New Glass Cockpit Attracts Avanti Attention and Orders
Piaggio Avanti operators looking for a more modern and sophisticated cockpit to work in will find themselves drawn to a new display systems upgrade now being developed by Canada's T-G Aviation and Honeywell. By integrating a refined version of the Honeywell Primus Epic system (known formally as the control display system retrofit, CDS/R), Avanti pilots gain an entirely new level of capability in communications, navigation and CNS/ATM functionality—including the all-essential RVSM compatibility that the FL410-capable Avanti fleet currently lacks.
While the same level of system functionality is being applied to Piaggio's improved, new-build Avanti II, T-G Aviation believes there is a strong retrofit market for existing aircraft. The evidence from NBAA indicates that they are right. Three new orders for the upgrade package were booked here, to add to the 10 the company already holds.
T-G Aviation initially assessed a Rockwell Collins cockpit fit for its upgrade plans—the route that Piaggio has taken—but instead opted for the Honeywell systems. T-G says that the Italian manufacturer is happy that its customers have options, and that the CDS/R program is a boost for the Avanti overall.
Avanti CDS/R development began back in June 2003, and T-G Aviation is engaged in an accelerated certification effort that it hopes will gain airworthiness approval by December this year. The first aircraft is now in the final completion stages and will make its maiden flight "in about three weeks time," Ken Klein, T-G Aviation's division manager told Show News, "our aim is to complete over 400 hours of post-certification flying with the new system, in full corporate flight operations, from January to June 2005."
