Collins' Large Flat-Panels Used for Cockpit Retrofit

The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Continuum, a state-of-the-art retrofit avionics system featuring large format LCD flat-panel displays, is breathing new life into older business aircraft, potentially extending their useful lives for decades.

A Pro Line 21 Continuum package with four 10 x 8-inch displays, for example, currently is being fitted to a Dassault Falcon 50. The system also includes dual FMS-6000 FMSs, solid-state AHRS, TCAS-4000, a TWR-850 solid-state Doppler weather radar and Pro Line 21 CNS radios.

Similar programs are underway for Bombardier Challenger 600 and Cessna Citation III aircraft. These systems use 5-ATI FDS-2000 LCDs and other manufacturers' FMS boxes. The Pro Line 21 Continuum retrofit concept first was installed and certified aboard Gulfstream II/IIBs and IIIs, but there have been few takers as these aircraft don't meet Stage III noise requirements, so their days are numbered.

Pro Line 21 Continuum, similar to the Pro Line 21 systems flying aboard the Bombardier Continental, Cessna CJ1 and CJ2, and Raytheon Premier, enhance situational awareness, reduce pilot workload and prepare these aircraft for the CNS/ATN environment of the future.

-Fred George