Falcon and Large BizJet Drivers, Cabin Wi-fi, Satcom and Optionals Question

[leondelfierro]

Hi guys, thanks for taking your time reading this...

I have to help a new owner to pick up a few items on the master option list for a 900LX ship, most of the time i did this with Turboprops, fairly easy, but big times seems to be coming, so i request your help fellow pilots.:ok:

Trip Zone would be Americas and few pond crossings a year...
Top Notch Internet access and speed is a must, plus voice phone also probably fax too.
What do you guys who fly 7X, 2000, 900, who have similar owner interest did you picked up from the factory master list?

i've been reading and to me looks fine the Aircell Aviatior 300 for the Swift service, and Aircell Axxes for voice services and Datalink with Iridium, both with the apropiate band filter, what do you guys think about?

More questions:

-Do most operators use EFB with Perf Software?
-Can anyone tell experiences with Weather Uplink? good or disposable idea?
-Regarding certifications, do you think RNP with LPV, ADS-B transponder should be (or operators are commonly doing so) bought at factory? or is better to wait for them get closer to deathline?
-As i said before, ship would spending most of the time in Americas (South, Central and US) with 1 to 2 Atlantic crossings to EU, What's your experience with Cat III certified Falcons? really worth? or HUD with CatII Monitoring is pretty good?



Your help is greatly apreciated guys!

[LGW Vulture]

Although I don't fly Falcons - I do sell them and I can tell you, the more bells and whistles in the front, then the higher the resale value and the quicker the aircraft will sell in the resale market.

We lost a few potential Customers as our Falcon didn't have the HUD or EVS.

...for what its worth.

[FrankR]

The single most important option for any Falcon is the "G550 Upgrade" With it, you get increased reliability, range, and support. (Here's where you say "fuel burn", and I start to laugh).

Seriously, Synthetic vision PFD is a good upgrade for those black hole approaches, and all those satellite options require a LOT of research. Since you're mostly in US, you should be fine with any of them. The trick with any of them requiring a subscription (all of them) comes when you are in S America or MENA areas. Oh,make sure to get the BR710 engine upgrade as well.

FR

[Grum]

The only optional extra we have is 'Battery charge' :cool: so can't help much on the avionics front. However the standard coffee machine has be replaced about 6 times in 3 years and the DVD player is extremely temperamental. Not sure of model numbers but sure they were the cheapest.

[Mizuno boy]

With Easy 2 you can get ADS-B out and LPV(recommended for lower approach minima in North America)
EVS is not that great on the 900, recommend adding SVS with Easy 2,
For resale recommend adding any airspace or performance improvements even if it is provisions only.
PM if you have any further questions.

Cheers
MB

[727 exec]

I'm a G550 person, so love the SVS and EVS - and ADS-C / CPDLC is surely the way to go for NAT and also runs across to Brazil when the HF really is a pain.

The one bill that really scares Owners off (IMHO) is the internet charges - thousands of dollars per month is not unusual. SOP became - turn it off unless someone really needed to use it and turn it off as soon as you can.

I ticked all the sensible boxes when outfitting from new - retrofitting can be very, very painful in terms of money, cabin out etc.

[FrankR]

I always wonder about flight departments that have a $55 MILLION dollar aircraft, and a budget of over $5 MILLION dollars a year getting upset at $25,000 a year for internet. BBML and satcom have saved our bacon on several flights as they allow us to communicate with staff on ground more easily.

FR (A 550 guy and loving it)

[executive chauffeur]

OK, here's my two cents worth,

i've been reading and to me looks fine the Aircell Aviatior 300 for the Swift service, and Aircell Axxes for voice services and Datalink with Iridium, both with the apropiate band filter, what do you guys think about?

This will work fine, however if you are looking for seamless integration with the Honeywell CMF, take the (more expensive) Honeywell option.

Do most operators use EFB with Perf Software?

EFB's make sense if you want to go paperless cockpit.
The EASY has all the necessary perf software built into the FMS.
Performance software is great, altough I tend to prefer good old fashioned runway analyses tables for the really tricky spots...


Can anyone tell experiences with Weather Uplink? good or disposable idea?
Was not very reliable in the past, better now, but in my opinion =expensive gadget...

Regarding certifications, do you think RNP with LPV, ADS-B transponder should be (or operators are commonly doing so) bought at factory? or is better to wait for them get closer to deathline?

These items I think, are part of the basic EASy II package, so they should be standard on your LX, as of mid May 2011.

-As i said before, ship would spending most of the time in Americas (South, Central and US) with 1 to 2 Atlantic crossings to EU, What's your experience with Cat III certified Falcons? really worth? or HUD with CatII Monitoring is pretty good?

CAT II, HUD II/III works fine.
Biggest hurdle is getting approval from the authorities. Takes a bit of paperwork and lots of patience. Well worth it though.

EVS works fine in night VMC conditions, but in IMC/low viz its effectiveness is inversly proportionate to the size of the water droplets in the visible moisture present.