Honeywell fears no man when it comes to top-of-the-line integrated cockpits and cabin networks, Business and general aviation (BGA) president Rob Wilson tells BRENDAN GALLAGHER
How significant is Europe to Honeywell’s business and general aviation activities?
We see Europe as the next biggest market outside North America, and also one of the fastest-growing. Several of the airframe manufacturers are located here, and we have a significant presence in the form of production, repair and overhaul, and engineering and development facilities. Looking at the whole of Honeywell Aerospace, of which BGA is part, the continent provides 15% of our business. I expect that to increase over the next 10 years, driven mainly by growth in the business aviation fleet.Why do you expect the European business aviation fleet to grow?
Our research shows that the operators are planning some substantial purchases. Their priorities are to update their equipment and to increase their range capability.
What are your top messages for the EBACE 2006 attendance?
On the avionics side we’re going to highlight the Primus Epic integrated cockpit and the Ovation E cabin network. Our biggest powerplant message is to do with the HTF7000 engine aboard the Bombardier Challenger 300. It continues to make a very strong entry into service - the operators tell us it’s a benchmark.
How in your view does Primus Epic stack up against the competition?
We don’t see any system in the marketplace today that has the functionality, the features and the overall capability of Primus Epic. Its levels of data fusion, situational awareness, growth capability and integration into the cockpit and the whole aircraft are all unprecedented. We have over a dozen applications. By the end of last year over 500 aircraft had been delivered with Primus Epic aboard, and we expect to have it on over 1,800 aircraft by the end of 2010. I’m confident we stack up very well against competing products at the high end of the market.
How is the market responding to the Primus Epic CDS/R retrofit package?
It’s certificated in the Piaggio P180, we’re working on the Dassault Falcon 900, we have plans for the Hawker 800, and we’re looking at some larger aircraft. Owners of older aircraft want the functionality and are looking closely at what CDS/R has to offer. We think those that select it can also expect an increase in the blue-book value of their aircraft, as well as getting a useful weight saving as a bonus - the launch Piaggio P180 came out fully 300lb [136kg] lighter.
Is Primus Epic ever likely to go into a VLJ?
We’re looking hard at how to extend Primus Epic down into more of the medium-sized business jet market and possibly lower still. But its level of redundancy, driven by the transoceanic operations carried out in many of the larger business jets, simply isn’t needed or desired in the VLJ market.
What have you to say about recent reports questioning Primus Epic’s reliability?
There have been some things that have given cause for concern and we are watching them carefully. But in several of our applications we’ve already exceeded the reliability of the legacy systems that were in place.
What is the development and commercial status of the Ovation E cabin network?
The initial installation can be seen aboard our own corporate Gulfstream 550 here in Geneva – this is the first time it’s appeared in public anywhere. We were cautious about releasing Ovation E to the market until we had completed this installation and wrung out all the issues. As a result we have some substantial pent-up demand – people want it installed on several aircraft, including BBJs. You can expect to hear some announcements soon about installations, most of them retrofits to start with.
How does Ovation E compare with competing systems from companies like Rockwell Collins and Lufthansa Technik?
We’re confident we’ve got the best system for large business jets. Head-to-head, there are many differences in detail. But this product will be distinguished in the long term by its reliability, its ability to work consistently and its ease of operation. It also has a really high-tech look and feel to it, and its flexibility is unprecedented.
What’s the status of the HTF7000 engine programme?
We’ve delivered around 150 units for the Challenger 300. Flight hours total close to 100,000, dispatch reliability is well over 99.9% and the in-flight shutdown rate is extremely low. All in all, this powerplant is maturing very quickly.
To what do you attribute this accelerated maturity?
Three things: reduced parts count, intensive endurance testing during development, and a close focus on LRU reliability. The HTF7000 has 50% fewer parts than the TFE731, our main legacy engine for business jets. We ran numerous engines through some pretty horrendous endurance cycles. That was time-consuming and costly, but we felt that the needs of this market justified it. And we took all the components around the outside of the engine and put them through particularly rigorous shake-and-bake tests to find out how and when they would break. We decided to spend money in advance rather than throwing it at fixing problems once the engine was in service.
Where are you going next with your powerplants?
We’re looking closely at how to capitalise on the HFT7000’s architecture and reliability. We brought it to market to meet the needs of the emerging medium-large-sized aircraft - a segment that’s continuing to grow and get a lot of attention. Now we’re seeing a similar evolution in large-cabin aircraft requiring an engine in the 10,000lb-thrust [45kN] range. The HTF7000 architecture lends itself very well to scaling to that thrust class, and in the next few months you may hear more about our plans in that area.
Source: Flight Daily News
