Safety enhancements feature strongly in product upgrades announced by light-aircraft manufacturers. Cessna is to install seatbelt airbags on its piston singles beginning with January deliveries. Amsafe's aviation inflatable restraint system (AAIR) will also be available for retrofit on aircraft produced since 1997.
The AAIR, which houses an airbag in the lap belt, will be standard for the pilot and co-pilot seats of the 172 Skyhawk, 182 Skylane and 206 Stationair, standard for passenger seats behind the pilot on the 182 and 206 and optional for the aft cabin passenger seats in the 172 and 206.
Lancair is to offer Ryan International's 9900BX traffic advisory system as a factory-fitted option on its Columbia 350 and 400. The system will present traffic on the Avidyne FlightMax EX500 or Garmin GNS 430 multi-function display.
Cirrus Design has introduced two special-edition models, the SR20-GTS and SR22-GTS. In addition to coming as standard with a wide range of optional equipment, the GTS models' options include Honeywell KGP-560 enhanced ground-proximity warning system, XM Radio satellite weather datalink and electronic approach plates for the Avidyne Entegra display system.
Source: Flight International
