July 31, 2024 • 25 mins
In Episode 71, we join Bill as he as he catches up with Nexair Avionics after 15 years, and we talk about the G3 Cirrus SR-22 Turbo that they've updated and have for sale.
Links:
Video Version of the Episode: https://youtu.be/WvtUix8JLmY
Hope you enjoy the episode and thanks for listening! Visit the SPC website at https://studentpilotcast.com. Please keep the feedback coming. You can use the contact form on the website or send email to bill at student pilot cast dot com. The theme song for our episodes is "To Be an Angel" by the band, "Uncle Seth".
Legal Notice: Remember, any instruction that you hear in this podcast was meant for me and me alone in the situation that we happened to be in at the time. Please do not try to apply anything you see or hear in this episode or any other episode to your own flying. If you have questions about any aspect of your flying, please consult a qualified CFI.
Copyright 2008-2024, studentpilotcast.com and Bill Williams
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
all right.
(00:00):
I'm back from Oshkosh and we'regoing to start with the little.
homage to the old days ofthe student pilot cast and
reconnect with Nexair avionics.
On another projectthey've been working on.
Are you ready to bringan incredible aircraft?
That's not even that old in airplaneterms into the future at a fraction of
the cost of an incredibly high price,new version of the same aircraft.
(00:24):
Are you confused yet?
Well, listen or watch on andget deacon fused in episode 71.
Of the student pilot cast.
(01:01):
Welcome back SPC listeners.
I'm going to kick off the post OSH 20.
24 era of the podcastwith a little throwback.
An homage, if you will, to the, one ofthe episodes I did back in the early
days, just after air venture, 2009.
Yep.
That's 15 years ago, man.
(01:21):
Time flies.
Anyway.
Back then we did a quick feature on Nexairavionics with David Featherston from
Nexair on their Saratoga NX product line.
I loved the concept.
And I love the airplane theyhad on display back then.
So since it's my podcast, I did thefeature and released it, even though
(01:42):
it didn't have a lot to do withtraining or being a student pilot.
But I do that sometimes as youknow, because if I'm interested.
Some of you probably will be too.
Well, I ran across David again at . and.
A new airplane.
Well, I mean, A new wish airplane.
(02:02):
Where they're taking a similarconcept and applying it to the most
popular GA single piston there is.
A Cirrus.
Specifically, we'll be talkingabout the Cirrus Sr 22 turbo model.
But not the new gen seven that Cirrusjust announced for over a million dollars.
Nope.
(02:23):
This one's going to be a gen three.
Brought into modernity witha big avionics upgrade.
And being sold by Nexairfor less than half.
Of the new one.
I got to talk to David briefly andhe claimed to remember the interview
we did back then 15 years ago.
But I think he might'vebeen just being nice.
(02:44):
I mean, seriously.
I say that because I barely rememberit myself and I have an RSSP that
helps me remember all the details.
So next time, of you talked toDavid, find out the real story.
Maybe you can do it when you'reordering your own Sr 22 upgrades.
After talking to the guys at Nexairfor a bit, Brian Wolf sales manager,
(03:06):
there agreed to do a feature withme the next morning I had to contain
my questions, which were plentyuntil we were talking on camera.
So I didn't know lot about whatthey were up to until we talked
on the record, so to speak.
Turns out.
Not much has changed.
Except for the airplanes, theavionics that are considered
(03:26):
state-of-the-art the mission ofthe aircraft and the age of the.
All right.
So technically a lot has changed.
But the business model, thatNexair is pursuing is pretty
close to what they were doing.
Way back then.
Yes.
They will work on manydifferent types of airplanes.
And yes, they can be apretty typical avionic shop.
(03:47):
I think.
And you can hire them toupgrade parts of your panel or
do the whole kitten caboodle.
But I find their approach to focusingin, on a very popular, specific airplane
and really learn what it takes tobring it forward avionics wise and
pursue buyers or owners who don'twant to spend oodles of money on a
(04:07):
brand new airplane, but would ratherupgrade theirs or even buy a used one.
And have that upgraded.
And then do it for a fraction of the cost.
I find that very pro GA.
Pro airplane.
And basically pro regular person.
So in other words, Ifind it kind of awesome.
(04:28):
So.
Listen, or watch to my quick conversationwith Brian in front of a gorgeous
2007, Sr 22 turbo gen three airplane.
Here you go.
Welcome everybody back to another specialepisode of the Student Pilot Cast.
(04:48):
I'm here with Brian from Nexair Avionics.
And Brian, I'd like you to justintroduce yourself a little bit.
Yeah, sure.
So, my name is Brian Wolf.
I work for Nexair Avionicsprimarily in their sales department
and aircraft integration.
Um, I'm here at Oshkosh 2024 onceagain with one of our Cirrus Garmin
G500 TXI conversions and kind ofmodernizing that aging Cirrus fleet.
(05:15):
Awesome.
And tell me why you're in aviation.
So I got the aviation bug when I was akid, just kind of like everybody else,
a friend of the family who's at an oldSkyhawk and, you know, kind of really
migrated toward it and uh, really enjoyed,uh, flying when I started when I was 17,
similar to everyone else and continuedthe flight training through college and
(05:37):
then ended up at Nexair shortly after ona lot of this cutting edge avionics stuff.
Do you still get to fly a little bit?
So I fly a fair bit for the company.
Uh, so a lot of our customersare not local to the Boston area.
That's where we're based out of.
Uh, so it is not uncommon forme to fly one of our customers
in or home for upgrades.
