The RV-14A had a two screen G3X system with the GTN-650xi navigator. The autopilot was the GFC-500. It is an amazing system that I came to really love during the three plus years I flew with it. Fantastic capabilities and a modern user friendly interface.
The RV-10 has a three screen G3X system with the same navigator and autopilot.
I have a couple hundred flight hours with the certified Garmin G-1000. It is clunky and un-user-friendly. Lots of ways to get lost in the interface. Several inconsistencies such as the map zoom feature which is exactly backward from the entire rest of the world. In it’s defense, it is much older than G3X. I think it first showed up around 2005. The G3X came out in 2014 (I think).
I briefly toyed with the idea of buying a recent vintage Cirrus SR-22, but the cost, on-going maintenance costs and the G-1000 avionics made buying the RV-10 a much better choice.
There have been rumors that some follow-on to the G3X was in the works but Garmin is not saying anything. The G3X is still remarkably good after eleven years. Of course, I would buy the newest thing if it is drop-in replaceable but that is just because I am a tech nerd.
There are only two very minor issues with the panel in the RV-10:
- There is not enough lighting down low to illuminate the switches. I plan to fix this with a row of blue LEDs mounted under the lip of the upper dash (idea stolen directly from Jon Mulder).
- The flaps control is on the panel rather than on the stick where it belongs. I don’t plan to fix that one.