues that challenge me in maintaining a Class III medical every year. Foolishly or not, I counted on Avidyne to do what they said they would do. I wanted to use this equipment while getting an IFR rating. Hasn't happened yet. So it is not only the price thing that has put me off but the whole situation. Trust was given, it wasn't appreciated. The overall timeline on this was/ is unacceptable. The economic piece is just salt in the wound. And yes, Orest is missing the point. |
Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2015 at 11:43pm
|
Ah, that fills out the story a bit more. I'm sorry to hear of your situation. Myself, I had the luxury of being able to wait. Except for the general impatience of wanting the stuff "yesterday", I did have a fully functional panel, and did not have any overriding time sensitive issues. I hope things work out for you.
* Orest |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2015 at 8:10pm
| Thanks-me too. |
Posted By: Alan
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:29am
|
This is for Jake or some one in the sales team. I am in the process of buying a new stack. Have really liked what i read in brochure about the 540, auto pilot and audio panel/440 txp. But after the you tube showing the 540 getting lost and a lot of the post here I starting really worry and to look elsewhere. Can any one tell me with out any doubt what the 540 will do out of the box. I mean how many and which different soft ware packages do you have to buy , how often and does the unit quit when that package expires? What specials are available for immediate purchases. There seems to be a lot of disagrement on these items. I just want to know what I am getting and what do i need to buy?? Thanks for any help, ------------- Alan |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:49am
|
Hi Alan, Thanks for joining AvidyneLive. I'm not sure but is the YouTube video you reference showing the unit lose GPS lock? If so, those problems were addressed in recent minor software releases. I'm afraid I'm not following your software packages question. There is only one software package for the IFD540 and 440. There is an option to upgrade either unit to a 16W radio transmitter for 28V aircraft but that is the only available option at this time. We do periodically release new software updates that address field issues (like that YouTube video) and/or add new features (like the upcoming spring release of "10.1.0.0"). We don't have any notion of a package expiring. The only concept of something expiring are the Jeppesen Nav, Chart and Obstacle databases - maybe that's what you meant??. Those are subscription based data updates from Jepp to keep your nav, charts and obstacle data current. While we don't endorse letting those subscriptions lapse, if they do expire, the IFD540 and 440 will continue to operate just fine. In the case of expired charts, you will get an "Expired" watermark on the chart but it still appears. There has been a lot of confusion on the Jepp bundles and we spent a lot of time on the phone yesterday with the Jepp managers stressing the need to clean up that confusion. Because there are literally hundreds of ways to slice up the Chart subscriptions geographically, it's tough to concisely provide a one price fits all option for the charts BUT there are two bundles available for your Avidyne equipped cockpit from Jepp. Our sales guys can walk you through that Jepp option world. If you send a direct email to Jared Butson (jbutson@avidyne.com), he can ensure a knowledgeable guy walks you through the details. Does that address what you are asking? Jake ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: topogen
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:56am
|
For what its worth... If you decide to move ahead.... You might give Gulf Coast Avionics in Lakeland a call and talk to Andy. They were very knowledgable, informed and up to date. They did my IFD540 install (at a very good price FYI) and I'm happy with this box. Once you get the FMS logic (which aint too hard!) its very intuitive. And, there are many cool features when you drill down on the manifold systems and customizations that are possible. I heard that GC is getting in a ton of new IFD540's (like 27?). They (GC) would be a good source to check on for the IFD 440 as well. By the way, I am in no way affiliated with GC... just a very satisfied customer! ------------- Not all that counts can be counted |
Posted By: roltman
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:25am
|
Alan, interesting, I'll have to find the video. I have about 6000nm on my IFD540. I dunno if that's a lot or not compared to others. I have not had it get lost as I've flown around the US with it. I have flown several approaches without issue. Having nearly one of the very first shipping units, my unit was not without glitches, but all have been addressed promptly, and I should stress the current shipping units do not have these initial issues I experienced. I was a tentative/conservative person as well. I only purchased one IFD540 and kept a 430W in my plane as a fall back if the unit didn't work as advertised. Things have worked so well, I just dropped my plane off this Thursday to install a 2nd IFD540 and a APX340 ADS-B transponder to replace this Garmin 430W and my 330 transponder. Mainly because I have not touched my 430W on any flight for the last 20+ some flight hours as my IFD540 has been used exclusively. As for software packages, I don't know what you are asking. I did purchase data from Jeppesen just like I did for my GNS430Ws, but I haven't sent Avidyne a cent for anything after buying the GPS. As for expired data, if the Jeppesen data is out of date, I believe the only feature you lose is the aircraft geo-referenced on the Jeppesen IFR terminal procedure charts. I don't think you can buy directly from Avidyne anymore, but only through a distributor, but