Raytheon Aircraft Services has successfully retrofitted the first Rockwell Collins Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) into a Hawker 800XP aircraft. The aircraft was completed at Raytheon Aircraft Services in Little Rock, Ark.

"We believe this will be the first of many IFIS retrofits on current Hawker 800XP aircraft," said Denny Helgeson, vice president and general manager, Business and Regional Systems for Rockwell Collins. "IFIS provides customers advanced features of a modern flight deck to enhance operational efficiency and situational awareness."

The system's electronic charting functionality provides operators with approaches, procedures, airport diagrams and Notice to Airman (NOTAMS). Operators of IFIS-equipped aircraft have ready access to the appropriate charts for the entered flight plan and aircraft position may be viewed on geo-referenced charts, improving situational awareness. The charts are enhanced through proprietary graphics and color pallets designed to improve readability, especially at night.

Rockwell Collins' IFIS enables operators to take advantage of a variety of weather services to receive real-time data link weather images. For continental U.S. coverage, XM WX Satellite Weather offers a low-cost solution providing continuous, real-time graphical weather. For aircraft equipped for data link, Universal Weather offers a wide range of graphical weather information--in addition to its traditional textual weather and Air Traffic Services capabilities--including NEXRAD and echo/tops movement data for the Continental United States, as well as worldwide turbulence, icing, graphical METARS and wind information.

The system's enhanced map overlays increase situational awareness on the flight deck by depicting the aircraft's relative position to geo-political boundaries, restricted and controlled airspace, and high- and low-level airways.

Central to IFIS is the Rockwell Collins File Server Unit (FSU), which is integrated with the Pro Line 21 system's active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) multifunction displays using an Ethernet network. The system's easy-to-use, graphical interfaces are designed to reduce complexity and improve efficiency. The FSU supports more than two gigabytes of data with growth to 16 gigabytes and features an Ethernet port for faster and more convenient software/database uploads.

Another option that will be available to operators once they have IFIS will be the addition of  3D Flight Management System map functionality.  This feature provides IFIS equipped Hawker 800XP operators another situational awareness tool that allows pilots to view flight plans in a 3-dimensional view. 

Rockwell Collins IFIS is also standard equipment from the factory on the latest model in the Hawker 800 series, the all new Hawker 850XP mid-size jets.

FMI: www.rockwellcollins.com