Page 13 - Volume 16 Number 12

several experienced Citation pilots and learned something from each while building the confidence in my own skill.Making It Even BetterMy Citation proved a capable steed, trusty and adept regardless of weather. The round-gauged flight instruments, though, were definitely a step back. With the addition of capable avionics, the Citation would exceed everything I expected from the Eclipse. I studied the G1000, IS&S, Sandel, and various other flat panel upgrades but was turned off by their $400K+ price tag. Yikes! That was approaching what I had paid for the whole aircraft. Amongst the panel-upgrade STC holders was Rob Irwin from Jet Tech in Denver, Colorado. I reached out to him and ultimately persuaded him that a Garmin G600 panel would be the ultimate compromise between function and cost for the older Citations. My aircraft was one of the original prototype aircraft that flew for nearly a year as “experimental.” The Garmin G600 has exceeded all of my expectations. Synthetic Vision, traffic, XM weather, charts – it’s all in there. It drives the original SPZ500 autopilot as if it were on rails, whether on an ILS or an LPV WAAS GPS approach, and all the trouble-prone, big spinning-mass gyros are gone, replaced by ultra reliable, solid state Garmin AHRS. All this, plus over 100 pounds removed from the aircraft panel and available for the cabin or fuel.It has been a long road traveled since I read the original WSJ Eclipse article. Thank you, Vern Raburn, for inspiring me with a bigger objective. Today I fly the modernized Citation shown in the pictures for business and pleasure. The sound of those Pratt & Whitney engines starting up never ceases to put a big smile on my face. Hmmm, I wonder what the uprated Williams engines would sound lik•e on Sierra Industries’ upgraded Citations? On to the next adventure. T&TDECEMBER 2012TWIN & TURBINE • 11Experience CountsScope Air-Thirty five years of servingGeneral AviationFi- nancePagePhoto courtesy of Pilatus Business Aircraft LTD / Photo by Jon Youngblut Photography4/C AdMember ofNational Aircraft Finance Association National Business Aviation Association140 E. Town Street, Suite 1400 • Columbus, Ohio 43215-1400(614) 221-5773 • Fax: (614) 221-2411email: scope@parknationalbank.comwww.ScopeAircraftFinance.com