(05:59):
Uh, and we have customers asfar away as, uh, Boston to L.
A., uh, Vancouver.
We've gone to France before towork on airplanes, so really a, a
pretty wide reach of, uh, customersin flying around the country.
Well, longtime listeners and viewerswill remember that in 2009, I did a,
(06:19):
I did an interview with, uh, Nexair.
Um, because they were, they were workingat the time, uh, they had, they had done
some STCs and we're working on a Saratoga.
They called it the Saratoga NX.
Um, I fell in love with theconcept and with the airplane.
Um, it was all brand newavionics at the time.
Um, little long in the tooth by thistime, but, but I thought it was an
(06:43):
interesting concept and I really loved it.
So I did an interview there.
You can, uh, go back and watch that.
Uh, but.
I noticed this year, um, that they'vegot this beautiful Cirrus here.
It's a, it's a G3.
Um, so 2007.
Yeah.
So it's a 2007, uh, model.
It's a, um, SR22, uh, turbo normalized.
(07:05):
Uh, so we purchased it to doour Garmin conversions in it.
So, uh, not only this aircraft isequipped with the Garmin G500 TXI system
we created, but we've done somewherebetween 30 and 35 other aircraft as well.
So, uh, this aircraft isequipped with two Garmin 10.
6 inch G500 TXI screens.
(07:26):
Garmin GTN 750XI, 650XI, uh, with alot of other Garmin, um, products,
including their newest product, theGDL60, their plane sync device for
remote aircraft status, remote databaseupdates, cockpit, um, integration.
Very cool.
Yeah.
So, um, most of us know thatCirrus has just released a, a
(07:50):
new version of, of the, uh, SR22.
Yeah.
SR22.
Um, and this seems to be almost equivalentto that, uh, but for a lot less money.
Can you talk about that a little bit?
Yeah, sure.
So, uh, our kind of primary market forthe Cirrus aircraft is your G1s through
your G3s, so pre prospective airplanes.
(08:11):
So, uh, that was starting in 2001 allthe way through 2008 was when the last
Avidon G3 was, uh, So basically whatwe look for in a customer's aircraft
when we start the conversation isuh, Are you an Avidyne aircraft?
Are you a six pack aircraft?
What's currently equipped andwhat's your end goal along with
(08:31):
your mission budget and technology?
So we try to help our customersnavigate those items to try to optimize
the best use out of their airplanes.
Cool.
Um, I'm, I'm sure that these new avionicshave improved capabilities and, uh,
ease of use and, uh, pilot workload.
Can you talk a little bit about how theavionics have improved over the ones that
(08:54):
Cirrus had, uh, had installed initially?
Oh yeah, sure.
So, big improvements with all these,uh, devices we've installed in here.
So, uh, it's hard to list them allin all honesty, but a couple of the
big ones that a lot of these Cirrusaircraft were non WAS aircraft.
So they were really restrictedto non precision GPS approaches.
So this aircraft is WAS equipped,so LPV, LNAV plus V, basically
(09:19):
anything with vertical guidance wecan see, um, including step downs.
It'll fly step downs via its verticalnav, uh, Part of the autopilot.
So pretty cool stuff on their arrivalsand some of these approaches as well.
Other big thing that the Integra systemdidn't have that a lot of our customers
really love is this synthetic vision.
So synthetic vision is nowintegrated in this aircraft.
(09:42):
Um, seeing runways, any obstacles,traffic, really great for
situational awareness for the pilot.
Also, this one's integratedGarmin smart glide feature.
So smart glide being a featurethat is really meant to help the.
Pilot in a really an emergency wherethe aircraft will take over if the
(10:03):
buttons depressed, the autopilot willpitch up to the best glide speed,
steer you to the nearest airport withthe biggest runway, tune the weather
on the standby, prompt you to squawk7700 and give you the airplane back
when you're in the airport environment.
It comes over the intercom system.
It says airport environment,maneuver and land.
(10:24):
So it's a real big safety improvementand there's so many other things that
they've integrated to try to help thatpilot in those critical situations.
Yeah, so the auto glider, thatsafety feature, I guess it gives the
pilot time to run some checklists,maybe try and alleviate the
emergency some other way while theairplane is doing the aviate part.
(10:45):
Well, yeah,
exactly.
So, uh, all of us know, you know,it's very hard for humans to sit
there and In that critical time offlight, not only to focus on flying
the aircraft, but maybe run throughyour checklist, maybe understand why
you're seeing that, um, you know, kindof emergency situation, rough running
engine, engine, not running it at all.
So it's a huge helping hand.
(11:07):
One of those ones weall hope to never use.
Right.
Yeah, that's right.
So, um, I'm curious a littlebit about the business model.
So if we could kind of focus a littlebit away from the airplane itself, I hate
to do that, but focus a little away fromthe airplane, um, kind of understand how
you guys, um, are running these upgrades.
So, um, I know you've got thisairplane here and, uh, as I
(11:29):
understand it, it's for sale.
Like you're, you're ready to sell it.
And can you talk a little bit about,um, How you're generally doing this?
Is it mostly customers come to you withan airplane and want you to retrofit it?
Or do you sometimes do these on specwhere you acquire the airplane, retrofit
it, and then sell it to somebody?
Yeah.
(11:49):
So, uh, probably about.
95 percent or more of ourbusiness is getting our customers
aircraft and bringing them upto speed on the TXI system.
So this aircraft was really purchasedfor us because we all like to fly and
it's always nice to have an airplane.
