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.

FMI: www.s-tec.com, www.avidyne.com