Looks like we'll eventually be down to one avionics manufacturer to
choose from. I don't neccessarily think this is a good thing. Anyone
else's take on this?


At least there are currently competing vendors to replace your GPS or
Nav/com or audio panel or engine instruments or whatever.

If you were to fly an airplane with the new Garmin G1000, the entire
avionics and engine instrumentation system is certified en block and thus
for the life of the airplane you would be dependent on Garmin for parts and
repairs. If the integrated tachometer broke, for example, you could not
buy one from a competing source. Etc. for all the parts.

Imagine if 20 years ago you bought a computer or audio system or whatever
electronic device and now you had to rely on the original vendor to keep the
equipment operating. Now imagine that that original computer system
operates a $250,000+ piece of machinery... that would not be a pleasant
situation to be in, yet that is exactly the situation owners of G1000
airplanes will be in 10 or 20 or 30 years from now. The G1000 is the ENTIRE
panel! Third-party modifications are likely to be very difficult since that
would involve modifying proprietary software.

Look at the space shuttle for a comparable example; even NASA is starting to
have difficulty obtaining parts for the 1970s era computers on the space
shuttle.

A glass cockpit is great, but in order for this not to involve unreasonable
economic risk on the part of the airplane owners the design needs to be be
more modular and open-ended, just like the PC industry and in fact just like
our existing system of "steam gauge" instruments and avionics installations.


--
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com