Rockwell Collins is taking a two-pronged approach to expanding
the reach of Pro Line 21 avionics-introducing electronic flight
bags for high-end systems and easing the price of admission for
low-end systems.
At the top end is the company's new Integrated Flight Information
System (IFIS), an electronic flight bag (EFB) soon to be available
with the Pro Line 21 and certain Pro Line 21 Continuum packages.
IFIS, which was recently certified on a Challenger 601, offers pilots
a paperless cockpit (electronic charts) in addition to FMS map overlays,
graphic weather and various flight planning options. The system
uses a file server as a mass storage device and links to the multifunction
display via an Ethernet bus. Rockwell Collins plans to make IFIS
available to other Pro Line Continuum aircraft such as the Falcon
20 and 50. On new aircraft, both the Cessna CJ3 and the Gulfstream
G150 will have the IFIS with the file server and enhanced FMS maps
as standard equipment.
Also featured at this year's NBAA is the company's IDS 3000 (Integrated
Display System), a retrofit display designed to help users build
up to a Pro Line 21 capability over time. "We were looking
for something that would replace the CRT-based EFIS, and wanted
to maintain flexibility for the operator to build up the system
in blocks, a little this year, a little next," says Bryan Vester,
senior director of marketing and strategic management for Rockwell
Collins Commercial Systems. To help cut costs, the IDS 3000 architecture
is also designed so that legacy flight control systems, like the
APS-85 autopilot, can remain in the aircraft.
The IDS 3000 panel will feature a series of 10.4-inch diagonal
active matrix LCDs that can be added sequentially to provide PFD,
MFD and IFIS capabilities.
