First Portrait Display, Flight Director Capability AND Datalink!

While there have been a number of announcements relating to a number of new EFIS systems, of late, the Avidyne folks are NOT letting their being the first to manufacture and certify such systems for a major GA manufacturer, slow their technological pace. When Avidyne received FAA certification of their FlightMax Entegra Integrated Flight Deck in the Lancair Columbia 350, this was more than just a new STC for a new breed of airplanes. In addition to receiving the obligatory STC on the aircraft, Avidyne also received eight Technical Standard Order (TSO) approvals for the portrait version of their FlightMax Entegra EXP5000 primary flight display (PFD) with flight director capability, and EX5000 multi-function display (MFD) with integrated datalink.

The EXP5000 PFD includes Avidyne’s integrated solid-state Air Data and Attitude/Heading Reference System (ADAHRS). The compact, lightweight, ADAHRS provides roll, pitch, and heading data with reliability far exceeding mechanical gyros, at a price point far below solid-state systems found in high-end corporate aircraft. The PFD provides standard flight instrumentation including an attitude direction indicator (ADI) including flight director cues, horizontal situation indicator (HSI), altitude, airspeed, vertical speed, heading, rate of turn, and winds aloft on a large 10.4-inch diagonal, high-resolution, sunlight-readable display. Complementing the PFD is the FlightMax EX5000 multi-function display (MFD) with optional integrated datalink weather capability.

“This is our first certification of vertical-orientation Entegra displays and the first Entegra PFD with Flight Director display capability,” said Mark Sandeen, Avidyne’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Avidyne leads the industry by developing products that meet the specific needs of our OEM partners, and with Entegra, we developed portrait displays to Lancair’s unique specifications and design philosophy.”

“We’ve been flying Columbia aircraft with the FlightMax Entegra system for sometime and it’s difficult to go back to traditional instruments once you’ve experienced it,” said Lancair Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Mark Cahill. “It really spoils you as a pilot. It’s very easy to use and provides a big improvement in situational awareness, which makes an already very safe aircraft even safer and more fun to fly.”

“Avidyne was founded to bring corporate flight deck capability to GA owners,” said Avidyne president Dan Schwinn. “Lancair’s Columbia 350 is a terrific aircraft for our portrait-version FlightMax Entegra system and demonstrates our commitment to providing the safety, capability, and reliability benefits of air transport and bizjet flight decks, at cost and weight targets required for general aviation aircraft.”

FlightMax Entegra is being offered across a wide range of aircraft from light piston trainer aircraft to twin turbofan personal jets.

The EXP5000 PFD displays 6-second trend indicators for airspeed, altitude and heading. Trend indicators, which are typically found only on air transport and high-end corporate jets, allow you to fly more precisely with reduced workload when changing or maintaining an airspeed or altitude. Entegra’s integrated air data computer provides airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and outside air temperature (OAT), and continually updates the winds aloft and true airspeed (TAS) indications on the PFD. FlightMax Entegra utilizes an integrated ByteFlight databus for high-speed data transfer.

The EX5000 MFD features an optional integrated datalink transceiver, and is the most versatile big-screen moving map available in general aviation, providing clear and concise navigation information over an exceptional color-contoured terrain and water base map. All special-use and class airspaces are color-keyed for added clarity, and can be displayed at the same time as NEXRAD and METAR weather. Comprehensive Jeppesen NavData™ and an expansive obstacle database provide you with an unparalleled view of your flight environment. Full overlay capability allows you to add or remove any available sensor data, with 120-degree forward view and 360-degree center view maps. The FlightMax EX5000 also presents easy-to-see curved flight path segments such as DME arcs, holding patterns and procedure turns, overlaid with traffic, terrain, weather, airports and runway diagrams, and also displays lightning and traffic data when interfaced with Goodrich’s WX-500 Stormscope® lightning sensor and Skywatch® Traffic Awareness System (TAS).

FMI: www.avidyne.com, www.lancair.com