Honeywell announced July 8 that FAA has certified the electronic charts and maps feature for Gulfstream's Collier Award-winning PlaneView cockpit aboard Gulfstream aircraft, a highly customized version of the Primus Epic avionics suite. All G500 and G550 aircraft soon will receive the update, including those already in service. Certification for the G350 and G450 is in progress.
"Certification of the G550's electronic charts and maps system, accessible on the PFD, is a significant milestone for the integrated cockpit," said John Uczekaj, Honeywell's evp business, regional and general aviation aircraft.
ShowNews got a sneak preview of the e-chart system aboard a G550 at EBACE in Geneva. With the e-chart enhancements, Gulfstream's flagship becomes the first production, large cabin business jet to move toward a full paperless cockpit with e-charts on the primary cockpit displays rather than on stand-alone auxiliary display units. Gulfstream aircraft not equipped with the PlaneView cockpit will have to make do with yoke-mount CMC CT1000G systems if pilots want to go paperless.
Pilots flying PlaneView-equipped airplanes with the e-chart enhancement need only carry en route charts and supplemental reference books, thereby reducing their chart caseload by up to a dozen books. And, thank you very much, no more bi-weekly chart revision chores.
