One of the things about the panel in my RV6 is that it is incredibly expensive for a few screens and a couple of radios. Altogether my panel is worth as much as my CH250.

It’ s nice, and Garmin is the current favorite right now, but it is just too expensive for most builders. I started looking at other options to see what someone would do if they were on a budget but wanted to have glass.

Garmin, Dynon and GRT are my favorites because they have been around for awhile and have a wide range of products. I’ m confident they will still be in business in 20 years which is how long I hope my equipment lasts.

To start with though a new contender from a Canadian manufacturer is 360 Avionics:
https://www.360avionics.com/store/avionics-experimental-airplanes-flight-instruments

They have entry level display starting at $1000 Canadian and also have an integrated engine monitor which can be added. I haven ‘t done much research on them but as a Canadian company I plan to pay a lot of attention them when it’ s time for my next project.

Garmin offers the G5 which is a 3 1/8″ instrument that can be an Attitude Indicator + airspeed + altimeter + vertical speed + directional gyro for about $2500. You can buy a second G5 and set it to be a dedicated directional gyro. Very little panel space required. Add a magnetometer for about $600 and you can have a very functional glass panel for $3000 – $6000. These are very full featured and it will run autopilot servos and can be used in a full IFR environment. Still not cheap but a fraction of the cost of going to the big displays.

Dynon is also very popular and very well supported. The D30 is similar in functionality to the Garmin G5 and you can keep adding features as you like. Price will be in the same ballpark as the Garmin. I’ ve excluded the portable Dynon D3 EFIS because it does not integrate with Pitot Static so you would still need steam gauges.

UAvionix offers the AV20 and AV30 which sell between $1500 and $2900.

The AV30 is similar to the Garmin G5, the AV20 is more basic. One nice feature is these can be the control head for a TailBeaconX which is an ADSB transponder You can get a whole package for $6500. If I was doing a basic VFR airplane an AV30 and TailBeaconX would get serious consideration.

Grand Rapids (GRT) has the GRT Mini which is more expensive than the Dynon and Garmin but with a lot more features and will be cheaper to expand. It can also be used to control a TailBeaconX. GRT has been around for a long time and they also have a very popular engine monitor that integrates well.

I have an EIS in my Zenair and it has paid for itself many times over.MGL is manufactured in South Africa and has been around awhile. Several of the club members are using them and they now own TRIG avionics which makes for a nice integrated package.

Falken Avionics is being used by one builder in High River. I have not seen it flying yet and I don ‘t know what their history is so I don ‘t know if this would be a good choice to investigate.

The challenge with all of these entry level EFIS solutions is that it is very easy to spend a lot more money adding on extra features. In the end though it will be worth it to go glass instead of steam for your next project.

The entry level glass displays are about what it would cost for new steam gauges and the extra features out of the box make it will worthwhile.

If you’re still looking at options for your project then take a look at some of the companies above to see if they might be the right solution for your plane.