Aspen PFD

J

jonathankline

New member
Has anyone installed an Aspen PFD in their 8KCAB? If so, where did you end up mounting the AHRS module? Any other gotchas?

Getting ready to drop one into my Decathlon..... Any advice / suggestions / etc. would be appreciated.

~Jonathan
 
Which model, the Pilot or the Pro? Depends on what you want to do with it and the the type of GPS that you will use in conjunction with it? The AHRS can be mounted at the wing root close to the leading edge. Don't let them sell you the roll steering module with it as you will not be connecting it to an auto pilot. The Pro has a certified output for altitude and can replace your encoder for mode C, not sure about the Pilot.

I think the best advice is to pick an Avionics shop with a lot of Aspen knowledge. Aspen PFDs have a lot of capability and need to be matched with your other avionics and installed accordingly.

Additionally don't think about flying IFR without a backup AI. If you lose your pitot pressure from ice or a bug in the pitot tube, the AI in the Aspen will go inop and flag out with a big X.

Bill
 
You might also call American Champion, as they have certified the Aspen (don't know which model) in the fleet; this could make it easy to be legal.
 
wpbarnar said:
Which model, the Pilot or the Pro? Depends on what you want to do with it and the the type of GPS that you will use in conjunction with it? The AHRS can be mounted at the wing root close to the leading edge. Don't let them sell you the roll steering module with it as you will not be connecting it to an auto pilot. The Pro has a certified output for altitude and can replace your encoder for mode C, not sure about the Pilot.
Click to expand...

The Pro. Good to know about the encoder output. We're planning to do a full panel (Aspen 1000 Pro, 430W, KT74) and convert everything to circuit breakers while we're at it this spring. The wing root / leading edge helps a lot.

wpbarnar said:
Additionally don't think about flying IFR without a backup AI. If you lose your pitot pressure from ice or a bug in the pitot tube, the AI in the Aspen will go inop and flag out with a big X.
Click to expand...

Didn't even think about that. I'll have to look into various options.

Robert Szego said:
You might also call American Champion, as they have certified the Aspen (don't know which model) in the fleet; this could make it easy to be legal.
Click to expand...

We noticed that, it's a good option to have the back pocket. The Aspen already STC'd for the 8KCAB, although ACA might have some good insight on configuration / location.

~Jonathan
 
We've put a lot of them in. We use our data for the Pilot and use Aspen's STC for the Pro.

The tricky part of the RSM is that it is mildly sensitive to magnetic fields. So its best to avoid the steal structure...NOT easy. More recent software has made this less of a problem. With the fabric airplane, you can mount it on the interior. You are supposed to turn the OAT feature off though. We have a 'shelf' that you can mount on the right side of the airplane back above the battery; seems to work fine. ON new A/C we put it on the lower dorsal ground plane, while the Comm goes on the ground plane behind the greenhouse. Aircraft with dual comms need the RSM mounted in a wing.

Edit:
If you want to go for the gusto, we have a panel that lets the aspen mount recessed.
 
wpbarnar said:
Additionally don't think about flying IFR without a backup AI... If you lose your pitot pressure from ice or a bug in the pitot tube...
Click to expand...

I have an Aspen in my Skylane - it'll spoil you fast :) I can testify from personal experience that statement to be correct.
other's may chime in with more better intel but when I had mine installed, the shop told me they were not allowed to install it without retaining the original AI - and merely moved it a hole to the right where the NAV1 OBS used to reside.
It's worked flawlessy for the 5 years/450 hours that I've had it. got my IFR ticket using it.
 
They are correct; you must have the backup AI if you are looking at IFR.
However, you can ditch it for VFR installs...which will be most of this fleet.
 
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