Cobham Avionics, formerly Chelton Flight Systems, expects to secure in June US Federal Aviation Administration Part 25 certification for its synthetic vision system (SVS), a decade after launching the technology on experimental category general aviation aircraft.
Vice-president of business development for Cobham Avionics, Gordon Pratt, says the company is "within weeks of getting air transport category certification" for its SVS.
Cobham now offers its system using a special FAA part 125 certificate, limiting it to single-pilot owner-flown aircraft including Beechcraft King Airs, Pilatus PC-12s, Piper Cheyennes, Cessna Conquests, Piaggio Avantis and lower-end Cessna Citation models.
The SVS is part of Cobham's electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS), which also includes GPS and an embedded terrain awareness and avoidance system (TAWS).
Pratt says Cobham has been "going through the approval process" for FAA Part 25 certification for "several years," test-flying its SVS in a dual-pilot Cessna Citation 550. Cobham, once it secures the new certification, plans to offer SVS as a retrofit in a wide range of higher-end dual-pilot business jets. Pratt also hopes to break into the OEM market and offer the system on new business jets.
After establishing Idaho-based Sierra Flight Systems in 1998, Pratt began offering SVS technology for experimental aircraft, primarily Lancairs. Pratt and his partners sold Sierra to UK-based Cobham in 2001. It subsequently won a contract from the FAA to outfit more than 100 general aviation and air taxi aircraft in south-east Alaska with SVS as part of the Capstone project.
Sierra was part of Cobham's Chelton Flight Systems subsidiary until the end of last year, when Chelton rebranded and became part of the new Cobham Avionics and Surveillance division. Pratt says since Sierra was sold, Cobham/Chelton has outfitted "a couple of thousand" aircraft with SVSs. He says Part 25 certification will allow it to break into a larger market. While Cobham expects more sales in the business aviation sector, Pratt says "I don't think synthetic vision will find its way to airliners in the near future".
Cobham Avionics also has forged a new partnership with Bell Helicopter to offer its EFIS as a retrofit on the Bell 412. Pratt says the new retrofit will support single-engine instrument flight rules operations and be targeted at operators in the emergency medical services and search and rescue sectors.
He says the new programme represents expands Cobham Avionics into the growing single-engine IFR helicopter market as until now it has focused on visual flight rules solutions for more than 20 helicopter platforms. With the Bell deal now signed, Pratt says Cobham will soon approach other helicopter manufacturers seeking to offer similar cockpits as retrofits and as options on new aircraft.
Pratt says there is a growing requirement from single-engine IFR helicopter operators for new cockpits equipped with SVS as well as TAWS and autopilot. This is in part driven by new requirements now being considered at the FAA aimed at improving the safety of helicopter EMS operations.
"Helicopters is our big growth market. It's going gangbusters," Pratt says.
Source: Flight International
