After reading Larry Anglisano’s article in the November issue about the conundrum in which avionics manufacturers find themselves, I couldn’t agree more with your conclusions. As an aircraft owner with a mix of newer and older avionics, I am one of those potential customers who are sitting on the fence, trying to decide how best to stretch my aircraft dollars. The debacle called ADS-B isn’t helping the situation, either.
I don’t see value in combo boxes like the KNS770 or GTN750. Mobile platforms have nearly all the map functionality in a much larger display, making them easier to use in flight. A good nav/comm and approach-approved GPS is all that is needed after that. (Mobile platforms do not meet the upcoming ADS-B out equipment requirement, and without ADS-B output, ground uplinked traffic performance is limited. —Ed.)
I have King radios now and had Garmin radios in my previous bird. Both are very good, though I think I favor King for a basic nav/comm. What I’d really like to see from King is a replacement radio for the KS-155-165—while nearly bulletproof, they are technologically long in the tooth, big and heavy when compared to the competition. If King can do to the nav/comm what it did to the transponder, I’d be inclined to open up the wallet.