someone from Avidyne should comment on this. I think the best deal right now is with Gulf Coast Avionics (where I purchased my 2nd unit), and it took literally 3 business days from when I picked up the phone till I had all the equipment. I placed my order about two weeks ago, so almost all manufacturing backlogs have been addressed. You mentioned the smaller 440 GPS. This unit currently is not finished with certification. Steve (a.k.a. Jake) can comment on it's exact state, but I think its very close. I guess the take-away is I put my toe in the water and got my first IFD540 unit back in October, I've flown about 6000nm with it, including in and around very busy DC/NY airspace. I was so pleased with its performance that I purchased a 2nd one. For what it's worth I did replace my GMA340 audio panel with the PS Engineering PMA450 instead of buying an Avidyne 240 audio panel, so I'm not some Avidyne loyalist. I just thought the PMA450 user interface to be better, and it does support every feature the Avidyne audio panel has including the standby MON feature. I tried them both out at Oshkosh last summer, and suggest anyone buying equipment try to do the same. Alan, hope this helps. Regards, Ryan |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 10:34am
|
(IFD440 Certification Update - 25 Jan 2015) Still no issues have been encountered since the 5 Jan update. Everything is on track to complete in March with TSO/STC issued 2-4 weeks after that. We expect to have many IFD440s installed and flying in folks airplanes prior to Sun-n-Fun. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: Alan
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 12:36pm
|
The You tube video is 540 Confusing Display. Jake , yes you have helped some but i will contact more dealers for further questions and the one name you sent. Thanks for the help. And the same for you guys who sent comments. ------------- Alan |
Posted By: MysticCobra
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 1:01pm
| That's the video posted as part of http://www.avidynelive.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=515&KW=11r&title=issue-with-direct-to-distance-count-down" rel="nofollow - this thread , from back in December. |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2015 at 2:02pm
|
(IFD440 Certification Update - 5 Feb 2015) Some interesting challenges encountered since the 25 Jan update on the display of ADS-B traffic but we're back on track and everything is still expected to be complete in March with TSO/STC issued 2-4 weeks after that. This also means we should have a large number installed and flying in customer aircraft prior to Sun-n-Fun. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: Rocket Man
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2015 at 2:08pm
|
Really Jake? Sun N Fun starts Apr 21. ------------- Bob IFD 440 Beech Sierra |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2015 at 2:08pm
|
Really. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2015 at 8:45pm
| Yet to be seen. |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2015 at 8:25pm
| 2 years 7 months |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2015 at 8:42pm
|
dnally, I am definitely not following the point of your timing posts. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2015 at 12:48pm
|
Jake Yes I have been waiting or over 2 years as well. I have switched planes and models since this all began and I'm looking forward to the shipping of the IFD440s soon. Has Avidyne published a 440 simulator? I know the main focus has been on the 540 and I have been playing with that simulator but it would be nice to have a simulator with the same screen real estate as the model I'm going to eventually get. |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2015 at 8:57am
|
(IFD440 Certification Status Update - 25 Feb 2015) Still on track for certification in time to have installations completed prior to Sun-n-Fun. I have another active thread on the forum that talks about Release 10.1.0.0 status. That version of software runs on both the IFD540 and the IFD440. For the 540, it's a major update to the system and for the 440, it's the initial release. The entire development team is focused on getting the joint upgrade/cert effort completed in time. When the right folks on that team come up for air, they will jump on the downloadable windows sim and the Ipad app updates. I definitely understand why folks are interested in getting their hands on the 440 sim now but it looks like we're another month or so away from having it available. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: mfb
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2015 at 11:13am
|
Thanks How are the Boston blizzards affecting your operation? Can your employees get to work? Mike |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2015 at 11:31am
| My point goes to the same issue I continue to see with your firm. Dec 2014, late-Feb, early March 15, now Sun-N-Fun or late April. Just keeping track i.e. non performance of keeping promises. Yes, I am an irritated customer that is acting out thus my posts. If this helps anyone else understand who they are dealing with, great. |
Posted By: mfb
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2015 at 12:02pm
|
Did you ever see the movie where Charleton Heston plays Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel? Here's part of the dialog: Pope Julius II (the customer, yelling to Michaelangelo high on a scaffold): "When will you make an end???" Michaelangelo (the developer, yelling back): "When I'm finished!!!" I have no relationship with Avidyne except for purchasing an IFD540 from them, but I suspect that hardware development, software development, and dealing with the FAA are all probably more complex, more exacting, and less predictable than painting the Sistine Chapel. I hope that the result will be as good.
