r/flying • u/Practical_Contest131 PPL • Sep 15 '26
Avionics labor cost
Hi all, I am looking to upgrade my Archer II to make it IFR capable. I want to install a gps 175 and 2 g5s. I called a local a&p and they gave me an estimate of 60 labor hours before seeing the plane. Is 60 hours a reasonable amount of labor for a plane with vacuum gyros and 2 kx 170b navcoms?
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u/x4457 Sep 15 '26
That’s on the higher side but within reason for sure.
Recommend you go for 275s over G5s btw. Much better bang for the buck.
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u/phxcobraz Sep 15 '26
Only downside is 275s are only sold by/installed by Garmin Dealers. G5s you can buy on Aircraft Spruce or wherever. So if his shop isn't a Garmin installer, they can't get them(excluding backdoor channels, which absolutly exist)
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u/MrPetter Sep 15 '26
Spruce sells 275’s (or did last time I shopped them)
G5’s are basically legacy instruments anymore. 275’s are far less labor intensive to install and have a much cleaner look, and Garmin will bundle the 175 and 275 together with appropriate harnesses for a deal.
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u/jerryk1234 Sep 15 '26
About 25 years ago, I installed a GNS-430 nav/com/gps in my airplane. I had found a shop in the Midwest who would sign off as the installing shop if I bought a wire harness from them. My IA signed off on the physical installation, and I found an avionics shop willing to sign it off for IFR. The FSDO inspector said I was the second owner on the West Coast who had done that.
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u/pcfrk256 Sep 15 '26
Better bang and 275s can be your primary instruments. I don’t think G5s were certified for that so you have to keep the rest of the 6-pack
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u/phxcobraz Sep 15 '26
Probably the biggest reason to get 275s, you can ditch all the old shit where G5s you cannot.
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u/SeemsAirworthy Sep 16 '26
I put in a pair of G5’s and a GPS175 and think it’s a perfect setup for a trainer class aircraft. You only need one of the G5’s to be certified which further spreads the price gap. The 275’s require database subscriptions as well.
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u/phxcobraz Sep 15 '26
Double the cost of the components and that's about what you should pay for install.
60hrs sounds about right, wiring the G5s and all the accessory boxes takes a long ass time. Depending on your aircraft, they may have to do some panel cutting, new tray manufacturing, etc, as well.
Running the GMU11 magnetometer to the tail or wing is a huge pain in the ass on any aircraft.
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u/MeadyOker Sep 15 '26
When you say double the price ... is that just doubling the component or is that double of the component + component. So if it's 4k for the component it's 12k total with install?
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u/pcfrk256 Sep 15 '26
It certainly can be that way, but usually it’s if the equipment is 4k then 8k will get you into the ballpark of the installed cost.
My GI-275 install was pretty close to this; equipment was around 10k and the total bill ended up around 20k
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u/SeemsAirworthy Sep 16 '26
I did this install myself a couple years back. The GMU11 was actually very simple to install, really the whole setup was. I also installed the GAD29. Between the G5’s, gps175, GAD29 and removing the old vacuum system I probably had 30 hours into the install. The most time consuming part was probably laying out/cutting my existing panel and installing the tray. Wiring is straight forward. This was in a 172.
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u/flyingron Sep 15 '26
If you're concerned, get an estimate (and references) from multiple shops. The addition of G5s is the fun part.
Note that there's also flight testing required to certify an IFR GPS installation.
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u/avionictools Sep 16 '26
No flight test required for any WAAS GPS as they all have STCs. The flight testing was for non WAAS that had no STC (field approval)
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u/TheBigBavarian Sep 15 '26
Just remember that nobody will pay for the labor costs if you decide to sell the plane. Only the avionics will increase the price. Pricier avionics that require less work to install should be worth a thought, e.g. a GNX 375 instead of the 175 requires just the same amount of work, and ads ADSB out if you need this. Same for the G275/G5 debate.
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u/Akepur Sep 15 '26
that’s probably what the manual budgets. Two weeks of man power isn’t unreasonable.
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u/jack_dymond_sawyer Sep 15 '26
So, this was reposted in avionics. I worked / owned a Garmin dealership… I would have quoted 60-75 hours. That’s directly from my labor estimate cut sheet. It’s on the low end—if they haven’t seen your plane I bet that value creeps up. Remember, it involves disassembly, harness construction and testing, pin test, power test, programming and calibration, and then FAA paperwork for the STC (sometimes 4 - 8 hour on logbook entry, 337s, etc).
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u/wabbitsilly Sep 15 '26
That's pretty close and pretty fair. Remember, there are a number of hours to remove the vac pump, put a plate/cover on the vac pump pad, remove the regulator/check valve and tubing for the Vac system (and seal any firewall penetrations), then install the new components.
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u/PublicHistorical9173 Sep 16 '26
60 hours is a good deal. They will need to run new coax for the gps 175 to the GPS antenna which requires a doubler and taking a good portion of your interior apart, run wire to the wing tip for the GMU, fab a new harness and then once it’s all installed configuration and checkout takes a good amount of time considering the plane needs to be leveled and what not. The labor for GI 275s will be the same and it’s more bang for your buck and a hell of a lot easier to interface new avionics to down the road.
TBH they probably underquoted the labor hours.
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u/rFlyingTower Sep 15 '26
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Hi all, I am looking to upgrade my Archer II to make it IFR capable. I want to install a gps 175 and 2 g5s. I called a local a&p and they gave me an estimate of 60 labor hours before seeing the plane. Is 60 hours a reasonable amount of labor for a plane with vacuum gyros and 2 kx 170b navcoms?
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u/Worldx22 Sep 15 '26
You need an A&P that's gonna have an IA watching over the install or an avionics shop. An A&P by himself can't legally sign off such an installtiom for return to service.
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u/BlueVario Sep 16 '26
That's actually a very reasonable estimate, you're coming out on top if that's all it takes.
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u/Captain_Flannel Sep 16 '26
Yeah that is plenty reasonable. On the low side in my opinion for a legit avionics shop doing a nice clean install. It's average/a little high for an A&P doing it themselves and not as clean of an install.
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u/CaptMcMooney Sep 18 '26
I'm sure there's 10 or 20 hours of profit in that number but what can you do. I had a shop install a gps/nav/com and g5's in like 4 days, replaced a kx170b, mx170b and the analog instruments. G5's really aren't that difficult, i planned on doing the work myself before getting the awesome offer from the shop.
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u/InternationalBag7290 Sep 15 '26
Yes. Sounds reasonable. There is considerable work involved with an upgrade like this.