Honeywell's Primus Epic avionics system has become one of the firm's most successful technology development programs, having found a home aboard more than a dozen different aircraft models ranging from helicopters to regional airliners. The latest and most advanced versions were revealed at the 2009 NBAA Convention in October aboard Dassault Falcon Jet and Gulfstream aircraft. The two Primus Epic configurations offer several features requested by operators, such as synthetic vision, WAAS LPV and RNP approach capabilities and FANS 1/A certification.

We had opportunities to fly the latest versions of Primus Epic first aboard Dassault Falcon Jet 900EX and then Gulfstream 450 aircraft just before NBAA. While the two Honeywell avionics suites are indeed impressive, the Dassault and Gulfstream versions are not equally mature.

Both systems use four 14-inch diagonal Primus Epic high-resolution LCD screens and the same basic modular avionics architecture, avionics components and radios. And both use Honeywell's E GPWS digital terrain elevation database as the foundation for their synthetic vision systems. But that's where the similarity ends. Dassault's and Gulfstream's cockpit design philosophies are quite different and each has its own merits.

EASy II

Dassault's second-generation Enhanced Avionics System (EASy II) was announced in 2008 and it has been three years in the works. EASy II will undergo at least three more revisions before it's ready to enter service in June 2010. The first application will be new production Falcon 900EX's starting at serial number 243. In 2011, EASy II upgrades will be made available for the Falcon 7X and Falcon 2000LX. Eventually, EASy II retrofit packages will be offered for all EASy-equipped aircraft dating back to 2003.

EASy II's synthetic vision is one of its most impressive features. It creates a virtual VFR window in front of the pilot that vastly improves situational awareness in conditions of obscuration or darkness.

"SmartView, for me, completes the picture [on the PFD]. It's like flying in daytime with a HUD all the time. We wanted to use the same symbols so that the PFD looks like a HUD while inside the cockpit," explained Woody Saland, Ph.D., Dassault Falcon Jet's manager of technical programs.

"It's the Law of Primacy," added Chad Cundiff, Honeywell's vice president of crew interface systems marketing and product management. "What we learn first is what we learn best. Everybody learns to fly with their heads out the window, so when they make the transition from looking outside to looking inside, they get the same cues with EASy II SVS."

For our demo flight aboard Honeywell's 900EX, we were accompanied in the cockpit by senior experimental test pilot Sandy Wyatt, a skilled aviator with whom we've flown several demo missions in the past two decades.

At initial power-up, it was readily apparent that EASy II will be a substantial upgrade from the original EASy system we flew several years ago. The original configuration, for instance, didn't use PFD real estate as efficiently as EASy II. The new version uses the entire outside two-thirds of either PFD for SmartView SVS imagery. The ADI, flight director, HSI, air data and other information are superimposed on top, as shown in the accompanying screen capture. In contrast, the original EASy display squeezed the ADI into a small box inside other gauges and annunciators, resembling a digital replication of an electromechanical six-pack primary instrument array.