Words From Avidyne's 'Oval Office'
We
talked with Avidyne's President, Dan Schwinn, on the eve of the
public introduction of the new PFD (primary flight display), to be
delivered Monday, beautifully packaged in a Cirrus. This "aviation
first" is a real cause for well-earned celebration at the Lincoln
(MA) facility, as well as at Cirrus, in balmy Duluth (MN), where
the new machine will be delivered.
It wasn't easy, being a pioneer. Heck, it wasn't easy, being an
engineer.
Dan
(right) told us, "We're very excited about it. It turns out to be
technically pretty difficult to do." Well, not a [single] thing:
"We did a handful of separate things, all of which would have been
noteworthy in their own rights -- and we combined them. We designed
a low-cost AHRS, and an air-data computer; the user-interface
elements required a lot of FAA work," he started; but the sheer
enormity of the accomplishment -- not just the engineering and
manufacturing, but also the certification -- started to take over.
"We did autopilot integration -- it's so cool -- but it
wasn't initially set to be integrated."
There's more; not every function is just plug-and-play, even in
existing units: "The GARMIN units -- all this took a lot of work,
getting them all integrated," Dan reminded us.
Oh -- and it's certified in a package, called an airplane. That
provides more 'opportunity' for fun:
It wasn't all done on a bench, either; there's a lot of air work
involved. Dan continued, "Cirrus put so much flight time on this,
themselves and with the FAA... It's been quite a project. Cirrus is
in a terriffic position, because they were willing to go first on
this thing. They've made this part of their offering -- their whole
customer base is talking about it."

Cirrus, by at least months, is the first, but won't be the only
aircraft certified with the Avidyne system. "The Diamond, and the
Lancair Kits and Certified folks are all working with us on
incorporating the Entegra system," Mr. Schwinn said. "Also, there's
Eclipse," a couple years hence. (As others sign on, announcements
will be forthcoming, and we'll have them for you, in
Aero-News.)
The enthusiam is obvious: it's fun to be a leader.
"It's interesting," the prez told us. "We think,
Cirrus thinks... there's an element of this PFD that's so exciting
-- it's the beginning of the next generation of light planes, of
usability and safety in these light planes. This changes
everything. It was obviously a very big project for us -- this kind
of technology is a new step, from the 'old' to the 'new' light
airplanes." He explained, "We've had a lot of pilot comments, like,
'This is a revolutionary change; it's the thing that is to
come.'"
He talked a bit about the Entegra in the Cirrus. It sounded
popular, already: "From what we have heard, the vast majority of
customers are planning on incorporating this."

'It took me 20 minutes' to learn how to use it.
"Realistically," Dan said, "it probably takes an
hour to learn what everything is, where everything is, and how to
use it. We tried really hard to not end up with a PFD that had a
zillion features, that nobody could ever learn to use. I believe
that, after a solid hour, you'll be able to use every function.
There's a lot of really good features."
It's not just about how 'gee-whiz' your cockpit looks, though.
Dan summed up: "I hope this makes people feel more competent and
comfortable as pilots, and that it will, in turn, improve their
safety." There was one other thing: "I also hope it helps Cirrus
sell airplanes." [It will, Dan, it will... --ed.]