Third Approved Application For Glass Panel Retrofit Option
Chalk up another supplemental type
certificate for Avidyne and S-TEC, and their Alliant Integrated
Flight Deck solution. This week, the companies announced receipt of
an STC from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to retrofit
the Alliant system into Cessna Conquest II (441) twin-engine
turboprop aircraft. The required modifications, approval flights,
and FAA paperwork were completed at S-TEC's headquarters in Mineral
Wells, TX.
The Conquest II is the third model that combines Avidyne's
Envision series of retrofit integrated flight deck products and
S-TEC's IntelliFlight 2100 Digital Flight Control System, joining
Beechcraft's King Air 90 and 200-series airplanes.
"The Alliant Flight Deck gives Conquest II operators the safety,
convenience and added features that are associated with
state-of-the-art glass cockpits, providing satellite datalink
weather, electronic charts, and an all-digital autopilot-all at a
price that's affordable," noted David Copeland, Avidyne's Vice
President of Sales and Marketing. "It allows them to retain the
familiar performance and comfort of their existing aircraft while
adding capabilities and redundancy in a practical and efficient
package."
Greg Plantz, S-TEC Vice President of Sales and Marketing added
"the Alliant Integrated Flight Deck is a logical and reasonable way
to improve upon the Conquest II's already well established
performance, fuel efficiency and versatility at a fraction of the
cost of a new airplane. We believe it will be a very popular
update."
On the Conquest II, the Alliant package includes dual-redundant
Avidyne EXP5000 10.4" primary flight displays (PFDs), Avidyne EX500
multi-function display (MFD), the S-TEC IntelliFlight 2100 digital
autopilot, Mid-Continent two-inch standby instruments, and
interfaces to most popular traffic, terrain, lightning, radar and
radar altimeter systems. In addition, the Alliant package comes
standard with Avidyne's exclusive CMax electronic charts and the
ability to interface with the MLB700 Broadcast Datalink Receiver.
CMax electronic charts display Jeppesen's approach charts and
airport diagrams on the EX500 MFD. The optional MLB700 provides
high-speed datalink WSI InFlight weather service via the SIRIUS
Satellite Radio network. The Avidyne TAS600 Traffic Advisory System
is also installed on the certification airplane. The MLB700 and
TAS600 options are offered at a discounted price with the purchase
of the Alliant Integrated Flight Deck.
"An additional benefit to retrofitting aircraft like the Cessna
Conquest II or King Air is that by replacing the heavy and outdated
legacy avionics systems with advanced components, operators net a
significant weight savings, which directly increases the aircraft's
useful load," Copeland added.
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