So it's not uncommon for us at Nexair tograb an aircraft, upgrade the avionics,
(12:11):
maybe do a paint job on it, have anairplane to fly for a little bit, and
also do some of these fun marketingthings to make it, uh A reason to fly.
So, um, our process really is a lotof our sales are trading driven.
So back in 2011 when the initialGarmin GTN 650 750 was released, uh,
(12:35):
we started offering trading incentives.
Trade in your 430s for the GTNs.
So a lot of our customers over theyears until the TXI was released,
we were doing a lot of serviceson those trading incentives.
Now that the G500 TXI and some otherPFD and MFD solutions are becoming
available for the series, we're nowcircling back with our customers
(12:56):
and removing the Integra displaysand installing Garmin displays.
Once again, running that kind oftrade up promotion gives you some
credit for your older displays andgives you the best options out there.
Excellent.
Okay, so every once in a whileyou build one on spec and sell
it, But most of the time it's yourcustomers bringing something to you.
(13:17):
Do you do any consulting?
If somebody wants to get into a Cirrus,like the ones that you retrofit, do
they ever come to you before they'veacquired the airplane and maybe get
some help finding the right airplane?
Oh yeah, it happens all the time.
So we have a lot ofcustomers that sit there.
They're excited to get in the Cirrus.
They're excited to seewhat it has to offer.
Maybe you're not in the purchasingcategory of wanting to go out
(13:39):
and buy a brand new G7, butwant similar avionics with.
the same capabilities, um,with an older aircraft.
So a lot of times I'll work with customersand they'll sit there and in their search,
they'll send me links of the aircraft.
They find controller tradea plane wherever they may.
And we'll go ahead and kind of givethem the, uh, the overlay, you know,
(14:00):
a quick email of, You know rough costsfor everything and how it's gonna
work in their aircraft Maybe theyhave some systems in their aircraft
that are worth a little more money.
So the trades are a little better Andthen once they acquire the aircraft,
then we work on getting them a formalizedestimate working them into the schedule,
you know Right now we're running about,you know, somewhere around three to
(14:20):
four months out So that kind of planningpurpose is important for us because
a lot of the modifications we do theaircraft or before the aircraft arrives
We integrate a whole main aircraftharness to the existing Cirrus harness.
Um, so that is built before theaircraft arrives to the shop.
We have some custom instrument panelsthat we have to make to accommodate
all of our new equipment that is madebefore the customer enters the shop.
(14:43):
So there's a bit of the planningprocess that we try to get ahead on.
So when your aircraft comes toNexair, it doesn't sit there
stale in the corner of the shop.
So our TXI conversions, we try our bestto move them between four and six weeks.
That's kind of amazing.
So somebody could bring an aircraftto you, um, at least with a little
(15:04):
bit of, uh, foreplanning and they'llget that long before they would
get a new aircraft from Cirrus.
Yeah, I don't know
what Sears is at last time.
I heard two years this week.
I don't know if that'sa true number or not.
But yeah, if you get a good, uh, usedaircraft, you know, G1 through G3, you
know, go through the purchasing process.
It's going to take some time,you know, maybe a month or two.
(15:25):
You know, kind of the initial pains.
Um, you know, we could certainlyhave you up and running, new
aircraft, new avionics within sixmonths probably without a problem.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
And you end up with sucha beautiful aircraft.
Did you have to spearhead any STCsor anything like that to be able
to do these retrofits on thesegenerations of Cirrus aircraft?
(15:45):
So now, so this is a, thenice part about this one.
So with the Saratoga, wehad to do the entire STC.
Uh, this, uh, Garmin package.
It's all STC through Garmin.
So Garmin had their own SR22 andthey went ahead and STC'd all the
products that were in this aircraft.
So it's been a nice transition for us tokind of take over a lot of those projects
(16:07):
and not have to start that STC process.
Oh, that makes it great for you guys.
Doesn't it?
Sure does.
Uh, anybody who's ever done an STCknows that it's, uh, you'll pull
your hair out doing it for sure.
Yeah.
So if we could circle, come backfull circle back to this airplane.
Can you tell me a little bit aboutwhat you guys have done to it?
What about the engine?
(16:28):
What about the paint interioror anything like that?
What, What have you done to bring itinto the state that it's in right now?
Sure.
So, uh, kind of our primary focuswith this aircraft was the avionics.
So the paint, it was paintedbefore we purchased it.
It's in a relatively good condition.
Uh, interior was in goodcondition, but certainly original.
(16:49):
And then the engine is a higher timeengine, but running strong right now.
So, it's a pretty good aircraft.
We have used it a ton for alot of testing and improvements
working with the guys at Garmin.
to try to make the productthe best it can be.
Cool.
And if somebody, um, I imagine thatif somebody brought you, um, maybe a
(17:09):
run out engine or, you know, paint,wasn't looking too good, that that
would be part of the process ifthey wanted to go with you as well.
So all that stuff, the paint, theengine, basically anything other than
avionics, um, is going to go through, uh,one of our partners that we work with.
We work with people around the country.
Um, we're great at avionics.
That's what we do.
That's what we stay doing.
(17:30):
So there are a bunch of guyswe can list for engine work
and then paint for this year.
So there's really only one or twoguys we know around the country
that do an outstanding job.
All right, but you would helpcoordinate that for a customer?
Oh, absolutely.
And, uh, so tell me what you'reselling this airplane for,
um, a little bit about it.
What is the engine time?
