Vp-x sport

[Shadowrider]

To answer some of you questions

1. Not sure if this is a question or a statement? Yes there is some value in being able to reset a breaker. Every aircraft I have flown you are trained to be able to reset once. I like that the VPX will send a message to the efis when a breaker is tripped. G3x will put a CAS message up for you and audio alert. You can then decide if you want to reset it or not. Yes you can reset breakers on the the G3x. You can also "pull " a breaker. My trip back from Johnson creek this summer, I had to reset my gps enroute. I like that you can scroll through your G3x on the VPX page and it shows how much each circuit is drawing. You also don't install a shunt because the VPX know the draw by totaling up all circuits.

2. If something goes wrong, no you don't get inside the box. Its sealed and you void your warranty if you try and open it. Even if you could, not much you could do at Johnson creek, its just a big computer. Talking with VPX they are designed so if a board fails you loose the circuits on that board. They have you divide up critical items to different circuits. Also if you have a switch fail, which is the most likely thing to happen because you using them all the time, you can turn on a ciruit on the VPX and not even use a switch. Looking back I may of even considered having no switches on the panel and just used the VPX? I flew my plane to Johnson Creek and the last thing I was worried about was my VPX. I was more worried about that spiny thing on the front keeping me cool. VPX claims that with the new VPX sport model that they started building a couple years ago, they have not had a single failure. With that being said, I have alot riding on the VPX. It dies and my engine dies. New aircraft are going this way and I think its awesome. Gulfstreams G500 and G600 are doing away with the old school breakers and going electronic now for a much cleaner cockpit that is more manageable and pilot friendly.

3. Much more for the VPX!

[109JB]

I looked into the VPx stuff and it looks good but I didn't decide to go that way and the biggest reasons are

1. Cost
2. My VFR build of my Kitfox 4 just doesn't warrant the features that the VPx can provide.

I opted to use fuses using 2 ATX fuse blocks behind the instrument panel. One is for "Avionics" and the other is the main bus with everything else. Since my airplane is strictly VFR, if a fuse blows, it blows and I check it out when I land. I have absolutely no reason that anything electrical needs to be reset if a circuit pops and nothing critical to safely getting the airplane on the ground in VFR depends on anything electrical. This is the part that doesn't warrant the VPX features. The 2 fuse blocks cost me about $30 total compared to $1500 for the VPX. There is the big cost difference I just could not justify.

Now I will say that i see nothing "wrong" with the VPx or what it is intended to do. If I were building something that was IFR capable, or that had systems that rely on electrical power (electric retracts/flaps come to mind), then I would consider it again. It does give you built in overvoltage protection which you should consider in the cost.

Bottom line is that I felt for a properly wired system with properly operating equipment being powered the likelyhood of blowing a fuse is small. When was the last time you blew a fuse for no reason in your car? Cars are very complicated these days and still use fuses for most stuff. My other homebuilt, a Sonerai also uses fuses. Has since 1992. Granted this airplane is even simpler than the Kitfox, but the fuses in the airplane right now are the same fuses that were in it in 1992.

[efwd]

Yes it is.