interesting post from real world aviation...

[michal 44]

// copied from the Express-Aircraft Builders forumI have been having trouble with my Avidyne spontaneously rebooting during flight. This happened the first summer after I started flying the airplane, about 4 years ago. I contacted Avidyne and they had me send it in so they could put a second cooling fan on the chip. All went well until about 6 weeks ago, and then it did it again, only it wouldn't come up past the blue screen. I again contacted them, sent it in, and they put in another hard drive. On the first flight after getting it back, it rebooted again. I called them yesterday and they said that they could put in another hard drive. The problem is that the hard drive is obsolete, and they can only put in refurbished ones. They said that I could buy a new unit, at a cost of around $11,500.00. I understand how technology moves forward, and that things become obsolete and are no longer available, but if I include the cost of the subscription, the cost of owning an Avidyne is around $3975.00 per year. This doesn't include sending it back and forth for repairs. I think as an industry we may be getting dazzled by the things computers in airplanes can do, and forgetting about the rapid rate of obsolescense. Needless to say, I'm bummed. Jim ButlerMichael J.WinXP-Home,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8, Radeon X800 Pro,WD 36GB Raptor,1 GB PC3200 http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg