Dynon EFIS vs. Cheap instruments

09 Oct 2003 Dynon EFIS vs. Cheap instruments

I asked Dynon if they had a comparison between their product and cheap, traditional instruments and I didn’t get anything back. Therefore, I’ll give it a go. Being the efficient guy that I am (meaning lazy) I just went to the web to get prices from Aircraft Spruce. Since I will be disparaging some suppliers, I will not actually name the instrument that I am using to compare to the Dynon. 🙂
To do the comparison, I just went to Aircraft Spruce and tried to choose the cheapest instrument in each class I could find. I ignored issues like lighting, and whether the instrument is powered by electricity or vacuum. Obviously this will be an issue for all electric aircraft, and will increase prices for traditional instruments. There are also other features of the Dynon that I didn’t attempt to find traditional instruments for, like clocks and volt meters, again due to laziness. Here is what I found:

Instrument Price (USD)
Attitude Indicator 329.95
VSI 109.95
Altitude 198.95
Airspeed 114.95
Heading Indicator 329.95
Turn Coordinator 289.95
G-Meter 85.95
AOA 495.00
Total: 1954.65
Dynon EFIS-D10 1995.00
AOA Probe 199.00
Total 2194.00
This shows that using the cheapest, simplest, least functional instruments available from Aircraft Spruce, the Dynon is about the same price. Of course, I personally value the level of integration and ease of installation offered by Dynon over the traditional instruments, but others may not. YMMV. Comments and flames welcome!