Piper Saratoga Avionics Install: Part 1

Airplanes are complex instruments of flight. A delicate balance of art and performance, held in balance by a strict code that dictates what thou shall and shall not do.

Richard Scarbrough

Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 06:44 PM ET

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Specializing in avionics, Gardner Lowe Aviation Services has been in the aircraft maintenance business for 30-plus years. [Photo: Gardner Lowe Aviation Services]

Key Takeaways:

General aviation aircraft are notably old, with an average age of 30 years, necessitating ongoing maintenance and panel upgrades to enhance safety and integrate modern technology.
Aircraft owners often pursue panel upgrades, like the Garmin system planned for Stephen Mercer's 1982 Piper Saratoga, to add redundancy and advanced safety features, requiring careful selection of both hardware and a qualified installer.
The general aviation maintenance sector faces headwinds such as the scarcity and escalating cost of spare parts, leading owners to consider strategies like aircraft partnerships or aero clubs to manage rising expenses.
Specialized facilities like Gardner Lowe Aviation Services are vital for complex avionics installations, relying on factory authorization and Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) to ensure efficient and compliant upgrades.

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Airplanes are complex instruments of flight. A delicate balance of art and performance, held in balance by a strict code that dictates what thou shall and shall not do. Newton’s law of universal gravitation dictates that “what goes up must come down.” I will expand on that theory somewhat with an addendum, “What goes up must be maintained.” Don’t believe me? Look it up for yourself, in Part 43. Now that we all agree you must fix your airplane, let’s find out how we can do that safely, efficiently, and economically.

Time to Upgrade

I recently wrote an article in FLYING in which I cited the average age of automobiles in the United States was 12.1 years in 2021. It may surprise you that the average age of general aviation aircraft is 30 years. A sizable portion of airplanes are more than 40 years old or older. Some are keen to keep an airplane stock just as if it rolled off the factory floor. Others make minor adjustments, replacing what is mechanically necessary while striving to maintain originality. Then a subset of the population presses the limits of what the feds allow and goes full custom, much like a flying Chip Foose.