Hangar Debrief
An email newsletter for builders, pilots and maintainers of experimental, light-sport and general aviation aircraft.
7 articles tagged Hangar Flying data
Avionics & Electrical
The electrical load of a glass IFR panel, from the installation manuals
Added up from the manufacturers' installation manuals, a two-display Garmin G3X Touch panel with a G5, GNC 355, GTR 205, GMA 245 and GMC 507 draws about 8.4 amps at 14 volts in cruise, before lights, pitot heat and the fuel pump. Radios jump when transmitting: a GTR 205 goes from 0.84 A to 3.62 A. 14 CFR 91.205 asks for a generator or alternator "of adequate capacity" for IFR.
27 Oct 2026
Avionics & Electrical
How deep is it behind the panel? Today's displays, navigators and radios measured
Most of today's flight displays need only 3 to 3.6 in. behind the panel. The boxes in the stack need far more: a GTN 650Xi, GNC 355 or GTR 225A runs past 11 in. with connectors. Garmin's GPS 175, at 6.58 in., is the shallowest IFR navigator in the list. In a shallow panel, depth decides the layout before price does.
27 Oct 2026
Avionics & Electrical
What builders are putting in their panels in 2026: 2,455 designs counted
Of 2,455 instrument panels designed in Hangar Flying's Panel Designer this year, Garmin's G3X Touch, Dynon's SkyView HDX and Garmin's AXIS each appear in roughly one design in seven. AXIS got there less than four months after Garmin announced it. The Garmin G5 is the most-placed instrument of all, in 783 designs.
27 Oct 2026
Avionics & Electrical
One IFR panel three ways: G3X Touch with a GTN, AXIS, or SkyView HDX with a GTN, priced
For the display, IFR navigator, NAV/COM and audio panel alone, a G3X Touch 10.6 with a GTN 650Xi and GMA 245 lists at $22,370. An 11.6-inch AXIS with all of that built in is $20,975. A SkyView HDX 10 with the same Garmin stack and Dynon's ARINC 429 module is $22,088. Sensors, servos, antennas and wiring are extra in every case.
24 Oct 2026
Avionics & Electrical
Backup instruments for an all-glass panel: what 91.205 lists, and what builders choose
14 CFR 91.205(d) lists the instruments for IFR, among them a gyroscopic pitch and bank indicator, a direction indicator and a slip-skid indicator. In an all-glass panel, a small backup display with its own battery is the usual answer. In Hangar Flying's 2026 designs the Garmin G5 leads (783 designs), then the GI 275 (407), the uAvionix AV-30 (167) and the Dynon D30 (107).
19 Oct 2026
Avionics & Electrical
Autopilot mode controllers compared: Garmin GMC 507 and GMC 307, Dynon's autopilot panel, Trio Pro Pilot
The autopilot's mode controller is the part a builder lays out in the panel. Garmin's GMC 507 lists at $1,520 and takes a 6.25 x 2.1 in. slot. Dynon's SkyView autopilot panel is $698 at Aircraft Spruce in a 3.53 x 1.8 in. slot, 1.27 in. deep. Trio's Pro Pilot is a complete autopilot from $3,185. Servos are extra for the Garmin and Dynon systems.
14 Oct 2026
Avionics & Electrical
Slim VHF com radios compared: Garmin GTR 205X, GTR 200 and GTR 225A, Trig TY96 and TY91, Dynon SV-COM
A second com radio is usually a 1.3 to 1.65 in. slimline box. Garmin's GTR 205X lists at $2,400 with 10 watts, 8.33 and 25 kHz spacing and a two-place intercom. The GTR 200 is $1,695 and Trig's TY96 $2,378.20. Trig's TY91 and Dynon's SV-COM put only a small controller in the panel and mount the radio elsewhere.
12 Oct 2026