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Update: I just hit 500 flight hours on a single radio I installed and it's still perfect.
Everyone at the shop says you HAVE to bench test a new Garmin GTR-200 for at least 20 hours before install, but I was in a rush for a client in Daytona and just put it in after a basic function check. That was over a year ago and the log shows zero squawks, which really makes me question if all that extra testing time is actually needed. What's the shortest bench test you've ever run on a new comm unit that still held up?
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avery_smith226mo ago
See this all the time with tech, where the official "best practice" is built for the absolute worst case scenario. My old boss would make us run a 48 hour soak test on every single new EFIS, but I've slapped in a few after just a basic power-on check when a plane needed to fly, and they're still running fine years later. Feels like a lot of rules are just there to cover the one in a thousand lemon, not the normal unit.
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ellis.mia6mo ago
Remember that recall on the Garmin G1000 standby batteries? My buddy skipped the full ground test on a fresh install, just did a quick power cycle. Unit passed, plane flew. Two weeks later the thing died mid flight, no backup power at all. Cost him his job over skipping that one step.
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elizabethhayes6mo ago
That "one in a thousand lemon" point from avery_smith22 is exactly the problem though. How do you decide which install is worth the risk of skipping the full test?
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