I gave Leading Edge $60,000 in business installing equipment in my fleet of Cessnas over the course of a year. I had an extremely bad experience with them. They took a $15,000 deposit initially to order my avionics. After a few months they called and said it's on back order for another 3 months. They said 2 of the 4 items were in stock and they could install those while waiting for the rest. They installed the two items but billed me for the whole job and collected the $36,000. I never complained about this to them. They charged me $600 for a pitot static check on the plane, even though they knew it was only partially installed. They then charged me another $600 after the rest of the items arrived months later. Double charged! While waiting for more equipment i had ordered, I hired them to install avionics in my other planes. I was then told it would be another 3 months for the equipment for the original order. After the 9 months of waiting for this equipment, i discovered the equipment had recently arrived and was being used as loaners for other airplanes. I decided I didn't want this used equipment in my planes as I was being charged for new equipment. I contacted them to refund me the balance remaining on my account. I was told they would refund the $6,000. After waiting a month, I contacted them and was told their CPA had quit and the ceo Kathryn would issue the refund. When I contacted Kathryn, she decided to hit me with a 15% restocking fee on the order, keep my remaining balance of $6000, and had the audacity to send me a bill for $8,000 for additional restocking fee. Unreal! I have been involved in flight training at SNA since 1992 when Lenair was around. I will never recommend this company to anyone and advise people to stay far far away from them. Imagine spending $60,000 with a company and then they steal your money and send you a bill for more. This text is in response to Kathryns response to my review. Kathryn: I strongly disagree with your response. It is filled with misleading comments that I adjusted install dates. I did not. It was me who was flexible with your team adjusting them. It is your team that adjusted my installs because I kept getting notified by your team it would take longer to receive the avionics. In fact, while my install kept getting delayed, I threw more business at you. 2. The "extremely liberal" deposit of $15,000 is a significant amount of money to most people. It's good to know you don't consider this important as it is people's hard earned money. I forgot to mention you added $450 to the $15,000 because I used a credit card. Did you know: Civil Code section 1748.1 prohibits merchants from adding a surcharge (an extra fee) when customers pay by credit card instead of cash. 3. With regards to your comment about me recruiting away your technician. That's pretty hypocritical of you to say. "Your" technician had been working with me years before Leading Edge came to SNA and bought Western Avionics. He was working for Jays maintenance first. Jays spent years training him and then Leading Edge recruited him away from Jays Maintenance. Your company has now lost 2 long term managers because of managements bad practices by not making employees feel valued. Managers that I knew before leading edge began operations at SNA. Additionally, the friend that came to work for me didn't perform the installs on my airplanes contrary to your claims that I recruited him away because of his quality of work. 4. Quality of work. Lets talk about that. On the $36,000 install your team did on this aircraft, you left numerous panels on the belly of my airplane open. This exposed the belly to water while being washed the day after I took possession of the airplane. When Martin Aviation notified me, I immediately notified Mike on your team to which he frantically had new panels made for the aircraft. On another airplane, N172BR, there is a 1" empty space between COM 1 and 2. In fear I wouldn't see my airplane for weeks, I never brought it back to leading edge. 5. I was billed twice on N1399U for pitot static/transponder checks. You can do the right thing and return the balance owed to me. Nothing more nothing less. If I kept someone's $6,000 and then sent them another bill for $8,000, I'd be ashamed to show my face at the airport. read more

The avionics and General Aviation industry at large has gone insane since shortly after the pandemic. It is nice to see some shops still provide responsive customer care and great workmanship on time. I needed two Garmin GI-275s installed and Leading Edge was the only Garmin dealer/installer that responded with a quote in anything that could be remotely considered as a timely fashion. The quote was very reasonable, so we scheduled an install date. My only slight frustration is that in general, they prefer to communicate via Zendesk and I would rather communicate either in person or by telephone. That said, having a paper trail of communication does help minimize misunderstanding. Everything was done on time outside of a minor delay that was not due to Leading Edge's fault (the existing panel had to be replaced due to a dimensional issue.) Overall, the work done was very clean and everything so far has been working as expected. There was a minor paperwork issue that was cleared up immediately. Heathyr, Alex, Mike and Tim were all professional and easy to work with and I will definitely be seeking them out for a future autopilot install. read more

Leading Edge Avionics - Completed custom cut pilot side panel, laser engraved placards, and dual GI-275s. - Aircraft Repairs Near Me - Santa Ana, California

My experience was amazing. Started with phone conversations with Mike Bilby regarding panel upgrades to planes I was looking at. He is very busy but took the time to educating me and making suggestions. Then took the plane I bought in to have the avionics checked out making sure the autopilot was working as it should. Not exactly a big purchase at all, yet the owner Mike Manclark treated me like I had just had a complete Garmin upgrade. Great company, great people. Thanks so much. Gary H read more

