special report Cockpit Avionics he earliest versions of mid 1990s NASA made note- the Internet and e- worthy progress with research The promise of synthetic vision: mail trace their exis- related to the Aviation Safety tence back to the Program. By that time, color ac- 1950s, when Rand re- tive-matrix LCDs were allowing turning ideas into (virtual) reality Tsearchers first started thinking compelling computer-generated about ways to connect computers visuals to be drawn on primary by Stephen Pope through a common network. You flight displays; microprocessors might be surprised to learn that and graphics adapters were and second nature for tomor- avionics makers and OEMs, who and adapt as technology changed. early ideas for cockpit synthetic- paving the way for the creation row’s pilots.” at last appear ready to pull back The company’s Apex avionics vision systems (SVS) also origi- of detailed views of the outside With the FAA’s recent release the curtains from their secretive system, designed for Part 23 air- nated in the 1950s, as part of a world; and global terrain and ob- of Advisory Circular 23-26, programs. Once that happens, planes (and selected for the Grob joint Army-Navy research project. stacle databases coupled with “Synthetic Vision and Pathway other OEMs that have been on the SPn light business jet), will also The goal at the time was to GPS and other nav sensors were Depictions on the Primary Flight fence about SVS are expected to likely benefit from SVS treatment. transform the familiar blue-over- emerging to ensure that the im- Display,” all the pieces are in place follow suit in the mad rush to Likewise, Rockwell Collins brown artificial horizon ball into ages presented on the displays to bring SVS to civil aircraft, ob- offer buyers the latest technology. has said it is only a matter of time something pilots could use in poor accurately depicted the real servers say. Chelton Flight Sys- For the time being, though, before SVS is added to Pro Line visibility or at night for navigation. world. Fast-forward a decade and tems and Universal Avionics so avionics makers aren’t saying 21’s baseline architecture, which But just like the Internet, a whole aviation is on the cusp of a cock- far are the first manufacturers much. Honeywell and Rockwell like Primus Epic was designed to host of technological advance- pit revolution, experts say. to offer SVS, but they won’t be Collins have demonstrated some grow and expand through soft- ments needed to emerge before the “Flying with synthetic vision the only ones. interesting SVS concepts, but ware upgrades. seemingly utopian promise of 10 years from now is going to be Other players are about to join each company is remaining tight- SVS could be molded into a certi- like flying with an HSI today,” the fray with ever more capable lipped about precisely when and SVS Market Heating Up fiable cockpit technology. predicts Randy Robertson, vice and compelling concepts. This where its ideas will show up first. Universal Avionics obtained Researchers started thinking president of engineering for October’s NBAA Convention is Honeywell’s Primus Epic inte- FAA certification for its Vision 1 seriously about SVS with the ad- Honeywell. “It’s going to be likely to feature several important grated cockpit was developed SVS in the King Air 350 earlier vent of the modern EFIS. In the commonplace in general aviation SVS-related announcements from from the very beginning to grow this year and was scheduled to Making Old Panels New Again Synthetic-vision technology won’t be confined to the flight Pro Line 21 IDS Coming to the Avanti decks of new airplanes. Thanks to the scalable architecture of the Owners of Piaggio Avanti turboprops high cost of a complete avionics overhaul, latest flat-panel retrofit cockpit designs, avionics manufacturers got some good news last month in the form said David Wu, director of marketing for will one day be able to offer upgrades for SVS and other advanced of an announcement by Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins. Jet Works in Denton, technologies using the basic hardware they are selling today. that it will offer buyers the chance to up- Texas, will perform the installations after An area where that trend is coming to fruition right now is grade to Pro Line 21 avionics, the same certification is completed in September. the addition of cockpit file servers for display of checklists, elec- baseline cockpit that is sold in new Avanti Rockwell Collins was named the avionics tronic charts and graphical weather. In the future, the same IIs rolling out of the factory. supplier in the Avanti II around the time com- company that sold you your aftermarket cockpit and upgrade For the older Avanti’s front office, Collins petitor Honeywell