The US Federal Aviation Administration has certificated Honeywell's Pegasus flight management system (FMS) on the Boeing MD-11, leaving only the Boeing 747 and Airbus A300-600/A310 as the final Western-made widebody aircraft to be targeted for the system.
Ironically, the MD-11 FMS effort was among the first to be flight tested for the upgrade as far back as 1997, but final certification was delayed by changing test priorities, says Honeywell. The new FMS provisions the MD-11 for automatic dependent surveillance, and doubles the space for navigation database storage. The system, consisting of two flight management computers and three multifunction control/display units, is expected to be available from late March, says Honeywell. The Pegasus system is in service on more than 670 aircraft, and is being fitted to all new A330/A340s and around 50% of new A320 family aircraft. It is standard on the Boeing MD-10 conversions for FedEx Express, new-build Boeing 717, 757 and 767s and is fitted to 777s and MD-90s. Programmes for 747s and A310/A300-600s are being considered, says Honeywell, while further retrofits are planned for the large 757/767 fleets.
Source: Flight International