Words can not express how much I recommend Leading edge as the only avionics shop to work with. My airplane had all the original equipment, steam gauges, autopilot, and a few modern items but for the most part, it was the same as it had been since 1976 when it was put in service. It was time to get a glass panel and one that would not break the bank. I was looking for a practical upgrade that was not only stylish but also ready to take on the newer tech that is out there these days. I was looking for someone to trust. I spent months calling around, getting quotes, and talking to many different teams. Some had great prices but slow follow-up. Others were costly but not very creative. I was seeking a group that I could work with and who would treat my plane and myself as part of a family. I was looking for a group that I could trust. Trust me now on this... I have an extremely high standard. If it's not 100% perfect it is simply not acceptable. After all, it is my airplane, my money, and my life we are talking about here. After months of searching, I came across Leading Edge. My first take was to pass on them as an option. After all, in my area, lots of shops were being taken over my LE so naturally, I assumed that they would be to expensive and to set in their ways to get creative. Boy oh boy was I wrong. Like 1000%. So here is my review.... RUN.... don't walk to this group. They have proven to me that they will always go the extra mile for their guests. They did some and I am being grateful. My plane not only has a new life but also a path to the future for upgrades. During a major upgrade, there are questions and problems. The speed to solutions I got was second to none. I'm happy to report that the plane and I are doing great and could not be happier with the work they did. I will be back again soon. That is a promise. THANK YOU LEADING EDGE AVIONICS. Special Thanks to Tim, Heather, Travis, Mike, Jesus, and Alex. It is a truly family team. read more

See all

Called Leading Edge to see if they could get me in for pitot static asap. Alex was super accommodating, the service was completed and paperwork was ready to go. read more

Ron came out to help troubleshoot and certify an aircraft our shop was having issues with. He was not only able to sort out the issues we were having, but was also generous in sharing knowledge he had gleaned from his many years of experience. It is getting much harder to find techs that understand how legacy gear operates, let alone make repairs. I cannot recommend Ron enough. read more

Leading Edge has excellent customer service! I was very pleased. The techs were extremely knowledgeable. They were also very thorough.

Great job Leading Edge. Fair prices and fast service. I'll definitely return for my Pitot Static Test.

They put a G5 flight instrument as on of my back up instruments in my mooney M20J. Works great, I love it and the best add on to my avionic system. If you want great work done go here! Mike Manclark was very responsive and easy to work with, working in the aviation industry as a pilot it's hard to find people that work hard and do as they say. I will always trust my aircraft with them and so should you. read more

With a transponder failure I desired a quick solution. Leading Edge was very responsive and was able to resolve the problem before most other shops could even offer an appointment. Outstanding customer service and technician was very knowledgeable. Highly recommend. read more

I just had my Cessna 180 upgraded to ADS-B with the Garmin GTX345 and everything went perfect. I couldn't be happier. I would definitely take my plane to this shop again! Michael Magnell read more

This place is a joke, Scott Gregory , looked at my aircraft, I told him what avionics we wanted to put in and that it was an ASAP Job . It took Western Avionics 3 days to put together a quote. When I told Scott we would be buying the equipment ourselves (to save money) he stated that Western would have no problem installing the equipment. Next I go to their location and speak to Stan Erickson and ask when we can be put on the schedule for install, he initially states Monday the 14th Jan, then I receive an email the next day stating the 7th of Jan is now open: Hello Zach, We are waiting for parts on the Beech so we can start work on the 210 Monday the 7th if you like. Thanks, Stan Stan Erickson President Western Avionics, Inc. , SO I SEND THE FOLLOWING: Hello Stan, That would be great Stan, I can taxi N94--- over today (4th) and drop off the plane and go over install cost, or first thing Monday morning.? I have in my possession; 1) GDL 69: but need Connector kit 011-00997-00 Mounting Rack 115-00658-00 back plate 011-00796-35 and wiring harness I found needed items at; http://www.aircraftelectronicssupply.com/garmin_install_supp.htm (waiting on email reply) 2) I also have the SIGMA TECH 5000B 36 attitude indicator ready to go 3) UPS shipping says the: 530W Diplexer GMA 340 will be here on Monday by 12 noon what I need from you guys: GARMIN GI 106A ILS IND And any other stuff you think I need or you can wow me with? All equipment is YELLOW TAGGED or 8130-3 Let me know what the best plan of attack is on this project? thanks Zach I then receive a call from Scott Gregory stating that there is not enough money to be made on my job so they will not complete the install, this call is received on the 7th of Jan the day we have scheduled for my install. Last minute and completely unprofessional. There was never conversation about additional cost, charge, fee, or anything just click, dial-tone. I would not trust my life to a shop that is managed in this manner. read more

Thank you to this great business, especially Ron Freeman who helped return my aircraft back to service. Persons with the work ethic that Ron has are very hard to find. His professionalism, dedication and desire to go above and beyond should definitely be recognized. read more

Needed an APO fast. They found it fast. Great customer service and timely parts procurement. Highly recommend.

