New Panes For Old Planes
Envious of your hangar neighbor with
his new glass cockpit equipped airplane? No money (or desire) for a
new plane? There's at least one more player in the market now who
is thinking just about you: They're called Sagem Avionics and
they're working on a glass cockpit solution that will be STC'ed for
popular GA airplanes.
Sagem Avionics is a subsidiary of a European Hi-Tech giant named
Sagem Corp. These guys are in the business for almost everything
electronic -- from military avionics through fingerprint scanners.
They have taken over what used to be ARNAV (remember the early
Cirrus MFD?) and are now working on a complete glass cockpit
solution that will be available both in new aircraft and as
retrofits.
The Sagem system is centered around one display unit that they
call the Integrated Cockpit Display System (ICDS). This display is
available in either an 8" or a 10" size and can be mounted in a
portrait or landscape orientation. In fact, you can even mix and
match: install the PFD in portrait installation and the MFD in
landscape, or vice versa.
The overall design of the system shows the heavy metal
background of the company (they make components for airliners and
big helicopters). For example, system building blocks are designed
to be easily replaced in the field with no requirement for
complicated tinkering for a particular installation.
Also, individual displays may be doubled, providing for a
configuration with dual PFDs. Standard features on the system
include a terrain warning system that continuously display a
profile view of the next 35 miles in the airplane's flight path.
Customers may also select Sagem's weather downlink system. This
system is based on GlobalSat satellite telephone technology and
unlike the popular XM and WSI system, is a response-reply based
system.
It may also be configured with a voice-capable satellite
telephone. The other thing unique to this system is that it has
coverage outside of the US: The GlobalSat satellite coverage is
(duh!) global, and Sagem's weather feeds cover not only the US but
the whole American Continent, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic,
Europe, Asia, and the Southern Pacific region.
In terms of certification efforts, the system has already been
certified for several rotorcraft applications including
heavyweights such as the S-64 Air-Crane and GA models such as the
Bell 206 JetRanger. Next in the pipeline is the Cessna 100 series,
with first STC's expected within weeks.
By next summer, Sagem promises, many more models will join the
ranks. Pricing is not yet set and will depend, of course, on the
exact configuration selected for each of the models. The system
will also make an appearance in several new OEM applications.
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