Upgrading to electronic flight displays and a data-hungry GPS navigator? Add a reliable GPU (ground power unit) to the budget. That’s because you’ll have the master switch on for extended periods while loading nav data, uploading flight plans and fetching engine trend data. If those chores don’t kill an otherwise healthy battery, messing around with the new avionics during a ground training session will.
The good news is that there are good ground power accessories for feeding stable and regulated voltage to the electrical bus, and also for starting the engine. Here are some top picks, but first an overview of the tech.