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Blue Mountain Avionics Ceases Production

mhcflyer

Well Known Member
Has anyone heard from Greg @ Blue Mountain Avionics? I tried logging onto their website today and all I got was "This Account Has Been Suspended". My EFIS Lite Plus G4 is working fine, but a friend of mine has his original EFIS Lite in for repair and hasn't heard from them in awhile.

Has anyone got them on the telephone recently?

--
Michael
 
I am giving them a call right now, I paid for my autopilot over a year ago and they still have not shipped it. I asked for a refund a week and a half ago and haven't recieved it yet. Big surprise:rolleyes:
 
Tracing bi-polar A/P problem

Tried to get on the website and got the "suspended" notice.

I was going to re-read some of the postings on his discussion board about the software version 2.74 possibly being the cause of an errant A/P signal causing upwards of a 45 degree bank angle while in level flight.

I am also trying to track down a possible problem with the alt-hold going crazy on me. In level flight, initiating either alt-hold or assigning an altitude to climb or decend to, it suddenly causes the aircraft to pitch at such a high angle of attack that I'm concerned that she'll stall or come over on her back for a loop.

Otherwise, the EFIS is really nice.

R/
Frank
 
BM must have pulled the plug!

The toll free number has been disconnected, the web site has been suspended and the non-toll free number is just a voice mail (that they do not return call from). If they are permanantly gone it will make things hard for us w/ BM EFISs...! It's always something!

:
 
I have one used if interested.

I am giving them a call right now, I paid for my autopilot over a year ago and they still have not shipped it. I asked for a refund a week and a half ago and haven't recieved it yet. Big surprise:rolleyes:

It is currently flying in my airplane but I will be doing an upgrade this winter. If you are interested in the AP, make me an offer. It would not take long for me to remove from the airplane.
 
I had a similar problem until I realized I had the AP tracking in Heading Bug mode and not GPS. Every time I activated the AP it would have a severe coarse correction.....45 degrees seems about right. Now that I've switched to the GPS track, it fly's a nice straight line.

--
Michael

I was going to re-read some of the postings on his discussion board about the software version 2.74 possibly being the cause of an errant A/P signal causing upwards of a 45 degree bank angle while in level flight.
 
Blue Mountain Avionics fuel quantity set-up

Can anyone help me set up my BMI EFIS to show fuel quantity using Van's resistance senders? Having a little trouble getting Greg R. on the phone.....
Thanks.
 
I seem to recall a thread somewhere here or on another forum from a moth or two ago that said that BMA was downsizing, was pulling back from their web site and 800 number, etc. I think it was going to be a one-man show until the economy improves. I can't find the thread now....

Paul
 
I seem to recall a thread somewhere here or on another forum from a moth or two ago that said that BMA was downsizing, was pulling back from their web site and 800 number, etc. I think it was going to be a one-man show until the economy improves.

Wow! Pulling the website to save money. If thats true it is a really bad sign. It costs all of $50/mo to host a website and in this day and age how do you reach customers without one?

Sounds like death's door to me.

Bummer.
 
I seem to recall a thread somewhere here or on another forum from a moth or two ago that said that BMA was downsizing, was pulling back from their web site and 800 number, etc. I think it was going to be a one-man show until the economy improves. I can't find the thread now....

Paul

The last communication I had saw from Greg he was down to just him but had hired a couple of techs. The 800 number is now disconnected and the website gone. My strong suspicion is it is gone for good.

Someone deleted the thread you are referring to after it turned into a bash BMA fest.

Those of us with BMA equipment probably need to form some type of info repository and attempt to see if we can obtain the info needed to uopdate our databases on our own.

I'll probably put a BMA section on my wesite forum in the next week or so, anyone interested PM me and I'll tell too how to sign up.

I am in communication with an old BMA tech and I'll see if there are any shops that can support the hardware (I am not real hopeful).
 
Sign me up

I'm going to be really "irritated" if they have disappeared. Although I only purchased the autopilot so I could get the servos installed during fuselage construction and before closing the wing up, I still may be out $3500 unless there is a way to use them and the control box with another autopilot or EFIS. I had read somewhere that maybe Trio could work with these?

