- FAQs - PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATOR

Transcription

1 - FAQs - PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATOR Why is R9 better than what I have or any other system available today? R9 is a clean paper design that was designed to make you a safer pilot in all conditions. The ease of use will vastly reduce your workload even in the most challenging of environmental or airspace conditions. You will spend much more time managing your aircraft or enjoying the flight instead of managing your avionics and aircraft systems. It will give you the confidence to use your airplane the way it was meant to be used, whether that be day VMC or singlepilot heavy IFR. Simply put, it improves your Safety and Utility. When will R9 be available for Cirrus owners? It s ready and available now. The system is FAA certified and began shipping and being installed into the installed base Cirrus fleet in the Spring of A 60-day Pilot Program designed to make introduction to service as smooth as possible was completed at the beginning of the summer. While we have a full docket of depositors who are anxious to start installations, there are opportunities to lock in a summer 2009 install slot. How much with R9 cost me to install? This depends heavily on what configuration you are starting out with and what you want to end with. For example, the pre-pfd aircraft going to a full R9 with all the options (Avidyne Traffic, Lightning, and Becker Transponder) is a very different answer than a fully loaded R7/8 airplane who wants to keep existing transponder and audio panel. We re currently compiling the installation durations at the various shops now that we have a significant number of installs under our belts. Until then, the shortest time duration estimates are approximately 80 labor hours and the most significant set of mods is over 200 labor hours. When you add the harnessing costs to the labor estimates, the range spans approximately $10,000 to $20,000 for installation. Now with the lower priced Silver and Gold configurations, install costs will also go down. Is a deposit required and is it fully refundable? R9 has become very popular and is in great demand. The deposit policy is subject to change so the best bet is to contact the R9 sales rep in your area for current policies.. If a deposit is required, it is applied to the total cost of the equipment and is 100% refundable for any reason and is intended to hold your position for installation and/or lock in promotional pricing. How quickly after signing up can I get R9 installed in my aircraft? This will depend on a number of factors. The demand for R9 is ramping up rapidly. To cope with this increased demand, we are qualifying additional install shops across the country. Depending on which shop you elect to have the work done and when you hope to conduct the upgrade, these times could range from a few weeks to several months. Equipment availability or lead times won t be the issue finding a qualified shop that has an available slot may be the gating item. How much of the removed gear can I keep trying and resell to help subsidize the modification costs? Avidyne requires that you send the removed Avidyne EXP5000 PFD and EX5000 MFD along with the XM receiver back to Avidyne as part of the upgrade package. You may elect to keep your Garmin 430/430Ws along with your Garmin audio panel and Garmin transponder and attempt to resell them on the used market to help recoup/subsidize some of the R9 upgrade costs OR, Avidyne will guarantee a price for the used 430/430Ws. If you or your installer need assistance in reselling that removed gear, contact Avidyne for assistance. 1