(17:51):
And, um, you know, just whatcould somebody come and get
this from you for right now?
Sure.
So the airplane's being sold for 439, 000.
Um, The engine, um, is a 2023 hours.
So a little over TBO.
It did have a prop strike backin 2009 before we owned it.
So it was ironed, new cylinders were puton, but it wasn't a zero time overall.
(18:14):
So, um, the paint was done in 2014,so relatively good shape on the paint.
It looks wonderful.
So yeah, it's certainly, it's not perfect.
It's 10 years old now.
It's hard to believe,but it's a, in good work.
Good It's a good looking condition.
So, and then the avionics were alldone by us, so they were done in
2023, so all relatively new equipment.
(18:36):
Excellent.
Well, um, that would get somebodyinto a serious, um, I don't know,
40 percent of the cost of a new one.
Something like that.
Yeah.
Something like that.
I mean, even if you put in themotor into the mix, I guess you
could call it 50%, but I think it'spretty great bang for your buck when
you're out there looking for a goodsingle engine travel and aircraft.
(18:56):
This aircraft is flown all over thecountry and it's Has never failed
us and has made good time doing it.
Awesome.
So, is there anything I didn't askthat I should have asked about next?
Or anything you want to talk about?
You know, I, I think we nailed it all.
I mean, we're, uh, we're just a largeavionics shop on the East Coast just
outside of Boston and, uh, really loveworking on the Cirrus, but certainly
(19:18):
work on a lot of other airplanes, uh,from smaller piston aircraft all the
way through, uh, some of your smallerturboprop and turbofan aircraft.
Excellent.
I just love the concept of taking theolder aircraft and kind of updating them,
bringing them to speed, giving them life.
This is even that old in the big schemeof things, but, but giving them, you
know, kind of the capabilities of a brandnew aircraft at a fraction of the cost.
(19:42):
So I love what you guys aredoing and I hope you keep
it up.
Yeah, we're enjoying it as well.
And just kind of keep it in mindthat other than Cirrus, really no
one makes new aircraft anymore.
So it's an aging fleet out there.
We expect to continue rebuilds, not onlyas Cirrus aircraft, maybe on twin Cessna,
Bonanzas, King Airs, all those things.
Just because.
That fleet is aging and isin need of modernization.
(20:05):
Excellent.
Brian, thank you very much.
Appreciate the time.
Thank you.
Good luck.
So, what do you think.
He liked their approach.
How about the airplane?
Let me know or better yet.
If you're so inclined, give them a call.
If you're interested in doing somethingsimilar to your airplane, or if
you're going to want to do somethinglike that to one you're acquiring.
(20:27):
But anyway, it was cool to catch up withNexair and see what they're doing and
see that they're still going strong.
Wait.
Is that.
Posten strong.
I don't know I'm from the otherside of the country, so maybe
I don't understand that Bostonstrong thing fully in any case.
They seem to still be up totheir old tricks, to taking older
airplanes and making them new again.
(20:49):
Well, new-ish again.
I've got more stuff coming soon.
So stay subscribed and do,give me feedback on what you'd
like to know about Oshkosh.
The future of the podcast,my training episodes that are
coming up or anything else.
That you may want tohear about or know about.
As Talking to what my wife callsmy imaginary friends, and she's
(21:13):
never really met many of them.
A lot of ideas pop up andthis OSH is no different.
We've got some cool ideas offeatures, even some that could become
regular features of the podcast.
So we're brainstorming and workinghard to get some of that going.
I'm excited where we're headedwith the podcast, including the
training that'll be released shortly.
And I'm excited about thefledgling flight lane podcast too.
(21:36):
And we've got some stuff coming up there.
As well.
So if you haven't already.
Check that podcast out in yourfavorite podcast directory,
including apple podcasts, Spotify.
YouTube music, Amazon music,and many others, or come find
us@flightlinepodcast.com.
Technically speaking since this episode'scontent wasn't really aimed at learning or
(22:00):
student pilots or new ratings, et cetera.
It seems natural that it would havelanded on the flight line podcast.
But I just loved the symmetry ofpublishing it here 15 years after the
original next era interview episode.
So there you go.
What can I say?
Both shows we'll have plenty coming.
So please subscribe to both.
It costs you nothing.
(22:21):
And you don't want to missout on what's to come.
The FOMO is real.
My friends.
So don't suffer.
Subscribe.
noticed, I've mentioned watch or listento the episode a couple of times.
This is one of those timesthat the audio and the video
episodes are exactly the same.
But they are both published.
So if you're listening to this andyou want to see the airplane or Brian.
(22:46):
Nobody wants to see my radio face.
I'm sure.
Check out the video versionof this episode on YouTube.
It's linked to and referenced in the shownotes or on the student pilot cast website
entry for this episode, episode 71.
Which can befound@studentpilotcast.com slash 71.
Or you can just searchfor Nexair that's N E X a.
(23:09):
I are on the website search boxand you'll find both episodes the
2009 and the 2024 episode versions.
So let me know what you think.
course.
And as I said before, reach out withany feedback or suggestions or just
showering praise that works too.
You can send me a note at bill atstudent pilot, cast.com or dim meet.
(23:34):
ex.
At at bill well that's Bravo, India,Lima, Lima, whiskey, India, Lima.
And while I'm interested in a lotof things in aviation and I love
the focus, the technical nature, thelearning, the teaching, the beauty.
The perspective, and evento some extent, the risks.
(23:55):
As that brings out the bestin people, including me to
be as excellent as possible.
