Chelton Flight Systems principal message at this year's NBAA Convention could be: Its now certified EFIS makes single-pilot operations of high performance aircraft much easier.
"This summer we received STC approval for the Cessna Citation 501, which satisfies both TAWS (Traffic Alert Warning System) and RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums) mandates, as well as replaces the troublesome mechanical autopilot gyros with a fiber optic AHRS," company president Gordon Pratt explained to ShowNews.
The Boise, Idaho company (Booth 5818) obtained an FAA STC to install its FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS in Cessna Citation 501. Developed in conjunction with Temple Electronics at Houston Hobby Airport, the Chelton EFIS includes single- or dual-GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) receivers, full-function Flight Management System (FMS), single or dual Litef fiber-optic gyros, Class A or B Traffic Alert Warning Systems (TAWS), autopilot interface, digital flight recorder, voice warning master caution system and dual RVSM air data computers. Two FlightLogic systems have been delivered already, to unnamed customers.
Nick Cain, Chelton's chief pilot and director of training said the $187,000 single-sensor EFIS will make "single-pilot Citation operations a reality" for many pilots, reducing workload and making it easier to fly high performance aircraft. "As a bonus, the operator will probably gain over 50 pounds of useful load," Cain predicted.
In a related development, Chelton's EFIS has found a home on rotorcraft. Edwards & Associates, the completion house for Bell Helicopter, ordered six Chelton FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS systems. Five of the systems are for customer Bell 407s; the sixth is for Edwards' own demonstration aircraft.
Last year, Chelton received STC approval for the Bell 206, introducing, it says, highway-in-the-sky (HITS) and hover vectors to the rotorcraft market. HITS navigation symbology provides 3-D GPS guidance for enroute and instrument procedures, as well as search grids and precision helipad approaches. The FAA is using Chelton's HITS to research precision, high-density helicopter routes in and out of New York City. The hover vector provides the pilot with a real-time drift vector "zero-zero takeoff and landing," the company stated.
The FlightLogic EFIS is also STC'd for various models of the Beechcraft King Air, Piper Cheyenne, Pilatus PC-12, Piaggio Avanti and many other fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
