Who is the LSA avionics leader?

SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON

Ever since steam gauges gave way to glass screens, the players in the avionics game have changed.

Analog instruments were made by many companies and became such commodities that you may not be able to name a brand. But as computers entered our cockpits, first via GPS and later with multi-function displays, brands became better known.

Among fully-built SLSA, it appears Dynon has the lion’s share of the digital instrument market. Company officials admit their biggest competitor remains analog gauges, but in glass cockpits, the Washington State-based company appears to have the lead — estimated at 50-75%. Two top manufacturers, Flight Design and Remos, use only Dynon.

In the Experimental market, Dynon is the probable leader though it has competitors, such as Grand Rapids Technology (GRT), Advanced Flight Systems (AFS), Blue Mountain, and MGL Avionics…each of which also has installations in SLSA. One educated guess is that Dynon has half the experimental digital market, while GRT and AFS have another sixth each, and Blue Mountain and MGL have something less than 10% each.

I acknowledge these guesstimates are non-scientific, so if you believe you have better information, please forward your comments to [email protected].

For more information: ByDanJohnson.com.