Talking with Mattituck and D2A
I talked with two companies today. First I called Mattituck to confirm that the engine mount I needed was a Dynafocal I. The salesperson was very help. He said the lead time on the TMX-360 engines is about 12 weeks. He also mentioned that Sun ‘n Fun might be a good time to order.
I next called Direct2Avionics, the distributor for the Chelton EFIS systems. I got all of my questions answered. The single screen system is not able to do a split-screen display. It’s either the primary flight display, the map, or the engine parameters. When using a FADEC-equipped engine, the Chelton still needs to interface to an engine monitor such as the Grand Rapids EIS-4000. The GPS is not WAAS certified for GPS approaches. Apparently, there are only 40 some GPS approaches right now. He suggested getting an SL-30, which can interface to the Chelton and provide VOR-based approach info. So far, D2A has been providing software updates for free. Navigation data updates need to be purchased from Jepp. One thing I didn’t know is that the Garmin GTX-330 can’t interface directly to the Chelton for traffic info. A $2k unit is needed to convert the ARINC info to RS-232. Ouch. He is also trying to set up a demo flight for me this weekend in a Lancair. That will be cool.