2 Have any OEMs, including Cirrus, selected R9? Yes, some OEMs have selected R9 and these will be announced at a date/time that each partner feels is the right one. So far, Extra Aircraft and Lancair International have publically selected R9. While we feel confident R9 will be offered from the Cirrus factory in the future, there is no specific plan to do so at this time. With all the news of Garmin winning programs, including shipping from the Cirrus factory, should I be concerned about the long-term viability of Avidyne? The majority of Avidyne revenue comes in the form of aftermarket sales of our traffic, lightning, and Datalink sensors. We look forward to picking back up a steady stream of OEM revenue but we are currently sized for our long-term aftermarket and sensor business. How much does a R9 system weigh and what does that do to my useful load? R9 adds approximately 19 pounds of equipment over what your current Avidyne equipped aircraft weighs. Each IFD is approximately 18 pounds and the keyboard is 2 pounds. After removing the E1 MFD, PFD and two Garmin 430s, the net change is 19 pounds. How much power does R9 require? Each IFD draws a total of 4.25 amps in nominal operation and up to 8.25 amps under peak conditions such as VHF transmit. The keyboard draws a total of 0.25 amps. This means a combined system of 2 IFDs and 1 keyboard draws a nominal load of 8.75 amps and a peak load of amps (both radios transmitting). The system is designed to operate without degradation on a single power bus, including a single functioning alternator. There is nothing required to be done to the power system of any Cirrus aircraft installing R9. Are you sure R9 can operate without degradation even if operating only on Alt 2 on Cirrus aircraft? Yes, we are sure. We ve tested this very scenario and know this to be true. Both IFDs and keyboard will operate without interruption or degradation in this case. R9 can run indefinitely on the combined Alt2/Bat2 power supply. The other systems are not on the Essential Bus and have no requirement to last for any period of time. (There are no published requirements or procedures on load shedding for Cirrus that we are aware of.) Alt2/Bat2 also powers the autopilot. With the loss of Alt1, the audio panel will only operate as long as Bat1 lasts. Depending on the situation, the pilot may want to extend the life of Bat1 by pulling one (of two) circuit breaker from IFD1 and IFD2. By specifically pulling the IFD CB that comes from the Main Bus, the life of Bat1 will be extended. Even after pulling those Main Bus CBs from IFD1 and IFD2, the IFDs will remain powered from the Essential and Avionics Essential busses respectively. By doing this, the pilot can choose to use things such as TKS, the audio panel, pitot heat or other systems that are powered from the Non-Essential buss(es), or in other words, Alt1/Bat1. Here s an example of an actual test flight that was conducted: Alt 1 was switched off on takeoff roll. Everything that could be turned on, except the fuel pump, was turned on. This included the nav, strobe, and landing lights, pitot heat, TWX, TAS, EGPWS, MLB (music playing), autopilot (in coupled mode), the transponder, both IFDs and keyboard, and the trim. It took over one hour before any degradation was noted when Bat 1 began to decline. After more than one hour of everything running with Alt 1 turned off, a TAWS sensor fault was experienced, the Sirius music dropped out (NOWRad still displayed), communication with the transponder was lost, the audio panel dimmed and traffic was eventually lost. Flap 2

3 and trim control were eventually lost and that is the extent of the degradation. The displays (including both ADAHRS and radios), keyboard, and autopilot all remained fully functional. The conclusion here is that all the equipment required for IFR flight remained fully IFR capable indefinitely. With a little bit of pilot discretion in the use of pitot heat, landing lights and TKS, a pilot in this situation could easily fly for much longer than an hour and retain sensors, transponder, flaps and trim for landing at the destination. When will R9 be certified for other aircraft? The spring of 2009 certification will support the Cirrus aircraft noted above. The Piper PA46 family of aircraft is planned to be next up followed by fielded Cessna Columbia aircraft. These are currently on target to begin availability the end of Depending on the level of demand from these different aircraft segments, changes in certification order is possible. Several OEMs have committed to R9 as well. In addition, more aircraft are starting to be retrofit with the R9 system. The recent NexAir announcement of the Piper Saratoga NX is a good example. Will R9 support portrait format displays such as those found in Avidyne equipped Columbia 350 and 400s? No, R9 is optimized for landscape displays and there are no plans to develop a portrait display. When will 3-display support exist? R9 will come out in 3-screen configurations (e.g. Piper Meridian, Mirage, etc) in later releases, depending on customer demand, and will then be offered as a retrofit and forward fit solution. How can I learn more about R9? There are several ways. One of the best ways will be to sign up for the Avidyne Insider electronic newsletter. This will be your way to receive periodic posts that contain valuable nuggets about R9 and other related Avidyne news. Additionally, you can log on to the R9 website at for more information. Finally, don t hesitate to call one of our sales representatives at AVIDYNE. How can I see R9 in-person? Call up Avidyne sales at AVIDYNE and arrange for an in-person demonstration of R9. There are several opportunities available such as an in-person visit to one of the Avidyne facilities, mobile demonstration systems, fly-ins with R9-equipped aircraft and demonstration flights in our fleet of R9-equipped aircraft. INSTALLATON How long does a R9 installation take? This will vary from shop to shop depending on how much experience with the modification they have and how many people they put on the job. We think the fastest installations right now will take a week and a half and the longer ones may take more than 3 weeks. Until we have a number of installations under our belts, you should apply a very conservative estimate to aircraft down time and/or work with the install shop to get a better idea on the calendar duration to plan on. What are the approved R9 Installation Sites? To help in creating as smooth an introduction to service as possible, the approved installation sites are being limited to a select group of highly-qualified install shops who are also located in areas that are intended to provide reasonably convenient locations for our customers. In addition to a location in the United Kingdom, the current list of R9 install shops can be found at: 3