|
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2015 at 12:19pm
No meaningful adverse affects. Just a little white fluffy stuff. Greatly overblown in my opinion. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: jerryrauch
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2015 at 1:42pm
|
dnally, I can understand your frustration. I placed my order for two units 3/29/13. Mind you, I'm not as frustrated with the delays Avidyne is experiencing as much as the lack of any meaningful effort to keep us informed. If it wasn't for Jakes posts, we wouldn't have any idea what is going on. You would think that anyone that has bought the units would get an email ( say every couple weeks) with an update on what is going on and how it is impacting the shipping dates. To be forced to call the sales department for answers is not the way to keep customers happy. I believe this is a really great product, and our resulting excitement to use, them seems to be compounding our frustration. ------------- JR |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Mar 2015 at 9:46am
|
(IFD440 Certification Status Update - 7 Mar 2015) Trucking along nicely. Still expecting to be certified and shipping prior to Sun-n-Fun. We've started and completed for large sections software test-for-credit on the system already which is ahead of internal projections. If testing goes well this weekend in the environmental chamber, we should be all done with hardware qual testing by Monday which is about a week behind projection but won't have any impact on final cert date. Trying to bring the FAA test pilots in for an evaluation bench and flight session in the next week or so - they have determined they want to retain cert approval for some elements of the system instead of fully delegating. May not be a big deal presuming their schedule availability has plenty of holes. Expect to have the draft IFD440 Pilot Guide available for review and commenting on this coming week. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: jerryrauch
Date Posted: 07 Mar 2015 at 10:33am
|
Thanks for the update, I really appreciate it, please keep them coming. ------------- JR |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 11 Mar 2015 at 1:15pm
| 2. Yrs. 8 months |
Posted By: bellanca1730a
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2015 at 8:44am
|
I read an article several years ago about a woman whose car stalled at a busy intersection and a guy behind her who laid on his horn for several minutes uninterrupted. She finally got out of her car, walked back to him and said, "If you can get my car started, I'll stay here and keep honking your horn." Not sure what made me think of that. ------------- Sean Andrews Bellanca Super Viking |
Posted By: teeth6
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2015 at 9:01pm
| :) |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2015 at 6:16pm
|
(IFD440 Certification Status Update - 14 Mar 2015) Reference the 7 March update, environmental testing is complete. FAA pilots scheduled in for bench evaluation and flight test on 20 March. IFD440 Draft Pilot should be posted later tonight or on Sunday. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2015 at 8:16pm
|
IFD440 Pilot Guide is now posted at: http://www.avidyne.com/support/downloads/ifd-series.asp" rel="nofollow - http://www.avidyne.com/support/downloads/ifd-series.asp ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: BobsV35B
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2015 at 8:23pm
|
------------- Old Bob, Ancient Aviator |
Posted By: BobsV35B
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2015 at 8:26pm
|
Evening Steve, Hmmm. Should that be "is now posted"? I tried the address given it comes up with the proposed 440 pilot guide. <G> Happy Skies, Old Bob ------------- Old Bob, Ancient Aviator |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2015 at 9:41pm
|
Yup, must have been the scotch typing. Just fixed the typo. Thanks. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2015 at 2:48pm
|
Yes the light at the end of the tunnel I just hope it's not the landing lights from a 777. |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2015 at 11:24am
|
(IFD440 Certification Status Update - 21 Mar 2015) FAA pilots came in for a bench evaluation of the IFD440 and Release 10.1.0.0 and then we went out a flew a 1.3 hour evaluation sortie. I'm pleased to report that the bench eval and flight couldn't have gone better. They think they might want to fly one more flight in an IFD440-only configuration and then they would delegate the rest to us. They hope to make that decision next week. If they elected to do that, that would help reduce any schedule risk that we have left in the cert program. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: dnally
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2015 at 11:42am
| Bellanca1730: I am sure you knew what made you think of this story. Cute. I am not leaning on the horn-I am keeping track. When companies make commitments to customers and do not meet those commitments they should expect and ultimately accept the angst they have generated. That is the reality of today's market place. |
Posted By: mfb
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2015 at 9:13pm
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I was not involved with the IFD540 or 440 presale program, so I have no idea what "commitments" we're made. I do know, however , that there are risks involved whenever one gets involved with an R&D project. The history of high tech is full of products that didn't go as planned and caused problems for their early adopters. This is especially true when approvals from government agencies are involved. Boeing, you may recall, was years late on the 787 project and had more problems after the first aircraft were delivered. But they ultimately got things straightened out and the market doesn't seem to have punished them. If the IFD440 is a good product and is supported well, as there is every indication it will be, it will be accepted by the market. A year from now all this FAA-induced angst will be forgotten. The number of new customers will, hopefully, vastly outnumber the early adopters. Everything will depend on what commitments are made to the new folks, and how they are kept. Mike |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2015 at 9:17pm