None of that happens without the hardware.
The flying machines thatmake this all possible.
So every once in awhile, we'llbring a feature like this one
that just have to do with that.
The machines that make it all possible.
The machines.
(24:17):
That allow me.
To be a pilot.
all right.
(00:00):
I'm back from Oshkosh and we'regoing to start with the little.
homage to the old days ofthe student pilot cast and
reconnect with Nexair avionics.
On another projectthey've been working on.
Are you ready to bringan incredible aircraft?
That's not even that old in airplaneterms into the future at a fraction of
the cost of an incredibly high price,new version of the same aircraft.
(00:24):
Are you confused yet?
Well, listen or watch on andget deacon fused in episode 71.
Of the student pilot cast.
(01:01):
Welcome back SPC listeners.
I'm going to kick off the post OSH 20.
24 era of the podcastwith a little throwback.
An homage, if you will, to the, one ofthe episodes I did back in the early
days, just after air venture, 2009.
Yep.
That's 15 years ago, man.
(01:21):
Time flies.
Anyway.
Back then we did a quick feature on Nexairavionics with David Featherston from
Nexair on their Saratoga NX product line.
I loved the concept.
And I love the airplane theyhad on display back then.
So since it's my podcast, I did thefeature and released it, even though
(01:42):
it didn't have a lot to do withtraining or being a student pilot.
But I do that sometimes as youknow, because if I'm interested.
Some of you probably will be too.
Well, I ran across David again at . and.
A new airplane.
Well, I mean, A new wish airplane.
(02:02):
Where they're taking a similarconcept and applying it to the most
popular GA single piston there is.
A Cirrus.
Specifically, we'll be talkingabout the Cirrus Sr 22 turbo model.
But not the new gen seven that Cirrusjust announced for over a million dollars.
Nope.
(02:23):
This one's going to be a gen three.
Brought into modernity witha big avionics upgrade.
And being sold by Nexairfor less than half.
Of the new one.
I got to talk to David briefly andhe claimed to remember the interview
we did back then 15 years ago.
But I think he might'vebeen just being nice.
(02:44):
I mean, seriously.
I say that because I barely rememberit myself and I have an RSSP that
helps me remember all the details.
So next time, of you talked toDavid, find out the real story.
Maybe you can do it when you'reordering your own Sr 22 upgrades.
After talking to the guys at Nexairfor a bit, Brian Wolf sales manager,
(03:06):
there agreed to do a feature withme the next morning I had to contain
my questions, which were plentyuntil we were talking on camera.
So I didn't know lot about whatthey were up to until we talked
on the record, so to speak.
Turns out.
Not much has changed.
Except for the airplanes, theavionics that are considered
(03:26):
state-of-the-art the mission ofthe aircraft and the age of the.
All right.
So technically a lot has changed.
But the business model, thatNexair is pursuing is pretty
close to what they were doing.
Way back then.
Yes.
They will work on manydifferent types of airplanes.
And yes, they can be apretty typical avionic shop.
(03:47):
I think.
And you can hire them toupgrade parts of your panel or
do the whole kitten caboodle.
But I find their approach to focusingin, on a very popular, specific airplane
and really learn what it takes tobring it forward avionics wise and
pursue buyers or owners who don'twant to spend oodles of money on a
(04:07):
brand new airplane, but would ratherupgrade theirs or even buy a used one.
And have that upgraded.
And then do it for a fraction of the cost.
I find that very pro GA.
Pro airplane.
And basically pro regular person.
So in other words, Ifind it kind of awesome.
(04:28):
So.
Listen, or watch to my quick conversationwith Brian in front of a gorgeous
2007, Sr 22 turbo gen three airplane.
Here you go.
Welcome everybody back to another specialepisode of the Student Pilot Cast.
(04:48):
I'm here with Brian from Nexair Avionics.
And Brian, I'd like you to justintroduce yourself a little bit.
Yeah, sure.
So, my name is Brian Wolf.
I work for Nexair Avionicsprimarily in their sales department
and aircraft integration.
Um, I'm here at Oshkosh 2024 onceagain with one of our Cirrus Garmin
G500 TXI conversions and kind ofmodernizing that aging Cirrus fleet.
(05:15):
Awesome.
And tell me why you're in aviation.
So I got the aviation bug when I was akid, just kind of like everybody else,
a friend of the family who's at an oldSkyhawk and, you know, kind of really
migrated toward it and uh, really enjoyed,uh, flying when I started when I was 17,
similar to everyone else and continuedthe flight training through college and
(05:37):
then ended up at Nexair shortly after ona lot of this cutting edge avionics stuff.
Do you still get to fly a little bit?
So I fly a fair bit for the company.
Uh, so a lot of our customersare not local to the Boston area.
That's where we're based out of.
Uh, so it is not uncommon forme to fly one of our customers
in or home for upgrades.
(05:59):
Uh, and we have customers asfar away as, uh, Boston to L.
A., uh, Vancouver.
We've gone to France before towork on airplanes, so really a, a
pretty wide reach of, uh, customersin flying around the country.
Well, longtime listeners and viewerswill remember that in 2009, I did a,
(06:19):
I did an interview with, uh, Nexair.
Um, because they were, they were workingat the time, uh, they had, they had done
some STCs and we're working on a Saratoga.
They called it the Saratoga NX.
Um, I fell in love with theconcept and with the airplane.
Um, it was all brand newavionics at the time.
