Easing pilot workloads to improve safety is a passion for Universal Avionics (UA) chief executive Dror Yahav. A pilot himself, Yahav joined the company from Israeli parent Elbit six months ago, tasked with bringing together the technologies and the ambitions of both companies.

Easing pilot workloads to improve safety is a passion for Universal Avionics (UA) chief executive Dror Yahav. A pilot himself, Yahav joined the company from Israeli parent Elbit six months ago, tasked with bringing together the technologies and the ambitions of both companies.

The latest result of that effort is today’s unveiling of the Fly By Sight navigation system, which combines a head wearable display with the company’s ClearVision and SkyLens technologies and the recently-unveiled interactive flight management system (i-FMS).

Universal Michelle James-c-BillyPix

Michelle James of Universal Avionics shows off the SkyLens technology

BillyPix

“The Fly By Sight system reduces head-down time in high workload environments by enabling the pilot to conduct critical functions like a direct-to, runway change or vector-to-final via head-up technologies instead of relying on head-down displays,” says Yahav.

The system is designed to make these operations more intuitive by integrating the head-up display with key FMS functionality.

This is the next generation in UA’s drive to augment the real world through head-up technologies with line-of-sight (headtracking) functionality that pilots can use to accomplish highly-demanding tasks during critical phases of flight.

“We believe the future of flying should be simplified, automated and made more intuitive, utilising new avionics technologies and systems,” says Yahav. “At NBAA, we are demonstrating how integration between the FMS and a wearable HUD like the SkyLens can greatly improve the way pilots fly – reducing workload while maintaining high efficiency.”

Universal launched ClearVision at this year’s Paris air show, revealing a significant engineering and innovation effort for the product within the company. Yahav says Fly By Sight will be offered as an add-on to existing cockpit systems as a retrofit package, or as part of its integrated Insight ClearVision cockpit solution.

Read all the latest news and information from the 2019 NBAA show on our dedicated page

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