Milt, I sent you a PM to sign up for the forum. Thanks for helping us out.
 
I have no info at all on the BMA servos but if what you are saying is right (that the Trio system can use them) then we should be able to control them as well as we are Trio compatible.
If not, if you can dig up some info on how to position the servos (protocol, PWM, whatever) - I'll see if I can do something to help. $3500 is a lot of money for servos...

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics

I'm going to be really "irritated" if they have disappeared. Although I only purchased the autopilot so I could get the servos installed during fuselage construction and before closing the wing up, I still may be out $3500 unless there is a way to use them and the control box with another autopilot or EFIS. I had read somewhere that maybe Trio could work with these?

Milt, I sent you a PM to sign up for the forum. Thanks for helping us out.
 
Good luck guys!

This economy will test everyone company supporting our hobby. Hopefully most of them that have provided the best products and the best service will not suffer the fate of BMA.
 
I don't think it was the economy per se so much as the bad rep for service and too early product release.

Another compounding factor was probably trying to get and keep hi tech employees in reallly rural Tennessee. (Not a slam against Tennessee or Rural) just not easy to find techno geeks in those places.
 
This is about the 5th time I have heard the cable cut in Copperhill quote over the last 2 months.

1. I find several "cablecuts" over a 3 month period implausable.
2. The website says the account has been suspended not out of order.
3. The response to customers over the last 3 months has been close to nil relative to deliveries, repairs, questions.
4. All of BMA's key employees have quit.

This all sounds a bit more serious than the cables being cut on an almost weekly basis. I would be ecstatic if the cable cut explanations were really the problem.
 
Website is back up. I got a real quick email from Shelia saying it was back up but didn't say anything on why it went down.

At least I can continue to download my Database updates now!

--
Michael
 
Huh?

I am not in a position to determine if cables get cut very often. I simply relayed a message i thought was valuable to the group.

For the record, however, since 2005, my EFIS One and G3Lite have been fantastic. Installation was a breeze and I've never had issues I wasn't causing myself. Recently, due to card upgrade, I've had to recalibrate some things....working on that. I agree that service is painfully slow at times.

I recently watched neighbors of mine rip out, reinstall, rip out and ship to factory, reinstall again a new Dynon unit. Second one I've seen. Not pinging on Dynon (they are nice units), but they have hardware and service issues, too. What they don't have is a public bitch-board on their website. Who goes there? The unhappy! That hurt BMA sales through the years, and is hurting BMA today as undoubtedly volumes are lower because of it, profits are lower, reinvestment is lower.

I'm not excusing poor service. I am saying that vocal minorities with a public forum sounds bigger than it is, can ruin a brand, and become a self fulfilling prophesy.

The BMA unit is one of the best displays and functionality for the dollar. Poor service, software that doesn't work, etc are not acceptable. But in the overall context of total flying hours, they are small issues that I've seen repeatedly get resolved by Greg.

My opinion, anyway.....

Flame me!

Jon
 
BMA Comments

As the new owner of the aircraft that Jon spoke of, I can tell you that even though the system has some issues, they are most likely software driven and can be resolved.

Overall, I am very pleased with the ease of use, the amount of information displayed in flight, and the ability to access the set-up menus and calibration tables without having to re-invest in a degree in Computer Programming.

As long as I am able to maintain the use of my BMA One and BMA Lite (backup EFIS), I will do just that.

So, Greg...if you are reading this, keep plugging away, but from time to time, look up...we're counting on you to acknowledge that we're behind your product, but we also need some feedback. The website is a good tool for that feedback and discussions...so, keep that site alive. :D

Safe flying to all,
Frank
 
Flame me!

Jon

No flames here Jon, if you search BMA you will find over the last 5 years I have been one of BMAs biggest fans often being flamed for coming to their defense. In the past they have been guilty of some of the criticisms and innocent of many. This time however the excuses of cut cables are not the full story. Greg just needs to be up front and publicly notify his customers with something like. "We are having serious issues, will be very slow to respond, here is what we are doing about the issues" That would go a long way in putting rumors and speculation to bed as well as downright fear some have of losing a sizable investment. It would also help in decision making for those about to rip BMA out of their panels and spend big bucks replacing them.