4 Where can I get my R9 system serviced if/when it needs it? There are approximately 600 qualified shops across the globe where service can be conducted on the R9 system. Will R9 support EGPWS? Yes, R9 provides EGPWS aural alerts and those are accompanied by Master Caution Warnings and Cautions. Will R9 support XM Datalink and audio? No. There are no plans to support XM Datalink or audio with R9. R9 fully supports WSI Datalink via the Sirius satellite network and Sirius audio. WSI is a superior weather product, and Sirius audio is comparable with XM. It should also be noted that not only have Sirius and XM merged as companies but Sirius audio now supports XM favorites. If I did not have XM audio entertainment (music channels), how can I get the upgrade to Sirius Entertainment? If you did not subscribe to XM entertainment prior to R9 but wish to do so with Sirius, there will be an upgrade fee of $1595 for that extra equipment/capability. If you did already subscribe to XM entertainment prior to R9, then Sirius entertainment is included in the base price. What are the differences between XM and Sirius? If you are asking about the weather datalink capability, this is really a question about the differences between WSI weather (partnered with Sirius) and WxWorx weather (partnered with XM). See the entries below in this list for more details. I ve heard that there will be other variations of R9 that allow me to keep my Garmin 430s or have just a single ADAHRS. Is this true and what are the pros/cons of those options? There is not a configuration today that allows you to keep your Garmin 430s, but it may be true over time, as later releases support these various configurations. The modular design of R9 allows for this possibility, which is intended to give the customer several paths to move onto the R9 system at various price points. For example, if your budget does not allow for a full R9 upgrade all at once, you may elect to upgrade to just the two displays and keep your Garmin 430s and single ADAHRS. Later as budget or desire permit, you will be able to add a 2 nd ADAHRS and/or replace your Garmin 430s with the FMS900w. This has just been enabled by the July 2009 announcement of the Silver and Gold configurations of R9. See the Release9.com website for more detail but the Silver configuration is a non-waas FMS 400, Single ADAHRS configuration and the Gold configuration is a FMS900W, Single ADAHRS configuration. These options will be available by Sep 09. R9 will integrate with PS Engineering Audio Panels and Becker Remote Transponders in addition to the installed Garmin audio panel and transponder. How do I get that 3 rd party equipment? If you desire to upgrade to the PS Engineering PMA8000B Audio Select Panel or a Becker Remote Mount Mode C or Mode S Transponder, you will note that on your order form as optional add-ons. The avionics shop from whom you are buying R9 and doing the installation for you will purchase that equipment directly from PS Engineering or Becker. Avidyne has supplied the contact information, pricing and part number ordering information to the R9 installers. For those customers looking to minimize the cost of the R9 program they can elect to keep their current transponder and audio select panel as they work as they do today and have no impact on the operation of Release 9. At the end of the day it s up to the customer. What is the engine instrument support story for Cirrus R9 aircraft? The initial release of R9 supports both SIU equipped aircraft and DAU equipped aircraft. SIU-equipped aircraft are easiest identified by the presence of analog engine dials/instruments in the cockpit. DAU-equipped aircraft do not have those conventional engine instruments all engine displays are on the PFD (% Pwr) and on the MFD. In order to 4