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Well said. Let's check in next year and see how it turned out. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: Joe Jet
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2015 at 10:04pm
| I missed out on the pre cert buy for the 440. if anyone has a slot they would like to transfer let me know. |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 2:02pm
Jake How are things progressing on the 440 certification? Hopefully y'all are boxing up the units and getting ready to ship them out. :) |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 7:48pm
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(IFD440 Certification Update - 30 Mar 2015) Reference my 21 March post above, we are still waiting to hear from the FAA on their delegation decision. The FAA players who are making that call were away on other project travel most of last week but we're hoping to chat tomorrow. Hardware testing and qual is complete and all associated paperwork was delivered to the FAA a week or two ago (time blurs when having this much fun). Software test-for-credit is nearing completion - we expect to be 100% done with that in about a week. If that's true, we'd have all TSO paperwork submitted a few days after that. On the STC side, depending on the delegation decision, we could be in TIA next week which is terrific. Presuming concurrent TIA is delegated to us, that would be done in a matter of a few days which would be very schedule advantageous to us. Our biggest SNAFU in the last two weeks was a resurrection of the ADS-B traffic symbology issue. It remains a source of great debate and unless the FAA accepts our implementation, we may pull it out of Rel 10.1.0.0 to keep the schedule on the rails ("it" being support of MLB100 traffic - MLB100 weather would remain in this release). If that happens, we'll immediately follow up 10.1.0.0 with a release that contains approved ASD-B traffic symbology. We'll see how this pans out in the next few days. Meanwhile, the factory is sitting on gobs of parts for 440s and is actively assembling a ton of them now. As a side note for both IFD540 and IFD440 customers, as soon as you register your unit, that triggers a hard copy Pilot Guide to ship to your address. While I highly encourage folks to register their units, if an existing IFD540 customer has not done so yet, maybe you should wait until Release 10.1.0.0 is loaded in your unit(s) since that was a re-write of the Pilot Guide and those things are really expensive to print (~ $170 a copy). ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: teeth6
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 7:55pm
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Is there a way for the Pre-10.1 owners to get an updated Pilot Guide? |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 7:59pm
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How big is your checkbook? Okay that was a lame attempt at humor as an attempt to disguise the fact that I forgot what our process is going to be for that. I'll check on Tues and post an update. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: FORANE
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 7:59pm
Great news on the IFD 440 cert. As far as the printing of the pilot guide goes, why not offer to save the company some printing costs, save the planet whatever, and just deliver the pilot guide by download available on your site? Many of us just toss the guide in the box and go on. Most of us have a modern touchscreen device that works great as a reader. Is there some sort of certification thing that mandates a paper pilot guide? ------------- Lancair 235/320 RV-9A |
Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 8:11pm
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I believe the Pilot's Guide extends the AFM for the plane, so it is required on board. * Orest |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2015 at 8:14pm
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Definitely true but a lot of people printed their own copies or are using electronic copies (e.g. pdf loaded on ipad). We have not made any attempt at interpretation or policing of the form of media the PG takes. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: zman520
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2015 at 10:26am
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So, you send the printed copy by mail AFTER I register my unit, but believe that the User's Manual is part of the POH and required to be in the plane. How do I legally fly the plane home from the installation?
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2015 at 10:32am
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We supply the Pilot Guide in digital form on the data CD that comes with the unit. You or the installer can print that out if desired or keep in electronic form on a mobile device. If/when you register, we supply the hard copy book. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: Old Bob Siegfried
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2015 at 10:33am
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This is from a computer Luddite, but I would just down load the copy available on the web. Carry it in the airplane until you get the classy, shiny, expensive, and secure printed copy. Happy Skies, Old Bob ------------- Old Bob |
Posted By: pburger
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2015 at 11:44am
As I understand it: There is a flight manual supplement which is a little photocopied book with some very basic items. I have mine slipped into my flight manual binder. The fancy-smancy User's manual is NOT part of the POH for the airplane. I could be wrong - it happened once: I thought I had made a mistake, but realized later that I was right in the first place.
