Dynon Founder John Torode on Cheap Avionics, AI & the Engine Problem
About this episode
John Torode discusses his journey in making aviation more affordable and the challenges faced in avionics and certification.
Physicist, chip designer, serial entrepreneur — and the man who spent 25 years making aviation cheaper. Host Mike Bush sits down with John Torode, founder of Dynon Avionics and Vashon Aircraft, for a wide-ranging conversation that runs from vacuum-tube computers and the birth of the PC to the $2,200 glass panel that upended general aviation. Along the way: GPS jamming, the brutal economics of FAA certification, what AI is really doing to software, the end of Moore's Law, and why getting an engine built may be harder than designing the avionics. Two MIT/Dartmouth classmates of '66, both born in 1944, compare notes on careers that ran startlingly in parallel — and on the cost problem that could decide whether the next generation ever gets to fly. ⏱ Chapters 0:26 — Meet John Torode & two parallel lives 3:38 — MIT, physics & collecting five degrees 6:21 — Learning to fly on $300 a month 8:10 — Vacuum tubes, the IBM 650 & Minsky's AI prophecy 15:36 — Designing chips, networks & the Cypress years 22:20 — Founding Dynon: the quest for affordable avionics 24:19 — GPS is everywhere — and dangerously easy to jam 34:17 — The $2,200 glass panel that broke the mold 40:40 —…
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