5 contain upgrade costs, we are recommending that you take the position, if you had a SIU before R9, you will have a SIU after R9. SIU-equipped aircraft will not display data in the Electrical datablock area of the Engine tab and they will keep the physical annunicator lamp in the cockpit. For those customers who really want to upgrade from a SIU to a DAU, that is a legal and supported upgrade but Avidyne does not recommend this upgrade due to added complexity and installation costs. What configurations of Cirrus are supported with R9? Just about every configuration of fielded Cirrus aircraft are supported by the initial R9 release. R9 does support SR20 and SR22 models. R9 does support G1, G2, G3 platforms, both normal aspirating and turbo engines, and both engine monitoring units (SIU and DAU). R9 does not support the Cirrus SRV model due to limited feature and autopilot functionality. R9 will also support pre-pfd configurations and even pre-avidyne MFD configurations; however those do require much more extensive, and therefore expensive, aircraft modifications. What is the difference between a Mode C transponder and a Mode S transponder and why should I care? Among other things, Mode S transponders will encode your aircraft registration (e.g. N-number) in its stream and is required for flight in Europe under many conditions. The R9 display will indicate N-numbers on your traffic displays no matter if you chose to upgrade to Mode S or not. Should I do the WAAS modification to my aircraft now or wait until R9? If you haven t already upgraded to WAAS, Avidyne recommends now that you wait until R9. R9 is delivering now and since it includes WAAS GPS receivers, we do not believe it makes fiscal sense for you to invest in a WAAS upgrade right now. While the composite and antenna work is reusable, it is unlikely that you would recoup all the expense in upgrading to 430Ws when you go to resell them as part of the R9 modification. Additionally, Avidyne has found a better location for WAAS antenna installs that will involve less modification labor. For those customers who do not frequent an airfield with WAAS approaches or predominantly use ILS approaches, the R9 Silver configuration with the FMS400 may be a better choice. If I ve already done the WAAS modification to my aircraft, will it work as is in R9? Yes, it will. We have engineered our WAAS solution to use the exact same antennas as those in the 430W installations. Therefore, you will be able to leave the WAAS antennas, mounting, and coax all in place, saving several thousands of dollars of installation expense. Some shops have made WAAS installations by placing the antennas under the glareshield. Is that option available as part of R9? No, our approved installation does not support the glareshield location for the WAAS antennas. We are aware of some of these installations and have heard a number of customers and installers voice strong opinions on both sides of the fence on this topic. We will continue to look at that possible modification for future flexibility. Can I get more information on R9 Installation? Yes, we have put together a pictorial description of the installation and it is accessible from our R9 website, Among other things, there is some more information on the antenna placements and locations. Is there an ability to customize my own electronic checklists in R9? No, we do see the value this feature would have and we do believe we can overcome any certification obstacles to this capability but the initial release of R9 does not support user customizable checklists. AVAILABLE OPTIONS 5

6 When will Synthetic Vision be available and how much will it cost? Synthetic Vision will be available in the next major software release, and the pricing will be very competitive with other market vendors. We have been demoing Syn Vis since Oshkosh 2008 running on the R9 flight gear but chose to keep the feature out of the initial release to not lengthen that certification date. Final pricing and schedules will be announced later this year but for target purpose, assume Nov 09 and a list price of $9995. When will Enhanced Vision be available and how much will it cost? Enhanced will be available in the next major software release and the pricing will be very competitive with other market vendors. We have been demoing Enhanced Vis since Oshkosh 2008 running on the R9 flight gear but chose to keep the feature out of the initial release to not jeopardize the certification date. We have equipped our company SR22 test aircraft with the MaxViz EVS camera. Final pricing and schedules will be announced later this year but for target purpose, assume Nov 09 and a list price of $ EVS infrared camera + installation of that camera and associated wiring. How are the SVS and EVS images depicted on the displays? The images include provide a snapshot of the Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision system. The left display shows the SVS turned on in the upper Primary Flight area of the Integrated Flight Display (IFD), with the EVS depiction located in the window directly below the primary flight information. This will support alignment of the SVS and EVS images during normal and non-normal operations. The right display image shows the SVS only implementation with a MAP display depicted below the primary flight information. What is the R9 Digital Autopilot story? Avidyne announced the DFC100 Digital Flight Control system at Sun-n-Fun This will be a drop in replacement for R9-STec-55X equipped-aircraft and will provide a digital, attitude-based capability to your aircraft. We have been flying the system in a Cirrus for some time now and have demonstrated a ride-on-rails level of performance. 6