Um, little long in the tooth by thistime, but, but I thought it was an
(06:43):
interesting concept and I really loved it.
So I did an interview there.
You can, uh, go back and watch that.
Uh, but.
I noticed this year, um, that they'vegot this beautiful Cirrus here.
It's a, it's a G3.
Um, so 2007.
Yeah.
So it's a 2007, uh, model.
It's a, um, SR22, uh, turbo normalized.
(07:05):
Uh, so we purchased it to doour Garmin conversions in it.
So, uh, not only this aircraft isequipped with the Garmin G500 TXI system
we created, but we've done somewherebetween 30 and 35 other aircraft as well.
So, uh, this aircraft isequipped with two Garmin 10.
6 inch G500 TXI screens.
(07:26):
Garmin GTN 750XI, 650XI, uh, with alot of other Garmin, um, products,
including their newest product, theGDL60, their plane sync device for
remote aircraft status, remote databaseupdates, cockpit, um, integration.
Very cool.
Yeah.
So, um, most of us know thatCirrus has just released a, a
(07:50):
new version of, of the, uh, SR22.
Yeah.
SR22.
Um, and this seems to be almost equivalentto that, uh, but for a lot less money.
Can you talk about that a little bit?
Yeah, sure.
So, uh, our kind of primary market forthe Cirrus aircraft is your G1s through
your G3s, so pre prospective airplanes.
(08:11):
So, uh, that was starting in 2001 allthe way through 2008 was when the last
Avidon G3 was, uh, So basically whatwe look for in a customer's aircraft
when we start the conversation isuh, Are you an Avidyne aircraft?
Are you a six pack aircraft?
What's currently equipped andwhat's your end goal along with
(08:31):
your mission budget and technology?
So we try to help our customersnavigate those items to try to optimize
the best use out of their airplanes.
Cool.
Um, I'm, I'm sure that these new avionicshave improved capabilities and, uh,
ease of use and, uh, pilot workload.
Can you talk a little bit about how theavionics have improved over the ones that
(08:54):
Cirrus had, uh, had installed initially?
Oh yeah, sure.
So, big improvements with all these,uh, devices we've installed in here.
So, uh, it's hard to list them allin all honesty, but a couple of the
big ones that a lot of these Cirrusaircraft were non WAS aircraft.
So they were really restrictedto non precision GPS approaches.
So this aircraft is WAS equipped,so LPV, LNAV plus V, basically
(09:19):
anything with vertical guidance wecan see, um, including step downs.
It'll fly step downs via its verticalnav, uh, Part of the autopilot.
So pretty cool stuff on their arrivalsand some of these approaches as well.
Other big thing that the Integra systemdidn't have that a lot of our customers
really love is this synthetic vision.
So synthetic vision is nowintegrated in this aircraft.
(09:42):
Um, seeing runways, any obstacles,traffic, really great for
situational awareness for the pilot.
Also, this one's integratedGarmin smart glide feature.
So smart glide being a featurethat is really meant to help the.
Pilot in a really an emergency wherethe aircraft will take over if the
(10:03):
buttons depressed, the autopilot willpitch up to the best glide speed,
steer you to the nearest airport withthe biggest runway, tune the weather
on the standby, prompt you to squawk7700 and give you the airplane back
when you're in the airport environment.
It comes over the intercom system.
It says airport environment,maneuver and land.
(10:24):
So it's a real big safety improvementand there's so many other things that
they've integrated to try to help thatpilot in those critical situations.
Yeah, so the auto glider, thatsafety feature, I guess it gives the
pilot time to run some checklists,maybe try and alleviate the
emergency some other way while theairplane is doing the aviate part.
(10:45):
Well, yeah,
exactly.
So, uh, all of us know, you know,it's very hard for humans to sit
there and In that critical time offlight, not only to focus on flying
the aircraft, but maybe run throughyour checklist, maybe understand why
you're seeing that, um, you know, kindof emergency situation, rough running
engine, engine, not running it at all.
So it's a huge helping hand.
(11:07):
One of those ones weall hope to never use.
Right.
Yeah, that's right.
So, um, I'm curious a littlebit about the business model.
So if we could kind of focus a littlebit away from the airplane itself, I hate
to do that, but focus a little away fromthe airplane, um, kind of understand how
you guys, um, are running these upgrades.
So, um, I know you've got thisairplane here and, uh, as I
(11:29):
understand it, it's for sale.
Like you're, you're ready to sell it.
And can you talk a little bit about,um, How you're generally doing this?
Is it mostly customers come to you withan airplane and want you to retrofit it?
Or do you sometimes do these on specwhere you acquire the airplane, retrofit
it, and then sell it to somebody?
Yeah.
(11:49):
So, uh, probably about.
95 percent or more of ourbusiness is getting our customers
aircraft and bringing them upto speed on the TXI system.
So this aircraft was really purchasedfor us because we all like to fly and
it's always nice to have an airplane.
So it's not uncommon for us at Nexair tograb an aircraft, upgrade the avionics,
(12:11):
maybe do a paint job on it, have anairplane to fly for a little bit, and
also do some of these fun marketingthings to make it, uh A reason to fly.
So, um, our process really is a lotof our sales are trading driven.
So back in 2011 when the initialGarmin GTN 650 750 was released, uh,
(12:35):
we started offering trading incentives.
Trade in your 430s for the GTNs.
So a lot of our customers over theyears until the TXI was released,
we were doing a lot of serviceson those trading incentives.
