Radar: Gramin StormOptix
It is safe to say, the majority of this magazine’s readers are flying legacy singles. Certainly, my own experience as an avionics consultant is based on the pilots who contact me seeking advice on their next avionics upgrade. A look back at my clients in the last year shows that just 5% are flying twin engine aircraft, the last two being a Twin Comanche and a Piper Seneca. I think this is typical of my client base through the eleven years I’ve been writing these articles and independently helping aircraft owners. As a result, I have not written much about the needs of the twin engine pilot but there are a few tools that are unique to twin engine aircraft.
Where to Start
Engine management is times two and radar is an option not available to most single engine pilots. Other than Doppler and the addition of color displays, radar hasn’t changed much over the years, so I haven’t felt like there was much to talk about here. I’ve always believed a good Stormscope or Strike Finder will keep you away from a thunderstorm cell and at a significantly less expensive investment, certainly for Light IFR. The availability of ADS-B IN has devalued active WX tools like radar and the Stormscope and I stand by my position that active WX avoidance is better.
The Comanche pilot was considering an upgrade to modern avionics with Light IFR in mind, including electronic flight instruments. Radar was not a concern.
The Seneca was an unusual situation. The owner of the aircraft (from Uruguay) was not a pilot. He owned a nice 1999 Turbo Seneca and had three pilots on call to fly him where he needed to go, when he needed to go. The aircraft had the original Bendix King, factory-installed avionics suite including a KLN-94 non-WAAS GPS and it had a Bendix KING RDR-2000 color radar. WAAS or ADS-B are not yet available in the area where he flies so the non-WAAS KLN-94 is still relevant. The owner of the Seneca’s primary concern was that his pilots have “the most appropriate weather information.”
His other concern was the limited “expertise” available in South America on the new avionics. I pointed out that Gulf Coast Avionics now had a facility in Colombia and that they would certainly be able to provide the expertise he wanted. We discussed avionics upgrade options for when WAAS and ADS-B would be available, sticking with Garmin, likely more familiar to South American avionics techs. But his immediate focus was on weather. He also has a WX-950 Stormscope which, simply stated, was the best of the self-contained (built-in display) tools for avoiding thunderstorms. His concern was whether the RDR- 2000 radar was good enough for the mission at hand.
One caveat was that he planned to sell or upgrade the aircraft in five years. That calls for a conservative upgrade budget in my opinion. The RDR-2000 was pretty much the “standard” in a light twin prior to 2006 and has had a good reputation. No longer available new, I confirmed that support was still available but told him parts were getting more expensive, and I looked at alternatives.
My South American client was the first client in years to ask about a radar upgrade, so I did a little research and found that Garmin was pretty much the way to go if updating your radar was in the cards. A new Garmin GWX-75 radar would be about $22,000 installed but since his existing radar display was not compatible, he would also need to upgrade to the GTN 750Xi to be able to display it. I ultimately suggested that he do an overhauled exchange on his ART-2000 processor for about $5000 now, (through Mid-Continent Avionics and Instruments) while repair was still available and likely more affordable. I felt it would get him comfortably through the next five years with the Seneca. Remember, he also had a very good Stormscope. When WAAS came along, his ART-2000 would be able to display on the Garmin GTN 750Xi.
Weather Radar
“Radio Detection and Ranging” (radar) originated in the experimental work of Heinrich Hertz, in the late 1880s, who proved that radio waves could detect metal objects. It wasn’t until World War II that British and U.S. researchers were able to develop a high-powered microwave radar system for military use. Radar today is used as a navigational aid for airplanes and marine vessels. Air traffic control uses it around major airports to separate traffic. TV stations use it to monitor local weather systems, and law enforcement uses it to catch speeders. It was some years before we would see airborne radar in general aviation aircraft.
Early airborne systems were developed by Collins, later to become Rockwell Collins. RCA, later Sperry (and later Honeywell), produced radars for aircraft marketed under the “Primus” label. In the ‘60s, Bendix produced radars under the RDR label and King developed the KWX40/50 and KWX56/58 radars. When Bendix and King merged in 1983 as Bendix King (later to become Allied Signal), the SEC required them to sell off one of their radar designs. They sold the KWX-56/58 to Narco.
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