7 This level of performance is achieved because of: Attitude data from our dual ADAHRS instead of an analog turn coordinator; Sophisticated state estimators use inertial system data to improve performance in ALT, VS and IAS modes; Gain scheduling makes the AP fly better by optimizing performance everywhere in the envelope; Precise digital start/stop inputs with no command lag; Proprietary algorithms make the actuators behave as though they were much more expensive devices (this solves the servo dead-band and overcomes characteristics of the Cirrus spring cartridges.). The DFC100 autopilot will be using the existing pins and wires but we are re-purposing those pins and wires for new digital signals. What features does the DFC100 Digital Autopilot have? In addition to all the modes that are available in the 55X (e.g. Flight Director, Heading, Nav, Alt Hold, Alt Capture, VS, etc), the DFC100 provides Climb/Descend on Speed, Stall/Unusual Attitude Protection, Straight & Level, VNAV integration with the R9 FMS and Vectors mode integration with the R9 FMS. Do I need the STec roll servo mod and, if I already have it, will it work or have an impact on the DFC100 performance? Avidyne does not recommend pursuing the roll servo mod if you have not accomplished the modification yet and plan to install the DFC100. The reason is that the DFC100 has been shown to produce the same or better performance in the roll axis as that roll servo modification. In fact, there are a number of of aircraft configurations that affect autopilot performance in the Cirrus models as the aircraft have developed over time. We are designing the DFC100 to work with most or all of those configurations. It may be that some are supported in follow-on releases and not all at initial release. How can you claim to be a digital autopilot if you are still using the analog STec servos and commanding them with an analog signal? The autopilot is a hybrid system, as are all such devices. We like to apply an analogy to this question: The servos are muscles. They live in the real world where everything is analog and they re perfectly happy with voltage commands. You could use a digital system to command a sewing machine motor with a 32 bit floating point number, but it would just be showmanship. Any minor benefits don t justify the cost for a retrofit product that actually has an elegant flight control system already installed. We re taking a perfectly good muscle and equipping it with a very modern brain. What is involved in the installation of the DFC100 Digital Autopilot? The upgrade to the DFC100 is expected to take well under one calendar day. The servos, rigging, wiring, and tray will all remain intact. A new flight control computer is installed in the existing Stec tray and an updated software release will be uploaded to the R9 units via the bezel front panel USB port. That process takes approximately one hour and is followed by a check-out flight and paperwork signoff. When will the DFC100 be available and how much will it cost? This autopilot will be certified and available NLT early 2010 and has a list price of $14,995. There are significant promotions being run now that provide heavy discounts off of that list price when coupled with R9 or short-term promotional dates. Contact Avidyne Sales or check out the Avidyne website for those pricing details. Will the DFC100 autopilot be able to work with pre R9 versions of Entegra? No, the DFC100 has been engineered to specifically work only with the Entegra R9 system. 7