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Posted By: zman520
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2015 at 1:56pm
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Jake, Just confirming since I bought two IFD 440's I'll get two Pilot's Guides when I register them. I'm thru chapter 2 of the Draft Guide. I'm really stoked to get them in my panel now.
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Posted By: teeth6
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2015 at 3:15pm
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I believe it is just one Pilot Guide per customer. I bought 2 and received one which makes sense to me. |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 01 Apr 2015 at 7:08am
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Reference two open questions on Pilot Guides: 1. If I already have a PG, can I get a new one with Release 10.1.0.0? Yes. I think the best way to trigger that mailing of a new PG is to fill in, and submit the record of Rel 10.1.0.0 installation sheet that is the last page of the Service Bulletin that comes with the software release. That would be an excellent check & balance. 2. If I bought two IFDs, am I entitled to one or two PGs? The correct answer is that you are entitled to two - one book per IFD. I don't know what happened to folks like teeth6 who only got one. I agree that at first blush, it makes sense to send one book per aircraft but since we can't really know where or how you are using the boxes (you may elect to not fill in all data in the online registration form), you are entitled to one book per IFD. All of this got me thinking about cleaning up the registration form a little to basically have a section to indicate how many PG hard copies you want - one per IFD or one per airplane. For those who have bought and registered more than one IFD and only got one PG and want more, let's clean that up on a case-by-case basis as soon as the Release 10.1.0.0 software and PGs are available. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: teeth6
Date Posted: 01 Apr 2015 at 7:35am
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Thanks for clarifying that Jake. Sounds like a great plan. |
Posted By: ronl
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 12:17pm
Well, Sun-n-Fun is less than 2 weeks away. How likely is this prediction to be true? Ron L ------------- Ron L |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 12:30pm
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We don't know. We're done but just yesterday, we got this notice from the FAA out of the blue.  There is a new policy letter in effect at the FAA (AIR-100-ALL-005.pdf) which you can access at FAA website (rgl.faa.gov) and this is the first project that is being affected by it. We're trying to sort out with the FAA if they plan to use this brand new 90 day allocation and so far, they are just reiterating this new policy. This information is so new and so unexpected, we're still trying to process it. In the past, typical turn around times at this point are 10-14 days. This does not bode well. A quick check with other avionics suppliers and GAMA members all indicate they received similar slow downs in the past days/weeks. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: ronl
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 12:46pm
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Thanks for the quick response Steve. Typical FAA dysfunctional crapola. That really sux for you guys. Sorry. ------------- Ron L |
Posted By: MikeK
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 1:11pm
| For pity's sake. What is wrong with those guys? |
Posted By: jerryrauch
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 2:26pm
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How many customers are on hold at this point? Any value in us starting a lobbying effort on this new policy? ------------- JR |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 2:35pm
Several hundred.
Good luck...... ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: 1964-m20e
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 3:12pm
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Typical bureaucrats!!
On one hand I’d love to be the top dog at the FAA to mandate changes in the bureaucratic system on the other I think I would just end up being frustrated because the run of the mill bureaucrat only wants to prolong his employment. |
Posted By: ptlevine
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 8:17pm
| I registered a while ago, but don't recall receiving a hard copy. Is there a way to check whether one was printed/mailed? |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 8:24pm
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Hi Pete, I'll check on Thurs. Want to wait until Rel 10.1 for your hard copy? ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: ptlevine
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2015 at 11:59pm
Yes. Happy to wait. Due for a 440 in month one production too anyway...
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Posted By: Jack Seubert
Date Posted: 09 Apr 2015 at 9:16am
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Steve, I am wondering if this would be a great time for the FAA to delegate Avidyne to complete the certification of the IFD 440 since it sounds like most of the cert work has been completed and they don't have the manpower to complete it themselves. Jack ------------- Jack Seubert |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 09 Apr 2015 at 9:19am
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We're waiting on a read from the FAA this week or early next week on the level of delegation they will grant on the STC side. We had one answer and that was changed a few weeks ago and they are contemplating a change back to the original level. I'll post an update when we find out for those folks who are interested. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: phkmn
Date Posted: 09 Apr 2015 at 5:06pm
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FAA certification division must be cross-training with the AeroMedical division, where 90 days is about average for SI clearance with no complications. ------------- PH |