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Avionics Editorial

Aspen EFD1000 E5: Low Cost, But Stark

As we've been reporting, prices for some retrofit primary EFIS systems have dropped to the sweet spot of around $5000 or less. This is thanks to a new regulatory certification process that sidesteps the pricey and time-consuming TSO process in favor of an STC. Aspen Avionics has populated the field with over 20,000 Evolution EFIS displays over a 10-year span and is the latest to offer a budget-based EFIS with the $4995 EFD1000 E5 Dual EFI.

Larry Anglisano
Verified

Edited By:

Omar Filipovic

As we’ve been reporting, prices for some retrofit primary EFIS systems have dropped to the sweet spot of around $5000 or less. This is thanks to a new regulatory certification process that sidesteps the pricey and time-consuming TSO process in favor of an STC. Aspen Avionics has populated the field with over 20,000 Evolution EFIS displays over a 10-year span and is the latest to offer a budget-based EFIS with the $4995 EFD1000 E5 Dual EFI.

But Aspen also offers other displays with more advanced features at higher price points, which muddies the buying decision. For this report we put the new E5 on our test bench to see how the feature set compares with other Evolution displays.

Larry Anglisano

Editor in Chief Larry Anglisano has been a staple at Aviation Consumer since 1995. An active land, sea and glider pilot, Larry has over 30 years’ experience as an avionics repairman and flight test pilot. He’s the editorial director overseeing sister publications Aviation Safety magazine, IFR magazine and is a regular contributor to KITPLANES magazine with his Avionics Bootcamp column.