This was my first experience with Leading Edge. I originally took my plane to Advantage Aviation at Chino Airport about this time last year. I had used AA many times in the past and was happy with their work. This time I went in for a simple GI275 installation. All was well when I scheduled the installation roughly 5 months prior but when I was finally able to bring my plane in, after multiple delays, the shop was in a chaotic state having been sold to Leading Edge. The sales manager had already left and the shop manager was there when I dropped my plane off but said he would be going on a two week vacation. A couple days later he left on what turned out to be a permanent vacation. The installation took much longer than quoted and the only employee available to deliver my plane to me was the receptionist. I flew a shakedown flight myself and determined that two items I had paid for did not work. I waited several months to let Leading Edge's acquisition of AA shake out then tried to schedule an appointment to complete those items. I decided I wanted to add a temperature sensor so I could take advantage of the winds aloft feature on my GI275. I received a quote for this additional item which I thought was reasonable. The job took longer to schedule than I had anticipated but the tasks were finally completed. After a couple weeks I had not received an invoice so I started calling Leading Edge asking for my invoice. After some confusion about which facility was responsible I finally received an invoice via email after another couple weeks. Now, I had read the prior yelp reviews alleging that other pilots experienced quote inflation when they received their final invoice so I expected maybe a 20% premium for 'unanticipated' items. Imagine my shock when I received an invoice for 300% of the original quote! It included charging me again for the items I already paid for that were not installed properly. I've talked to multiple Leading Edge staff about the invoice but so far they have all passed the buck and keep resending the original invoice via email. So far I've spent over $6000 on my GI275 and have been billed much more. I would avoid using Leading Edge Avionics because you may be shocked at your invoice received weeks after you get your plane back. read more

Hubie L I have used Leading Edge for both aircraft for over 20 years. (Although they just had a name change, they have the same staff and techs). Their work is outstanding and their quotes are spot on. If there is an issue, they respond right now. I highly recommend the great work and smart techs. read more

Leading Edge Avionics upgraded our Piaggio Avanti with dual Garmin 750's and dual Garmin 600 TXI's along with a standby system, we couldn't be more pleased. They made smart recommendations and were able to save us quite a bit money by integrating the systems with the current autopilot. We were able to stop by and watch their technician Bill do the install. He was a real gentleman who took the time to answer all of our questions. Several technicians came along for a flight after the install to ensure we were satisfied and comfortable with the equipment. I have been especially happy with their Garmin expert Tim Reynolds. He said to call anytime (which I have) and gave me his personal cell phone. It's been 3 months since the upgrade and everyone has been great in answering all questions and addressing any concerns. Leading Edge was professional and timely from start to finish with great customer service. We would highly recommend. read more

My husband took our Cessna 210 into Leading Edge Avionics for ADS-B (In and Out) equipment, a Pitot/Static and Transponder 24 month certification and to have our Garmin 430 upgraded to WAAS. When we went to pick up the plane (4 days later than quoted), Leading Edge had upgraded our Garmin 530 to WAAS instead of the 430. We needed the 430 upgraded to WAAS because the upgrade would have fixed a faulty display. Upon our pick up, we deducted the amount of the 430 upgrade from the amount owed since that work had not been done. We consider the 530 upgrade an unauthorized modification to our plane and should not have to pay for unauthorized work. We are now at 11 days without receiving our logbook entries for the work that we had authorized and paid for. The response that we got from Leading Edge today was "Our policy is that the paperwork is released once payment has been made." We have paid for all work that we authorized. Apparently they think we are supposed to pay for unauthorized work and until we pay them, they are holding our logbook entries hostage. We are now going to file a complaint on their F.A.A. Repair Station Certificate for improper business practices and violating proper protocol for doing work on an aircraft (not providing proper logbook entries for work performed). We have heard first hand from a friend that also used this company that he too, has received unacceptable customer service from Leading Edge Avionics. We would not use this company again. read more

