Synthetic Vision (SVT) upgrade for older G1000

[Tim]

Quite a lot of discussion on the AOPA forum about how great SVT is. My '04 DA40 doesn't have it (or to be accurate, it has it but it's not switched on) and I believe to add it is around 10,000USD.

Has anyone on the board added it to their G1000? How much did it cost? Was it worth it? Have you used it in mission critical situations (inadvertent vmc into imc, loss of autopilot, etc)?

How about you lucky folks with the newer model DA40s that came with it switched on? Do you use it? Is it a nice to have or could you not imagine flying without it? Any gotchas?

Not sure if the DA42 is on the same revision track for the G1000 as the -40. If so, any of you folks using it?

Thanks!
Tim

[Antoine]

Hi Tim

I have elected not to have it and getChartView instead when I bought my DA40 XL.
A friend of mine has it in his XLS and says it is invaluable, especially when shooting approaches in IMC. I once flew VFR over the Alps with him and we errr, well we were not really VMC all the time seeing the mountains on the SVT screen was much more reassuring than the yellow/red patches my own DA40 would have displayed instead.

Considering it is NOT a certified navigation method, and it stil costs $10''000, I have decided to wait and find a portable device with SVT. My TAWS-B will do for now.

[gsontheimer]

... well, the DA 40 flies without SVT. But it is one of thouse things, once you have it, you don't want to give it away, again. The Flight Path marker markes approaches a snap, you always see, where you will hit the ground when maintaining your attitud and speed. The terrain it displays is reassuring in IMC. I never switch it off. But 10.000 US$ is an awful lot of money. If you have no money to waste, you may want to consider buying a Garmin 795/796 instead.

[Tim]

I was in Auburn California (AUN) yesterday and looking around their excellent pilot shop, took a look at the new Garmin Aera 796.

http://www.tghaviation.com/Garmin-aera- ... 967-10.htm

It was very impressive, has SVT, and is 75% cheaper than unlocking SVT on the G1000.
The big issue is, where do you put it in the DA40 cockpit? I have enough trouble with the iPad and the Kindle DX. If I'm using the 796 for SVT in actual IMC, not sure that resting it on my knee will really cut it.

[Graham]

The SVT came with my XLS and I have to say it really is nice when you are shooting an approach in IMC. When you are turning on final in cloud and it is drawing hills, towers and the runway, it provides the extra backup on situational awareness. I would find it difficult not to have it now but as in the previous posts, at 10K, I am not sure I would make it a priority upgrade.

[Graham]

I also meant to add if you are a VFR only pilot, then I think it has limited value given I didn't really use it until I got my IFR.

[gsontheimer]

For the DA40 pilots looking for a way to mount a 796 or a 696 - which I have right now - I had a RAM mount 1 inch base fixed to the dashboard and a 24 Volt socket installed to the left side of my dashboard. Looks like on the picture and I fly with three (!) displays now. The 696 gives me a GPS vector chart when the MFD displays charts or vice versa. The 696 has all my IFR charts loaded (JeppView MFD subscription).

[Tim]

Very impressive! Can you share your pitch and power settings too? Do you use the 696 with SVT?

[gsontheimer]

The 696 does not have SVT. And the 796/795 will not really have it, it lacks the AHRS, so it is a GPS-only emulation of SVT, but "good enough". But not a match for the G1000 SVT.

Power Settings included. Enjoy.

[BRS]

.. Can you share your pitch and power settings too? Do you use the 696 with SVT?

I was just going to ask the same thing.


Thanks Gerhard for sharing.