It turns out that aircraft owners who upgrade their cockpits with the latest glass-panel avionics share some interesting similarities with shoppers for smartphones, flat-screen TVs, laptops or just about any other broadly adopted consumer electronics product.When the first smartphones hit the market several years ago they were cumbersome to use, lacked capabilities and cost a small fortune. Early adopters had to have them, of course, but most people held onto their old phones, at least for a while. Over time, smartphone technology improved dramatically and prices dropped, the two ingredients necessary to attract a mass audience.The market for retrofit avionics has followed a similar trajectory. The first retrofit EFIS products to reach the market a couple of decades ago couldn’t do much beyond replacing a blue-over-brown electromechanical attitude indicator with a color screen. Despite the astronomical prices for these rudimentary early products, some aircraft owners just had to have them. Most aircraft owners said thanks but no thanks.
What Pilots Need to Know about Retrofit Avionics
Key Takeaways:
- The retrofit avionics market has matured significantly, mirroring the trajectory of consumer electronics, transitioning from expensive, rudimentary systems to affordable, feature-rich glass panels.
- This transformation is primarily driven by relaxed FAA certification rules, which allowed non-TSO'd products and autopilots into certified aircraft, drastically reducing prices and expanding capabilities.
- As a result, retrofit avionics sales have exploded, pushing the market into an "early majority" adoption phase, with a wide array of advanced touchscreen and integrated systems now economically viable for both piston and turboprop aircraft.
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