Cockpit makeovers continue to dominate the new product
thrust at Elliott Aviation. The Moline, Ill.-based company's latest offering,
the Elliott Elite series cockpit, brings flat-panel displays to the Citation
500 series, Citation 650 series and Falcon 10, replacing electromechanical, CRT
and EFIS instruments with active matrix liquid crystal displays that the
company says will add decades to aircraft life. Two examples of the work, on a
Citation 650 and Falcon 10, are in Elliott's static display here at the show.
Though avionics upgrades tend to be booked as discretionary
spending, the safety advantages of flat-panel displays— reduced scan area, less
clutter, less fatigue— are convincing operators to invest nonetheless, says
company spokesman Tom Heck.
For the Citation 650, the Elite package includes three
8-inch-by-
9-inch Universal Avionics EFI-890R displays, each priced at about
$150,000, plus a Universal UCD EFB for showing electronic charts, approach
plates and own-ship position. The suite can display primary flight information
plus TAWS, TCAS, weather, navigational information, CNS/ATM and Universal's
Vision 1, a simulated 3-D exocentric view of the aircraft's path over the
terrain.
The Citation 650 upgrade is currently in the midst of
certification efforts. Elliott last month obtained an STC for the Falcon 10
Elite retrofit with the Universal displays. Unveiled this week, the Citation
500-series panel will include three Universal 890R displays plus a dual Meggitt
engine indication system. The company expects price after completion to be
about $500,000. Elliott will start the certification work in January and
expects to receive an STC in March.
Future projects could include a flat-panel upgrade for the
King Air 200 and 350 and the Hawker 800 using the Rockwell Collins IDS-3000,
depending on the results of a feasibility study now underway.
Heck says the company plans on a minimum of 10 to 20
installations of the Citation panel next year. "We already have enough interest
to support that," he said.
Also on tap is certification for a Honeywell Digital Flight
Data Recorder (DFDR) that Elliott will install for Raytheon on new King Air
350s headed for European airspace. Europe mandated DFDRs in March.
Certification for the package is 75% complete, says Heck. As part of the DFDR
project, Elliott also earned its European Aviation Safety Agency certification.
Extreme makeovers continue at Elliott, with the fifth Hawker
1000 refurbishment nearing completion. One of the finished Hawkers is here at
the Raytheon static display. Under the OEM-sponsored program, Elliott puts in
as many as 6,000 man-hours completely renewing Hawker 1000s previously owned by
NetJets, undertaking mechanical inspections A-G, removing and replacing
engines, and applying new paint, interior and upgraded avionics, including TCAS
2, EGPWS and, in some cases, a digital flight data recorder and RVSM. "We went
through a long selection process with Raytheon to participate in this program,"
says Heck, adding, "It showcases our ability to provide the industry with a
one-stop total solution for the Hawker market."
