Equipping the panel in a Kitfox is a quandary for some builders. Do you load it up for full IFR to wow your friends and gut your bank account? Or do you put in the basic VFR instruments for low and slow flying?
Some owners consider it a necessity to have a fully loaded panel and won’t fly around the patch without it. Others load up the panel for nothing but show. And a small group installs only the bare necessities. The remainder put in a mix of VFR and IFR equipment.
I consider the Kitfox to be a basic VFR aircraft. With that in mind, all you need is airspeed, a cheap altimeter and a compass. I suppose a T&B would be nice for those times when the horizon is hazy. Throw in a second hand portable GPS like a 396 or 496 and you have a go anywhere, VFR, fun to fly, stick and rudder airplane.
But wait… there’s more!
The above might have been the choices 20 years ago. However, the low cost of multifunction displays have thrown out the rule books.
Glass panels have added a level of economy or bang-for–the–buck, if you like. If you total up the cost for new round dials to build a basic six-pack display, you can easily exceed the cost of a glass panel integrated system. Don’t forget to add the cost and weight of a vacuum pump if you go with a round dial six pack.
The new glass panels include sensors for up, down, left, right and even report altitude to the transponder. So now you can have a full panel without breaking the piggybank.
I’d also like to pass along a pilot report on the reliability of glass. I had a great time in 22 years of flying EFIS aircraft, I never had an instrument failure on glass. I had lots of round dial failures.
And finally, there is the flux gate bonus. With a glass panel you will never need to reset your DG every ten minutes. You get a slaved DG system for free. Whoohoo!!!
With the cost of a Dynon so attractive, it looks like my low and slow VFR airplane will have a six pack by default.
John Pitkin
Greenville, TX