A number of avionics developments were launched at the EAA show, including Honeywell's new line of solid-state electronic displays for general aviation aircraft with the Bendix/King KI-825 as the initial offering.
The KI-825 liquid-crystal display is packaged as a single unit combining multifunction and electronic horizontal-situation displays. "At the touch of a button, a pilot can configure the presentation to display only what's required for the phase of flight, greatly reducing pilot workload since only the desired information is presented in the pilot's primary scan," says Dan Barks, director of marketing for Honeywell General Aviation Avionics.
The $12,000 KI-825 works with most existing directional gyros, global positioning system (GPS) navigators, remote compass systems and traffic-alert devices, says Honeywell. First shipments are expected late this year.
Meanwhile, HGL Aero, the Kansas-based US distributor for the Australian-made Eagle Aircraft Eagle 150B, unveiled a new standard panel for the two-seat aircraft.
Replacing the original Bendix/ King avionics, HGL is offering as standard Garmin International's GNC-250XL GPS/comm and GTX-320A transponder. The first customer to benefit from the changes is the International Training Academy in Glendale, Arizona, which has purchased five Eagle 150Bs with options on five more.
Panel and autopilot manufacturer Meggitt Avionics/S-Tec, meanwhile, has released a new autopilot to replace the System 55 full-feature autopilot. The System FiftyFiveX retains the original's main features, but includes the ability to follow steering commands directly from a GPS navigator, altitude compensation in turns and variable gain in commanded turns to smooth the transition from one heading to another. GPS roll-steering involves taking steering commands directly off a GPS navigator which allows the autopilot to control an aircraft through multiple-segment flights.
Source: Flight International
