Kollsman has designed for very light jets a new head-up
display/enhanced vision combination that it plans to sell to aircraft
manufacturers for under $100,000 to start, and it plans to cut the price in
half in future years.
On a large-cabin business jet, HUD/EVS capability can cost
an end customer about $1 million, but these high-end systems offer a big
operational advantage. With them, a business jet is permitted by the FAA to
operate down to 100 ft above the threshold with the pilot relying on FLIR imagery.
He has to see the runway visually at 100 ft, but not before. This is a benefit
the new Kollsman HUD/EVS combination won't provide for very light jets, but
situational awareness will be greatly improved at night and in some
low-visibility conditions.
Kollsman, an Elbit Systems of America company, plans to
market the lightweight HUD/EVS system not only for very light jets but also for
general aviation aircraft smaller than that, and on larger aircraft up to
midsize jets. The 10-lb Micro-Vis HUD is one-third the size and weight of
conventional HUDs. This compact size is possible because the HUD relies on an
exclusive optical technology. The FLIR imagery will not be projected onto the
HUD, as with current systems, but injected vertically from the top of the
glass, meaning the system can be much smaller than normally possible.
The small HUD still provides an impressive 32-by-24-degree
field of view. It is based on technology that comes from Kollsman's sister
company El Op of Israel, a leading provider of military HUDs worldwide. The
HUD/EVS combination is cockpit agnostic and is suitable to be fitted in Garmin
and Avidyne cockpits, for example, Kollsman says. No launch customer was
announced here at the show, but the new HUD should be available in early 2006
and enhanced vision FLIR camera the following year.
The General Aviation Vision System (GAVIS) provides an 8-12
micron FLIR in a single line replaceable unit, according to Itzhak Hevrony,
Kollsman vp of commercial aviation systems. Hevrony says the sensor provides
thermal imagery of the scene ahead, as well as the ability to see
high-intensity runway lights.
Kollsman has been flight-testing GAVIS for a month in a
Cessna 340, and the aircraft is on static display here at the show. The new
HUD/EVS combination system can be seen at Booth 1620.
The company is also testing its next-generation enhanced
vision system (EVS-2) on the same aircraft. Two hundred of the original EVS
systems are now flying worldwide on Gulfstream jets, and the company has more
than 500 additional orders for the system. The next-gen system is being
developed for use by Gulfstream, and by FedEx on its fleet of MD 10/11, A300
and A310 aircraft. This will be the first use of such a system on a commercial
airline of any type.
Kollsman is looking into EVS-2 as part of an enhanced
synthetic vision system, consisting of a picture-in-picture display, not unlike
that seen on a home TV. The interior picture is a thermal image of the scene
ahead embedded in a larger 3-D graphic (a synthetic vision view) of the world
outside. The graphic is created with terrain data provided by Jeppesen. The
display is being designed to incorporate terrain warning system information and
traffic alert/collision avoidance system data as well. It should be ready for
market in late 2007 or early 2008.
Randy A. Moore, evp and general manager of Kollsman, says
that eventually over half the value of a new general aviation aircraft will be
comprised of avionics. He's hoping that acceptance of the new HUD/EVS
combination for very light jets and smaller aircraft will contribute to this
trend.
