G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

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VickersPilot
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by VickersPilot »

Any word on expected Phase III dates?
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by chili4way »

We hope to have an update from Diamond this week.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by mhoran »

I see that there is an update on Phase III posted in a new thread. Did Diamond provide any update on the DA40 Lycoming update that was due out in October?
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by pietromarx »

mhoran wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:11 am I see that there is an update on Phase III posted in a new thread. Did Diamond provide any update on the DA40 Lycoming update that was due out in October?
I posted the same question on the new thread. There is nothing that I see on Garmin's technical updates.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by mhoran »

Do we have any news on a release date for the DA40 Lycoming legacy G1000 software update? I figured this would shortly follow the DA42-TDI (as indicated in the initial timeline) but I haven't heard anything...

Edit: I see 3/31/2022 was mentioned in the Phase III thread, but that date has long since passed.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by mhoran »

After my recent magnetometer failure on my return home from engine overhaul, I reached out to Diamond to inquire about the GDU v15 upgrade. The v15 software falls back to GPS track as heading, which would have been useful for navigation with a magnetometer failure.

Diamond informed me that there are no plans to release a software update for legacy G1000 airplanes. They told me to ask Garmin (and I already know that will get me nowhere.) I sent them the communication that was shared with Diamond owners at the start of this thread, and also asked why DA42 owners received an update but not DA40 owners. I don't expect to get any meaningful reply.

It seems Diamond has completely abandoned us early DA40 owners -- with no software update nor upgrade path to G1000 NXi.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by CFIDave »

mhoran wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:52 pmDiamond informed me that there are no plans to release a software update for legacy G1000 airplanes. They told me to ask Garmin (and I already know that will get me nowhere.) I sent them the communication that was shared with Diamond owners at the start of this thread, and also asked why DA42 owners received an update but not DA40 owners. I don't expect to get any meaningful reply.

It seems Diamond has completely abandoned us early DA40 owners -- with no software update nor upgrade path to G1000 NXi.
The problem goes back to Garmin's OEM business model, combined with the huge cost of certifying avionics software with aviation regulatory authorities.

Garmin's customer for the G1000 (NXi) is the OEMs (e.g., Diamond Aircraft), not aircraft owners. That Garmin business unit only cares about OEM revenue and keeping OEMs happy. This is completely different from Garmin's retrofit avionics business (run by a different business unit) targeted at aircraft owners.

Neither Garmin nor Diamond have any financial business incentive to develop and certify software updates for obsolete Legacy G1000 flight decks. Why?
- There aren't enough planes in the fleet to pay for the up-front certification costs. This isn't helped by the fact that G1000 software updates have always been distributed by Garmin for free, with owners only having to pay for installation (e.g., a few hours of Garmin dealer avionics technician time). There's no software upgrade revenue for Garmin or Diamond.
- Diamond has a dis-incentive because they don't want their newer DA40s with more advanced G1000 NXi hardware or software to be competing with used DA40s that have had their G1000's upgraded.

Diamond DA40-180/XL/XLS/XLT (Lycoming) customers with Legacy G1000s do have an advantage relative to other Diamond owners, because the G1000 was added to the DA40 via a Supplemental Type Certificate -- the G1000 is NOT part of the plane's Type Certificate as with the DA40NG/DA42/DA50/DA62. This means it should legal for these DA40 owners to rip out their G1000 systems and install modern retrofit avionics like Garmin's G3X or GTN750Xi -- thus freeing them from Diamond avionics decisions.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by mhoran »

Oh I get it, I just think it's a terrible business model. Those purchasing NXi equipped cockpits today are inevitably going to be in the same situation down the road, but they won't have the STC out that legacy G1000 owners have. I would be very wary of purchasing a NXi equipped Diamond given the track record here. We've already beaten this topic to death elsewhere, but Diamond sticks out among the other manufacturers in their lack of post sales support for the G1000.

Legacy G1000 owners were also given some false hope from Diamond here and yet again disappointed. My sentiment of Diamond is constantly wavering between good and bad. It doesn't make me want to go out and encourage anyone to purchase any Diamond airplane.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by CFIDave »

mhoran wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:14 pmLegacy G1000 owners were also given some false hope from Diamond here and yet again disappointed.
Back in late 2020 Diamond Canada actually had a plan for delivering DA40 Legacy G1000 GDU Version 15 -- following their certification of DA40 NXi Phase III. Since years later NXi Phase III still hasn't been certified by Transport Canada for DA40s (Lycoming XLT or Austro NG), I'm guessing that DA40 Legacy G1000 GDU V15 has been postponed indefinitely. Any hope for development and testing of GDU V15 may also have been affected by the departure last year of Diamond Canada CEO Scott McFadzean.
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Re: G1000 Legacy & NXI Software Upgrades Announcement

Post by mhoran »

That's my point. The PDF at the start of this thread outlines a plan to provide an upgrade to legacy G1000 DA40 owners in October of 2021. Obviously that didn't happen. It also outlined a plan to provide an upgrade to legacy G1000 DA42 owners. That *did* happen. So it's particularly frustrating to have been left hanging here by Diamond, when DA42 owners did get what they were promised. I guess that Diamond doesn't care about those of us who don't have millions of dollars to throw around.

Diamond has made it pretty clear that they want owners to treat their airplanes like they do cars -- just replace it when you want the next new thing. But that is not how many owners treat their aircraft in the general aviation world. Fortunately we have a way forward with the legacy G1000 being installed via STC. But those who have NXi today are locked into Diamond and Garmin's shenanigans going forward.

I've owned my DA40 for almost 10 years. Over the past two years I've put almost $200k back into the plane. But now I'm left with an abandoned avionics platform, no available and promised software update, and a full panel replacement panel as my only option. I'm not about to throw away the money invested in the plane over the past two years, and it's particularly frustrating to have been let down by Diamond. I am only beating this dead horse because I think that it's important for those who have helped fill DIamond's order book for the foreseeable future to understand how Diamond has historically treated their customers.
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