Honeywell says Bell/Agusta's announcement yesterday that its AB139 helicopter has received Italian ENAC IFR type certification is proof positive that its Primus Epic integrated avionics suite is flawless.
Honeywell received some bad press on Tuesday after Embraer announced a certification delay for its Embraer 170, citing software problems and integration delays with Honeywell's Primus Epic integrated avionics, fly-by-wire and other systems.
But Vicki Panhuise Honeywell vice president programmes, business, regional and general aviation, said the AB139 certification showed Primus Epic was a winner.
Digital
"The AB139 has the same digital engine operating system (DEOS), the same core software in the modular avionics unit (MAU), same autoflight and the same 10x8in displays as the Embraer 170," she says. "This demonstrates that all the core functionality of Primus Epic works perfectly."
On the three-month certification delay for Embraer's 170, Panhuise says: "We're doing the extraordinary and demonstrating the way forward. This [Augusta AB139] certification is a major milestone for us. We're making quantum leaps in technological developments and there are bound to be hiccups."
Primus Epic has been selected as the standard avionics system on the Raytheon Hawker Horizon, Cessna Sovereign, Gulfstream G550, Dassault Falcon 900EX, 2000EX and Falcon 7X and Embraer 170/190.
Source: Flight Daily News