I have been a loyal customer of first, Western Avionics and now, Leading Edge Avionics for about four years now. They are extremely popular at John Wayne and almost always have a back log of current work. But... like any agency that is phenomenal at what they do... Well worth the wait and do not disappoint. I have had them perform all of my normal maintenance and have had them even make substantial improvements to my avionics. Scott Gregory and his crew of loyal and talented and safety focused techs are always very interested in what my goals are for my avionics based on the missions I fly and the manner in which I want to fly them and safety is goal number one. When I first went to see them I had steam gauges and a non WAAS Garmin 530. I was going after my IFR rating and was absolutely paranoid about losing attitude information in IMC, CFIT, Mid Air Collisions, icing and a host of other gotcha's. I was intent upon making my airplane and myself as a pilot as safe as possible. To that end Scott recommended an Upgrade of my 530 so it was WAAS certified. With that he recommended a GDL 88, Flight Stream 210 and a few other modifications. The end result is that I had the ability of syncing my IPAD through foreflight to the Garmin 530 with handy features like rubber banking around a storm cell, real time weather products, Collision Alerts, Terrain Alerts, TFR alerts, Synthetic Vision, ADS B in and out and auto uploading of my flight plan to the Garmin 530 which saves hours of tedious knob turning. Wow... This very powerful avionics suite probably has prevented my demise in a midair at least once already. Recently, while flying through the Long Beach practice area on an IFR flight plan heading toward LAX, I received a traffic alert from my avionics. ATC was silent on the matter while very busy with commercial traffic. From the display on my upgraded WAAS Garmin 530, I could immediately tell that the traffic was at my three o'clock and descending on a collision course right toward me. In a high wing airplane three o'clock is an absolute blind spot above the right wing. I put the plane into a slip and took a look under the raised right wing and sure enough, there was a Beechcraft V tail Bonanza that had ignored ATC's restriction on his altitude that had begun a premature descent into Torrance. I put the plane into an immediate descending left turn and broadcasted my intentions to ATC. ATC apologized for the incident. In the same area a year earlier, near the same location, I got a traffic alert on my avionics simultaneous with an alert from ATC and put the plane into a descending right turn to avoid a fast moving Long EZ that was not talking to anyone. Having avionics that can "see" traffic way before it is locatable to the naked eye (if ever) is a God send. The partnership between the pilot with onboard traffic alerting and ATC is indispensable and invaluable. ATC thanked me for working with them to enhance safety. I thanked them for keeping me safe. In my next round of upgrades I had this phenomenal outfit install a Garmin GFC 500 autopilot. The system is absolutely incredible. I now have a fully slaved Magnetometer driven HSI and a backup attitude indicator that functions as a fully redundant AHRS via two Garmin G5's. The installation took longer than expected because of unforeseen installation challenges endured by Leading Edge. They kept their verbal promise of a cap on labor for the installation that contractually they did not have to honor. The installation led to a few unforeseen squawks in my avionics and they were Johnny on the spot with making the necessary repairs in the debugging stage after the installation. My plane on autopilot feels just as smooth as a 737. The system is absolutely incredible and the auto leveling capability, ESP and overspeed and under speed protection makes single pilot IFR so much more doable. Shooting fully coupled approaches could not be easier and frankly the autopilot flies the plane much more accurately than I have ever been able to on my own. I have had spatial disorientation twice during my training, one in the day and once at night (which was absolutely scary as hell). This fear was preventing me from going up into IMC. The new autopilot provides so much comfort against this fear I am now venturing out in IMC regularly. Overall - I highly recommend this company. They are experts at what they do, honest, reliable and stand behind their work product. Their expertise in the industry is unsurpassed and if you have to wait for them... They are well worth the wait. Additionally they are not the cheapest folks in the game but I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for. Their manager, Tim Jones, kept me well informed during the install and they went above the call of duty to make sure I was totally satisfied. read more

Original review removed. Best of luck to Mike with the rebranding and launch of the new Western Avionics!

I took my Cessna 210 into Leading Edge Avionics for ADS-B (In and Out) equipment, a Pitot/Static and Transponder 24 month certification and to have my Garmin 430 upgraded to WAAS. When I went to pick up the plane (4 days later than quoted), Leading Edge had upgraded my Garmin 530 to WAAS instead of my 430. I needed my 430 upgraded to WAAS because the upgrade would have fixed a faulty display. Upon my pick up, I deducted the amount of the 430 upgrade from the amount owed since that work had not been done. I consider the 530 upgrade an unauthorized modification to my plane and should not have to pay for unauthorized work. I am now at 11 days without receiving my logbook entries for the work that I had authorized and paid for. The response that I got from Leading Edge today was "Our policy is that the paperwork is released once payment has been made." I have paid for all work that I authorized. Apparently they think I am supposed to pay for unauthorized work and until I pay them, they are holding my logbook entries hostage. I am now going to file a complaint on their F.A.A. Repair Station Certificate for improper business practices and violating proper protocol for doing work on an aircraft (not providing proper logbook entries for work performed). I have heard first hand of other customers that have received unacceptable customer service from Leading Edge Avionics. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, you will regret it!!! read more