Now having said all that I did get through to Shelia on a direct phone line today and here is what she said.
Sorry about the spelling and typos but I am multi tasking today and have fat fingers and no time to edit.

They are down to just Greg (doing all tech support) Shelia and another girkl (purely administrative). She states their volume and income are down due to the economy but cash flow is notan issue at this point and they are solvent. She also states someone forgot to pay the website bill not a cable cut.

I hope all this is the case but intend to proceed with an alternate web exchange for BMA info just in case.

At least now with the website back up we can get downloads.
 
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Not pinging on Dynon (they are nice units), but they have hardware and service issues, too. What they don't have is a public bitch-board on their website. Who goes there? The unhappy!

Just FYI - we've had our forum going for 3 years now, and it's by far the most highly-trafficked forum in its space (EFIS, manufacturer-run, etc etc, obviously not as active as VAF). I don't think we've ever pulled a critical post, and you'll see it's a pretty solid mix of criticism, tech support, praise, feature requests, and so on. We've found it to be an invaluable tool for aiding, not hurting, our customer support efforts.
 
another concerned BMA user

Folks,
I am also interested in a Blue Mountain Avionics group.
I am new here in the RV area but because I have an EFIS/Two with AP in the Bearhawk I am building I thought I am right here.
My name is Georg Himmeroeder, 52 years old and manager at a flightsimulator facility for a TORNADO fighter bomber for the German Airforce on Holloman AFB in New Mexico. I am living here in the US for ten years now and 3 years ago, after building a F1 Rocket together with my buddy Wolfgang, I began to build a Bearhawk.
I am lucky that I have all the Blue Mountain Hardware but afraid that one day we don't get database updates anymore.
I guess I am the only Bearhawk builder with an BMA EFIS which is the reason that I joined this group.
I am glad that the website is up and running again and I hope BMA will come up with a solution to update databases.

But I have another question! Does onyone of you have the XM weather option? Are they still working on the software to show some more features than just radar?

Georg Himmeroeder
 
Blue Mountain G4 Lite

I've just finished installing my G4 and made my first 1hr flight. So far I'm very happy with the unit. I still have a lot of testing and trying different things before I'll be comfortable.

I have a question for those of you that are flying your G4?s. What version of the software are you using? I received my unit in late 2006 and I am still using the original software. The new software version on the web site is V3.19

Also have any of you added a check list to your unit? If so, did the up-load work without any problems?
 
I am sticking with 3.18 because 3.19 does not add anything I need. The revision notes didn't make the downloads page but you can find them here in the support forum.

As far as the checklists, I loaded mine. It took a couple of tries to get it to look alright; the font is not monospaced. The loading worked pretty much as advertised but I found you can't load the checklists at the same time as an updated. It's been a while but I seem to recall that the update keeps the checklists from loading. In actual practice, I found the checklists cumbersome to use, especially when I am wanting to use other functions. But I'm keeping them loaded as a reminder of critical speeds and settings just in case.
 
Help! Use BMA servos with other AP's?

Hi all,
Blue Mountain Avionics ceased business operations today. I purchased their autopilot system ahead of time so that I could mount the servos in the wing before closing it up, which I did, and in the fuselage before closing it up, which I did. So now I have a $3500 set of servos and a controller box that are essentially worthless unless I can adapt the servos to another manufacturer (which seems unlikely) or sell them to some other poor sucker who bought their EFIS and would still like to add the AP (seems even more unlikely). Anybody have any ideas??? I would appreciate any and all advice. Thanks.
 
Blue Mountain Avionics out of business!

From the website:
"Well, it's been fun. We developed a whole new class of machine, started an industry, dominated it, and are now leaving it. BMA will be ceasing production and spinning down."
 
BMA out of business

From their website today:
"Well, it's been fun. We developed a whole new class of machine, started an industry, dominated it, and are now leaving it. BMA will be ceasing production and spinning down."
 
From the website:
"...started an industry, dominated it..."

Well, that's one way of putting it. ;)

Alas... Hopefully all the other providers will stay healthy. Competition == good.
 