announced plans to offer a to e-charts will also provide add-on hardware and software to is providing the Pro Line 21 IDS integrated retrofit cockpit for the original Avanti based instantly transform that bland blue-over-brown ADI into a virtual display system and AHS-3000 attitude on the Primus Epic avionics system. With world replete with mountains, lakes, runways, other airplanes heading reference system. The retrofit will Pro Line 21 IDS, Collins is now able to com- and heaven knows what else. bring three 8- by 10-inch LCD flight displays pete for the aftermarket business, which It’s all part of the business plan. Avionics makers know buy- to the Avanti flight deck, integrated with ex- could lead to a nice windfall considering that ers aren’t likely to replace the LCD-based cockpit they just isting sensors, radios, flight-management nearly 100 Avantis with older Pro Line II bought, but they’re hoping operators will be willing to join the systems and autopilot. The result is “cut- avionics are flying today. This artist’s concept shows what Pro Line 21 SVS upgrade parade in the future. Here is a brief look at some of ting-edge technology for pilots” without the Collins has been marketing its Pro Line avionics will look like in the Piaggio Avanti. the retrofit cockpit options that have made headlines of late. 20aAviation International News • June 2006 • www.ainonline.com complete flight-testing the system could be shown on the MFD in in a Challenger 601-3A late last three dimensions in shades of red, month. The latter STC approval yellow and green, but the picture will be a big one, as it will make couldn’t show the airplane bank- Universal the first manufacturer ing. The result was a view of the Synthetic vision is to certify SVS in a Part 25 air- world that is useful to pilots but fast evolving from plane. Chelton Flight Systems strangely unrealistic. the wire-mesh stick was the first ever to certify the Universal went back to the presentation of technology when it gained FAA drawing board and re-emerged Chelton’s FlightLogic approval for the FlightLogic EFIS with the full SVS version of Vi- EFIS (below left), into through a blanket STC related to sion 1 (see photo on page 24), a virtual worlds replete the Alaska Capstone technology product company president and with shaded hills and demonstration program. CEO Ted Naimer–who routinely mountains, bodies Coincidence or not, the FAA flies the company Challenger into of water and even Advisory Circular dealing with mountain airports in Europe–said a subtle haze in SVS seems to have been written he’s been dreaming about for a the distance, as shown in this concept with Universal’s concept in mind. long time. from Honeywell. The document talks about using Now that Universal has ob- terrain shading, depicting bodies tained its first approval for Vision of water using dark shades of blue 1, the company is accelerating re- and displaying other information search into other advanced-vision in language that closely mirrors technologies. Naimer and CMC even early versions of Vision 1. Electronics president and CEO much closer relationship for the maps of the earth’s topography Bombardier and Dassault aren’t Universal originally sought Jean-Pierre Mortreux signed a companies, which are jointly ex- and combine them with infrared far behind in discussions with approval for a concept that pre- multiyear distributor agreement ploring a broad range of areas EVS. Test pilots from NASA and avionics makers on similar cock- sented a 3-D view of its terrain at the EBACE show in Geneva where marketing and engineering Gulfstream flew a GV last year pit offerings.) NASA and Rock- awareness and warning system last month that clears a path for partnerships could aid both. equipped with the experimental well Collins have tested similar (TAWS) on the multifunction dis- Universal to market CMC’s M- But that doesn’t mean a Rockwell Collins SVS and a SVS/EVS concepts in NASA’s play. The FAA balked and Uni- Series infrared enhanced-vision merger is in the cards, Naimer combination of other sister tech- Boeing 727 using infrared sen- versal was forced to accept a system. The executives said the emphasized. Instead, the compa- nologies, including head-up dis- sors from manufacturer Max-Viz compromise in which terrain alliance is only the beginning of a nies decided to form the alliance plays, a new type of multi-scan of Portland, Ore. to leverage the largely comple- weather radar, a voice-recognition mentary technologies each sells system and cockpit displays in- NASA Pioneers to business aircraft operators and cluding 3-D computer-generated Advanced-vision Research OEMs. Naimer and Mortreux views of the terrain, obstacles, NASA has long been testing have even started discussions runways and flight path.