Fri, Jul 29, 2005
Envy of your hangar
neighbor with his new glass cockpit equipped cockpit? No money (or
desire) for a new plane? There's at least one more player in the
market now who is thinking just about you: They're called Sagem
Avionics and they're working on a glass cockpit solution that will
be STC'ed for popular GA airplanes. Sagem Avionics is a subsidiary
of a European Hi-Tech giant named Sagem Corp.
These guys are in the business for almost everything electronic
- from military avionics through fingerprint scanners. They have
taken over what used to be ARNAV (remember the early Cirrus MFD?)
and are now working on a complete glass cockpit solution that will
be available both in new aircraft and as retrofits.
The Sagem system is centered around one display unit that they
call the Integrated Cockpit Display System (ICDS). This display is
available in either an 8" or a 10" size and can be mounted in a
portrait or landscape orientation. In fact, you can even mix and
match: install the PFD in portrait installation and the MFD in
landscape, or vice versa. The overall design of the system shows
the heavy metal background of the company (they make components for
airliners and big helicopters). For example, system building blocks
are designed to be easily replaced in the field with no requirement
for complicated tailoring for a particular installation.
Also, individual displays may be doubled, providing for a
configuration with dual PFDs. Standard features on the system
include a terrain warning system that continuously display a
profile view of the next 35 miles in the airplane's flight path.
Customers may also select Sagem's weather downlink system. This
system is based on GlobalSat satellite telephone technology and
unlike the popular XM and WSI system, is a response-reply based
system. It may also be configured with a voice-capable satellite
telephone. The other thing unique to this system is that it has
coverage outside of the US: The GlobalSat satellite coverage is
(duh!) global, and Sagem's weather feeds cover not only the US but
the whole American Continent, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic,
Europe, Asia, and the Southern Pacific region.
In terms of certification efforts, the system has already been
certified for several rotorcraft applications including
heavy-weights such as the S-64 Air-Crane and GA models such as the
Bell 206 JetRanger. Next in the pipeline is the Cessna 100 series,
with first STC's expected within weeks. By next summer, Sagem
promises, many more models will join the ranks. Pricing is not yet
set, however, and will depend, of course, on the exact
configuration selected for each of the models. The system will also
make an appearance in several new OEM applications.
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