Synthetic Vision System Approved For Cessna 550

Cobham Avionics in Mineral Wells, TX,  formerly known as S-TEC Corporation, has been authorized by the FAA as an Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) entity for Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) projects. As part of ODA, the FAA delegates an organization the authority to perform its own certification activities under FAA oversight. This represents the second such designation for a Cobham business unit; in 2008 Chelton Flight Systems, now also known as Cobham Avionics, was among the first organizations in the United States to be certified under ODA. 

The FAA first established the ODA program in August 2006 with the intention of making their overall certification process more safe, effective and efficient. ODA establishes a systems-based approach for FAA safety oversight of experienced manufacturers. These manufacturers must have considerable experience and a detailed, documented competence in part-by-part compliance with regulatory standards. In return, by establishing and implementing the ODA program, the FAA is able to concentrate its resources on the most safety-critical areas of aviation and the development and application of new technologies. 

Cobham will offer STC support to agencies that desire or need ODA services for the pursuit of their own STC. The Mineral Wells facility features a complete ODA support staff, including electrical and mechanical engineers, mechanics, avionics installers, conformity inspectors and pilots.

In a related development, Cobham's synthetic vision system glass cockpit has been granted a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the Cessna 550.  The installation represents the business unit's first STC for synthetic vision on a transport-category aircraft (Federal Aviation Administration Regulations Part-25).

"Approval of this revolutionary system for transport-category aircraft brings tremendous capability to older, analog-equipped aircraft," said Mike Sheehan, Vice President of Cobham Avionics.  "With the recent STC for the Bell 412, Cobham now has the only synthetic vision system certified in all four regulatory classes of aircraft: large and small airplanes, and large and small helicopters."

The 550 STC (#ST09694AC) is configured with dual synthetic vision primary flight displays (PFD) and dual multi-function displays (MFD), each with embedded Class-A terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), integral flight management system (FMS), and digital flight recording.  Additional features include dual fiber-optic attitude gyros and dual GPS-WAAS.  The system uses the aircraft's existing RVSM air data computers.

The system provides sensor comparators and cross-side sensor switching, and interfaces with the original autopilot to give it full roll-steering capability to fly all instrument procedures hands-off, including procedure turns, holding patterns and entries, DME arcs, and missed approaches, reducing pilot workload.   

Cobham Display File Photo

Additional capabilities include TCAS-I, TCAS-II, and ADS-B display, datalink weather, both single- and dual-cue flight directors, highway-in-the-sky (HITS) predictive flight director, conformal runway depiction, dual DME display, and Stormscope display.
 
Installation of the system typically results in a 100lbs weight-saving that allows a commensurate saving in fuel or increases the useful load that can be carried. 

FMI: www.cobham.com