Not long ago, “cutting edge” avionics systems included a single GPS unit as their crown jewel. Today, just about every single engine airplane packs enough avionics power to make a space shuttle captain jealous. With redundant solid-state gyros, cross-comparing data computers, and quadruple source power supplies, it won’t be long before these systems can fire off photon torpedoes, raise invisible shields and preselect your phasers to “stun.”

One of the most overlooked facts, however, is that it’s not just what these systems can do that is important, it’s also how they do it. After all, they navigate the same airways and fly the same approaches to the same minimums as an older “steam gauge” airplane, but the process they use to do this gives the pilot added levels of precision and situational awareness. Comparing one platform to another is just as much about comparing the features and capabilities as it is about comparing the process each uses to perform the same tasks.

I recently had an opportunity to do exactly that, when I took a friend up for an instrument proficiency check (IPC), completing half of his check behind Garmin’s Perspective avionics suite and the other half at the controls of Avidyne’s new Release 9 (R9) system. After flying each, it’s clear that they not only offer a different set of features, but they also subscribe to different theories of operation.

Background

Before we can compare the two systems, it’s important to understand that each carries a different design history. Garmin Perspective is essentially a highly customized installation of its G1000 platform. The largest difference between the Perspective and the G1000 system flying in other single engine piston aircraft, is the fact that, Perspective offers dual Air Data and Attitude Heading and References Systems (ADAHRS) as opposed to the normal single ADAHRS unit (a distinction normally reserved for multiengine jets, such as the Citation Mustang). Perspective also features other changes specifically for Cirrus (such as larger screens and a redesigned button layout). Cirrus, in turn, customized the airplane around this panel, giving it more complete electrical redundancy, and flight into known icing (FIKI) capability (a feature only available with the Perspective panel installed). Considering the fact that some basic structures of the Garmin system trace their roots back to the 400 series GPS units first introduced in the late ‘90s, Perspective can be thought of as a system which has been in development for well over a decade.

The Avidyne panel, on the other hand, is an entirely new design, and shares almost nothing in common with Entegra, its predecessor. R9 utilizes all new hardware, new software, and even a completely different underlying operating system. The fact that Avidyne has been able to bring so many new pieces together and have them function so well is no small accomplishment. And, as they did with their Entegra system, Avidyne is attempting to fundamentally redesign the way in which pilots interact with their glass panels. Like Perspective, this new system offers dual ADAHRS and utilizes a modular design (both use Line Replaceable Units, or LRUs), but that’s where the hardware similarities end; and while some of its features have yet to receive final certification, Avidyne now has a system it can continue to enhance and further develop well into the future. Game on.

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