8 Are there any plans for the DFC100 to be integrated into a Cirrus SRV? No, since there are no plans to certify R9 in the SRV, there are likewise no plans to integrate that autopilot into the SRV airframe. Will the DFC100 be able to use the STec Turn Coordinator as a backup source to drive the autopilot? No, this will not be possible. However, the DFC100 will use the existing installed turn coordinator as a crosscheck reference but it will not be capable of single-handedly driving the autopilot. For dual ADAHRS installations, what ADAHRS will drive the autopilot? The ADAHRS that is being used to display on the left IFD will be the same autopilot that drives the autopilot. If ADAHRS2 is being displayed on the left IFD, then ADAHRS2 will be driving the autopilot. Will R9 be offered on 12 displays? We have chosen to initially certify a 10 system. We ve got 8, 12 and 15 displays in our production/certification pipeline, but we selected the 10 size first as it offers the lowest cost and faster retrofit option. Anything larger than the 10 display requires a new glareshield and instrument panel structure. We view the 12 display as a forward fit product and not something to be immediately offered in the aftermarket. The 15 displays have not been a topic of discussion for the Cirrus aircraft. What other neat products or features does Avidyne expect to release in the coming months/years? Avidyne has an entire development team located in 4 geographic locations working on either follow-on R9 releases or a host of next generation products. We have a very robust product roadmap driving toward a series of new product releases in the coming months. Aside from Syn Vis, Enhanced Vis and more Iridiumbased Datalink systems, we are electing to hold off more public detailing of those features/products for competitive reasons. You have offered the option of switching to a PS Engineering PMA8000B audio panel. What is involved there and what are the pros/cons of doing so? The PS Engineering panel has a richer feature set (e.g. the ability to monitor 4 channels at once, transmission play-back) and a tighter integration with R9 (e.g. the display of decoded station identifier and freq that you would transmit on when the PTT is pressed like Bedford Tower on the PFD). It does not add any appreciable time to the installation but it is an additional charge for this upgraded audio select panel equipment. It will come down to a personal choice is the tighter integration and superior feature set worth the extra $1900? We think so. You have offered the option of switching to a remote mount transponder. What are the pros/cons of doing so? R9 provides the capability to integrate with the Becker remote mount transponder This provides the benefit of cleaning up your instrument panel radio stack by not needing the panel mount transponder anymore and taking advantage of the dedicated transponder function keys on the keyboard. Staying with your installed Garmin Transponder means the keyboard function keys are non-functional. This is an optional upgrade and will both incur some additional installation cost (approximately 4 hours of labor) as well as equipment cost (approximately $2700). You have the choice of Mode C or Mode S (Mode S has an additional fee of approximately $1200). It will come down to a personal choice is the cleaner panel and tighter integration worth the extra $3000+ to you? Can I get more information about the Avidyne Real-Time Lightning System (TWX670)? More data can be found on the Avidyne website at or via contact with one of the Regional or Inside Sales Managers. 8

9 Can I get more information about the Avidyne Traffic System (TAS600/610/620)? More data can be found on the Avidyne website at or via contact with one of the Regional or Inside Sales Managers. What are the differences between XM/Barons and Sirius/WSI systems? Both systems are satellite-based broadcast system. Sirius and XM have merged (Sirius was the acquiring party). The merger will take a few years to complete all aspects. R9 supports only the Sirius/WSI combination. Both systems support radio entertainment and weather datalink and we believe the Sirius/WSI combination is a better package. WSI weather provides a superior product (e.g. altitude selectable icing severity, Supercooled Liquid Droplet (SLD) icing, temps aloft in 3K increments instead of just freezing level) and provides notably higher levels of quality control including on-staff meteorologists who provide final quality analysis. The Sirius satellite constellation provides a larger coverage footprint including much of Canada, the Caribbean, and Central America. Avidyne offers several price point packages for the weather part of the datalink content, Essential, Performance and Professional. What are the differences between your weather data packages (Essential, Performance, and Professional)? The web link provides a more detailed breakdown but the basic differences are: Essential and Performance NOWRad radar imagery Graphical and Textual METARS TAFs TFRs Datalink lightning Performance adds: Cell height/movement Winds and temps aloft Graphical AIRMETS and SIGMETS Canadian radar, METARS, TAFs Caribbean radar, METARs, TAFs Professional adds: Icing (severity and SLD) Cloud Tops (future) PIREPS (future) Can you compare and contrast some of the differences in the weather data product updates? Yes, the table below provides a comparison of the data updates. Product WSI Data Rate (nominal) XM Data Rate (nominal) NEXRAD 5 min 5 min METARs 5 min 12 min 9