Hi all,
Blue Mountain Avionics ceased business operations today. I purchased their autopilot system ahead of time so that I could mount the servos in the wing before closing it up, which I did, and in the fuselage before closing it up, which I did. So now I have a $3500 set of servos and a controller box that are essentially worthless unless I can adapt the servos to another manufacturer (which seems unlikely) or sell them to some other poor sucker who bought their EFIS and would still like to add the AP (seems even more unlikely). Anybody have any ideas??? I would appreciate any and all advice. Thanks.

If you can find out how to drive the servos (BMA should now be able to tell you I think), I'll gladly have a look to see if we can do anything for you.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics
 
Sell them. Or watch e bay, I suspect there will soon be a lot of BMA stuff for sale cheap. If you get one that is functioning at a good price it will probably give you a few years of good service.

You will need at least 1 EFIS and a controller to drive the AP.
 
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I think it would be wise for all the BMA owners to pool together the funds to purchase the source code and other IP (schematics, gerbers, BOM's, etc.)... think of the possibilities if you were able to 'open source' this platform.
 
BMA Upgrade, System Available

I will be upgrading my panel this winter. However, if anyone on here is stuck and would like to get their hands on a G3 and/or AP, let me know. I might consider moving my project up and making those parts available sooner.
 
I think it would be wise for all the BMA owners to pool together the funds to purchase the source code and other IP (schematics, gerbers, BOM's, etc.)... think of the possibilities if you were able to 'open source' this platform.

Now here is an interesting thought!!!
 
Open sourcing the software is always a cool idea, however, eventually the ahrdware will die...then what?
 
BM shouldnt blame the economy. I opted out of a BM unit years ago, after reading the horror stories with service ,attitude etc. The other efis mnfg offer a good service and seem to be doing ok.
That said I still think the overall looks of the BM unit , with the cnc'd besel and design is very pro looking.
 
If you can find out how to drive the servos (BMA should now be able to tell you I think), I'll gladly have a look to see if we can do anything for you.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics


So far no luck figuring that out. Requests for information have gone unanswered so far...I guess stay tuned, they are trying to sell the proprietary info at this point.
 
P.S.

If you can find out how to drive the servos (BMA should now be able to tell you I think), I'll gladly have a look to see if we can do anything for you.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics

I have corresponded with both Trio and TruTrak who say they are unable to utilize the BMA servos with their AP systems.
 
I think it would be wise for all the BMA owners to pool together the funds to purchase the source code and other IP (schematics, gerbers, BOM's, etc.)... think of the possibilities if you were able to 'open source' this platform.

I've got a funny feeling you wouldn't like what you see. Just a hunch.

Based on my observations of his behavior, I also suspect Greg's price for the IP would be rather..."proud". Can't hurt to ask though.
 
Saw a Fright Train a comin!!

I was hoping Greg would've taken BMA publicly traded on the NYSE or NDAQ. Then I could've gotten my money back. :cool:
 
Blue Mountain Avionics - quitting?

I'm curious to get feedback re: BMA's (Blue Mountain Aviation) announcement a couple of days ago to the effect that they're going out of the new equipment sales business but will continue to maintain equipment already out in the field. I have two of their systems (primary and backup) and am definitely inclined to keep using them because I think they're pretty good, especially for the money... but...do you think I might be a bit shortsighted or "other"? Any thoughts/recommendations would be appreciated.
 
It's prudent to have a backup plan. I've already talked to Aerotronics about my options should my One quit on me. But, until it does, I'm not planning on changing it. It doesn't know that its manufacturer has quit and keeps on being an awesome system.
 
Below is a post from the Matronics aeroelectric list.

http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?t=60142

berkut13(at)berkut13.com
Guest





Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:51 pm Post subject: BMA products wanted All,

I understand that BMA is no more. Some of you out there may have some of their products (or know someone who does) and wish to get out of an un-supported technology and into something more reliable such as a Grand Rapids or Dynon system. I have a offer for you...

I would like to purchase a limited number of specific units:

- EFIS/Lite Plus
- BMA Engine Pod

These are the only units being pursued at this time. They must be in good operational condition - used units will be considered.

Please send me the specifics regarding your unit for evaluation. I'll need specific model number, serial number for each item along with a brief history of use or installation.

Thanks,

James Redmon
Berkut #013/Race 13
www.berkut13.com
 
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