Now that the G500 TXI and some otherPFD and MFD solutions are becoming
available for the series, we're nowcircling back with our customers
(12:56):
and removing the Integra displaysand installing Garmin displays.
Once again, running that kind oftrade up promotion gives you some
credit for your older displays andgives you the best options out there.
Excellent.
Okay, so every once in a whileyou build one on spec and sell
it, But most of the time it's yourcustomers bringing something to you.
(13:17):
Do you do any consulting?
If somebody wants to get into a Cirrus,like the ones that you retrofit, do
they ever come to you before they'veacquired the airplane and maybe get
some help finding the right airplane?
Oh yeah, it happens all the time.
So we have a lot ofcustomers that sit there.
They're excited to get in the Cirrus.
They're excited to seewhat it has to offer.
Maybe you're not in the purchasingcategory of wanting to go out
(13:39):
and buy a brand new G7, butwant similar avionics with.
the same capabilities, um,with an older aircraft.
So a lot of times I'll work with customersand they'll sit there and in their search,
they'll send me links of the aircraft.
They find controller tradea plane wherever they may.
And we'll go ahead and kind of givethem the, uh, the overlay, you know,
(14:00):
a quick email of, You know rough costsfor everything and how it's gonna
work in their aircraft Maybe theyhave some systems in their aircraft
that are worth a little more money.
So the trades are a little better Andthen once they acquire the aircraft,
then we work on getting them a formalizedestimate working them into the schedule,
you know Right now we're running about,you know, somewhere around three to
(14:20):
four months out So that kind of planningpurpose is important for us because
a lot of the modifications we do theaircraft or before the aircraft arrives
We integrate a whole main aircraftharness to the existing Cirrus harness.
Um, so that is built before theaircraft arrives to the shop.
We have some custom instrument panelsthat we have to make to accommodate
all of our new equipment that is madebefore the customer enters the shop.
(14:43):
So there's a bit of the planningprocess that we try to get ahead on.
So when your aircraft comes toNexair, it doesn't sit there
stale in the corner of the shop.
So our TXI conversions, we try our bestto move them between four and six weeks.
That's kind of amazing.
So somebody could bring an aircraftto you, um, at least with a little
(15:04):
bit of, uh, foreplanning and they'llget that long before they would
get a new aircraft from Cirrus.
Yeah, I don't know
what Sears is at last time.
I heard two years this week.
I don't know if that'sa true number or not.
But yeah, if you get a good, uh, usedaircraft, you know, G1 through G3, you
know, go through the purchasing process.
It's going to take some time,you know, maybe a month or two.
(15:25):
You know, kind of the initial pains.
Um, you know, we could certainlyhave you up and running, new
aircraft, new avionics within sixmonths probably without a problem.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
And you end up with sucha beautiful aircraft.
Did you have to spearhead any STCsor anything like that to be able
to do these retrofits on thesegenerations of Cirrus aircraft?
(15:45):
So now, so this is a, thenice part about this one.
So with the Saratoga, wehad to do the entire STC.
Uh, this, uh, Garmin package.
It's all STC through Garmin.
So Garmin had their own SR22 andthey went ahead and STC'd all the
products that were in this aircraft.
So it's been a nice transition for us tokind of take over a lot of those projects
(16:07):
and not have to start that STC process.
Oh, that makes it great for you guys.
Doesn't it?
Sure does.
Uh, anybody who's ever done an STCknows that it's, uh, you'll pull
your hair out doing it for sure.
Yeah.
So if we could circle, come backfull circle back to this airplane.
Can you tell me a little bit aboutwhat you guys have done to it?
What about the engine?
(16:28):
What about the paint interioror anything like that?
What, What have you done to bring itinto the state that it's in right now?
Sure.
So, uh, kind of our primary focuswith this aircraft was the avionics.
So the paint, it was paintedbefore we purchased it.
It's in a relatively good condition.
Uh, interior was in goodcondition, but certainly original.
(16:49):
And then the engine is a higher timeengine, but running strong right now.
So, it's a pretty good aircraft.
We have used it a ton for alot of testing and improvements
working with the guys at Garmin.
to try to make the productthe best it can be.
Cool.
And if somebody, um, I imagine thatif somebody brought you, um, maybe a
(17:09):
run out engine or, you know, paint,wasn't looking too good, that that
would be part of the process ifthey wanted to go with you as well.
So all that stuff, the paint, theengine, basically anything other than
avionics, um, is going to go through, uh,one of our partners that we work with.
We work with people around the country.
Um, we're great at avionics.
That's what we do.
That's what we stay doing.
(17:30):
So there are a bunch of guyswe can list for engine work
and then paint for this year.
So there's really only one or twoguys we know around the country
that do an outstanding job.
All right, but you would helpcoordinate that for a customer?
Oh, absolutely.
And, uh, so tell me what you'reselling this airplane for,
um, a little bit about it.
What is the engine time?
(17:51):
And, um, you know, just whatcould somebody come and get
this from you for right now?
Sure.
So the airplane's being sold for 439, 000.
Um, The engine, um, is a 2023 hours.
So a little over TBO.
It did have a prop strike backin 2009 before we owned it.
So it was ironed, new cylinders were puton, but it wasn't a zero time overall.
(18:14):
So, um, the paint was done in 2014,so relatively good shape on the paint.
It looks wonderful.
So yeah, it's certainly, it's not perfect.
It's 10 years old now.
It's hard to believe,but it's a, in good work.
Good It's a good looking condition.
So, and then the avionics were alldone by us, so they were done in
2023, so all relatively new equipment.