10 TAFs 10 min 12 min TFRs 15 min 12 min Winds 30 min 12 min Temps 30 min 12 min AIR/SIGMETs 5 min 12 min Lightning 5 min 5 min Echo Tops 5 min 1.25 min Icing 15 min 15 min TRAINING What are the R9 Training Opportunities? As part of the basic package, Avidyne is supplying a combined Pilot Guide/Training Manual for R9. This will be supplied both in hard copy and electronically on a USB fob and downloadable from our website. We also expect to post a self-study guide on the website in the mid to late summer of 2009 for free downloading. In addition, we are working on an optional full-day transition course whose syllabus will involve both classroom training and sim/flight training so that you feel completely comfortable. We are trying to model that optional training to mimic the BMW Driving School experience. Pricing, availability and agenda details will be released at a later date. Avidyne also has identified and trained a number of CSIP instructors around the country. We recommend customers contact these instructors directly for details on rates and schedule. What kind of user documentation and training material exist that I can get my hands on now? There are several documents and reviews that are available for reading/download now from We will continue to add documentation and training material as it is developed. Is there a simulator for R9? Yes, a desktop PC simulator for R9 does exist and is available now to anyone interested. This will be provided via a CD for desktop installation and will be no charge. SERVICE AND SUPPORT What is the R9 warranty story? R9 is warranted for 2 years from date of install. This means the clock starts new for everything, including the already installed mag and the refurbished ADAHRS. You have the opportunity to buy extra years of warranty via the FlexCare program. The harness assembly is being warranted for 1 year. The install shops are warranting their installation for a minimum of 2 years (some for life of the install). This applies to any wiring or component that they touch (examples include the new instrument panel, the sheet metal brackets, replaced circuit breakers, any GPS antenna installation including the composite material work to support new antennas, and any repositioning of existing wiring or components). The original Cirrus warranty has been confirmed to be intact for those components not 10

11 directly touched or affected by the R9 installation (e.g. powerplant, aircraft electrical system, flight controls, aircraft structure except WAAS antenna work, etc). If my R9 system needs service, what do I need to do? In many cases, R9 will tell you what is wrong. Through the extensive human-readable diagnostics that are available, you and/or your avionics shop will be able to very quickly diagnose a problem and identify any part that may need replacement. Because of the blade architecture nature of R9 and the Avidyne Platinum AOG Service that is available, down-time may be limited to just a few minutes or hours. Your quickest path to service is via your Avidyne Service Center They can use the special R9 Service Hotline to start that repair process. If I had some time left on my Avidyne FlexCare extended warranty, do I get to carry that time over to R9 and add it to the 2-year warranty? Yes, any left-over flex period will be automatically tacked onto the end of your standard R9 2-year warranty. How do I update the R9 system with periodic charts, nav data and obstacle data? This is a much simpler process, and less costly in R9 systems. The upload process is divided into two parts. The nav and charts data are accessed via your Jeppesen JSUM account and loaded right onto a USB fob. When the USB fob is inserted into the front panel USB slot on your R9 system and the display turned on, a single button press will start the loading of your displays with the new nav and/or chart data. For the Obstacle data, the updated file is accessible from the website and that file is also transferred onto the USB fob for similar loading onto your display. The annual subscriptions have been significantly reduced by Jeppesen as well and should result in an average annual savings of $320. Is there any data logging in R9 that I can get access to? Yes, quite a bit. Each IFD has a data recorder provided at no charge. While you can access much of the data, the data does remain the property of Avidyne. Flight logs and Engine logs are available for download via the front panel USB port during ground operations. The type of data available is described in greater detail in the R9 Pilot s Guide. How do I get software updates for R9? How will I know they exist? Will there be a charge? With very few exceptions, all software inside the IFDs is capable of being updated via the USB connections as well. This means the IFD does not need to be returned to the factory for any future software updates. This updating however requires that an authorized Avidyne Service Center perform the updates because of various FAA conformity requirements. This is not a service that an individual owner is allowed to perform him or herself. We will be using a number of overlapping means to notify owners that a software update is available, the nature of the update, if it is considered mandatory or optional and if there is a fee associated with the update. New features such as Syn Vis and Enhanced Vis should be expected to come with a fee but other sustaining engineering type of software changes may be no-charge. When will R9 be available and supported outside the continental US? Avidyne is working as quickly as we can to expand the availability of R9 outside the US. This is a time consuming process as we must apply for a number of individual regional certifications (e.g. Europe, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc) all require separate certifications. In addition to having a certified system in those regions, we also need to ensure there is an accompanying service and support plan for those customers not operating in the US. We expect this to be a wave of continual certifications over the 2 nd half of 2009 and into Can I put third-party/aftermarket screen protectors on my R9 displays? Avidyne is finalizing factory-approved screen protectors that will be included with each shipset. Avidyne does not approve the application of third-party 11

12 screen protectors. Adhesive screen protectors that attach to the display itself may damage the anti-reflective coating on the displays and will void the warranty on the displays. 12