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Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2006 23:44:12 -0500
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Subject: Pinpoint
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From: "Halle, John" <JJHALLE@stoel.com>

Brent writes:  "The GADAHRS is a component in a system, and how the =
system works is what is important. The system integrators, D2, are the =
ones with the answers to the relevant questions."

You mean like the answers they had when they were selling the 425EX?  As =
far as I know, no one at Direct To is a double E or has experience =
designing avionics or is otherwise qualified to evaluate a critical =
avionics component such as an AHRS.  I don't fault them for that; they =
serve a useful purpose and opened up a new market in affordable glass.  =
I know them personally and like them.  On the other hand, I would feel a =
bit foolhardy trusting my life and my wife's life to a critical product =
that, if it works at all, pushes the edge of technological feasibility =
and that is made by a group of people whom no one knows and who are not =
available to answer questions about their product, who publish no track =
record or other list of qualifications, who are apparently recently =
formed and whose product seems not to have had any exensive use in =
actual customer aircraft, all on the strength solely of some five word =
otherwise unsubstantiated claim that the product meets some tech spec =
and the word of a "systems integrator" who is, at least from what I =
know, not in a position to pass informed judgment on the product.

As I said before, I REALLY hope the product works but I would need to =
get a lot more comfortable about it and who makes it and how it was =
tested before I went into the soup with it for the same reason that -- =
yes, Brent -- I am heeding the service letter despite having had no =
problems with my 420.

When I bought my TruTrak autopilot, TruTrak was also a startup company.  =
The difference was that everyone knew who was behind it and what his =
track record was.  In the beginning, it had a number of glitches but, =
when you called TruTrak, as often as not, you got the Man himself.  You =
also got same day service on whatever the problem was so I was able to =
get fixes done with the system down for only three days.  Now that's a =
class act!  =20