(18:36):
Excellent.
Well, um, that would get somebodyinto a serious, um, I don't know,
40 percent of the cost of a new one.
Something like that.
Yeah.
Something like that.
I mean, even if you put in themotor into the mix, I guess you
could call it 50%, but I think it'spretty great bang for your buck when
you're out there looking for a goodsingle engine travel and aircraft.
(18:56):
This aircraft is flown all over thecountry and it's Has never failed
us and has made good time doing it.
Awesome.
So, is there anything I didn't askthat I should have asked about next?
Or anything you want to talk about?
You know, I, I think we nailed it all.
I mean, we're, uh, we're just a largeavionics shop on the East Coast just
outside of Boston and, uh, really loveworking on the Cirrus, but certainly
(19:18):
work on a lot of other airplanes, uh,from smaller piston aircraft all the
way through, uh, some of your smallerturboprop and turbofan aircraft.
Excellent.
I just love the concept of taking theolder aircraft and kind of updating them,
bringing them to speed, giving them life.
This is even that old in the big schemeof things, but, but giving them, you
know, kind of the capabilities of a brandnew aircraft at a fraction of the cost.
(19:42):
So I love what you guys aredoing and I hope you keep
it up.
Yeah, we're enjoying it as well.
And just kind of keep it in mindthat other than Cirrus, really no
one makes new aircraft anymore.
So it's an aging fleet out there.
We expect to continue rebuilds, not onlyas Cirrus aircraft, maybe on twin Cessna,
Bonanzas, King Airs, all those things.
Just because.
That fleet is aging and isin need of modernization.
(20:05):
Excellent.
Brian, thank you very much.
Appreciate the time.
Thank you.
Good luck.
So, what do you think.
He liked their approach.
How about the airplane?
Let me know or better yet.
If you're so inclined, give them a call.
If you're interested in doing somethingsimilar to your airplane, or if
you're going to want to do somethinglike that to one you're acquiring.
(20:27):
But anyway, it was cool to catch up withNexair and see what they're doing and
see that they're still going strong.
Wait.
Is that.
Posten strong.
I don't know I'm from the otherside of the country, so maybe
I don't understand that Bostonstrong thing fully in any case.
They seem to still be up totheir old tricks, to taking older
airplanes and making them new again.
(20:49):
Well, new-ish again.
I've got more stuff coming soon.
So stay subscribed and do,give me feedback on what you'd
like to know about Oshkosh.
The future of the podcast,my training episodes that are
coming up or anything else.
That you may want tohear about or know about.
As Talking to what my wife callsmy imaginary friends, and she's
(21:13):
never really met many of them.
A lot of ideas pop up andthis OSH is no different.
We've got some cool ideas offeatures, even some that could become
regular features of the podcast.
So we're brainstorming and workinghard to get some of that going.
I'm excited where we're headedwith the podcast, including the
training that'll be released shortly.
And I'm excited about thefledgling flight lane podcast too.
(21:36):
And we've got some stuff coming up there.
As well.
So if you haven't already.
Check that podcast out in yourfavorite podcast directory,
including apple podcasts, Spotify.
YouTube music, Amazon music,and many others, or come find
us@flightlinepodcast.com.
Technically speaking since this episode'scontent wasn't really aimed at learning or
(22:00):
student pilots or new ratings, et cetera.
It seems natural that it would havelanded on the flight line podcast.
But I just loved the symmetry ofpublishing it here 15 years after the
original next era interview episode.
So there you go.
What can I say?
Both shows we'll have plenty coming.
So please subscribe to both.
It costs you nothing.
(22:21):
And you don't want to missout on what's to come.
The FOMO is real.
My friends.
So don't suffer.
Subscribe.
noticed, I've mentioned watch or listento the episode a couple of times.
This is one of those timesthat the audio and the video
episodes are exactly the same.
But they are both published.
So if you're listening to this andyou want to see the airplane or Brian.
(22:46):
Nobody wants to see my radio face.
I'm sure.
Check out the video versionof this episode on YouTube.
It's linked to and referenced in the shownotes or on the student pilot cast website
entry for this episode, episode 71.
Which can befound@studentpilotcast.com slash 71.
Or you can just searchfor Nexair that's N E X a.
(23:09):
I are on the website search boxand you'll find both episodes the
2009 and the 2024 episode versions.
So let me know what you think.
course.
And as I said before, reach out withany feedback or suggestions or just
showering praise that works too.
You can send me a note at bill atstudent pilot, cast.com or dim meet.
(23:34):
ex.
At at bill well that's Bravo, India,Lima, Lima, whiskey, India, Lima.
And while I'm interested in a lotof things in aviation and I love
the focus, the technical nature, thelearning, the teaching, the beauty.
The perspective, and evento some extent, the risks.
(23:55):
As that brings out the bestin people, including me to
be as excellent as possible.
None of that happens without the hardware.
The flying machines thatmake this all possible.
So every once in awhile, we'llbring a feature like this one
that just have to do with that.
The machines that make it all possible.
The machines.
(24:17):
That allow me.
To be a pilot.
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Betrayal: Season 4
Karoline Borega married a man of honor – a respected Colorado Springs Police officer. She knew there would be sacrifices to accommodate her husband’s career. But she had no idea that he was using his badge to fool everyone. This season, we expose a man who swore two sacred oaths—one to his badge, one to his bride—and broke them both. We follow Karoline as she questions everything she thought she knew about her partner of over 20 years. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-3 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.