While Avidyne’s Vantage12 avionics upgrade for the thousands of earlier Cirrus SR20 and SR22 models that were equipped with its Entegra displays is taking longer than expected due to certification delays, FAA approval is expected shortly. Avidyne dealers need to start preparing for the volume of work that is coming, according to Tom Harper, the company’s senior marketing director, because there are more than 4,000 Cirruses that qualify for the upgrade.
The Vantage12 upgrade is designed to update those older Cirruses to a modern glass cockpit with dual 12-inch touchscreen displays, 3D synthetic vision, and dual attitude reference systems (ARS), each of which can drive the Avidyne DFC90 autopilot. The earlier Avidyne Entegra avionics in those airplanes had only one ARS and its failure would cause autopilot loss.
To make installations easier, Avidyne has designed EZ adapter modules that attach to the back of the Vantage primary flight display (PFD) and multifunction display (MFD), and these modules connect directly to an EZ adapter harness that connects to the existing wiring.
The standard Vantage12 upgrade includes the PFD and MFD with dual ARS; a single air data computer (ADC) feeding both displays (a second ADC is optional); a single magnetometer (second optional); the DFC90 autopilot (retaining the original servos); AMX240 audio panel (optional, although recommended); and remote transponder.
Avidyne supplies the new instrument panel that is required for the upgrade, but this doesn’t change the glare shield height. In addition to retaining the autopilot servos, the original magnetometer and engine instruments stay as well as the backup instruments. If the airplane has Avidyne’s data acquisition unit, it will be retained and the engine instruments will be displayed on the PFD and MFD. The upgrade doesn’t support Garmin 430 navigators that are installed in many of these airplanes, and these need to be replaced with Avidyne’s IFD540 and IFD440 GPS navigators if not already installed.
Retail price for the upgrade is $33,000 for the Vantage12 standard kit; $2,100 for the EZ adapter and harness; $250 for the panel; and $150 for the panel overlay; the optional second ADC and magnetometer is $9,500. The IFD540 and IFD440 aren’t included in these prices, nor is the installation done by an Avidyne dealer.