WSI has received supplemental type certification for its InFlight AV200 cockpit weather system in a Piper Saratoga. The next step, parts manufacturing authority (PMA), will allow the satellite-based system to be installed in a wide range of general aviation aircraft and is expected next month.
On receipt of PMA, Billerica, Massachusetts-based WSI and manufacturing partner Sandia Aerospace will begin shipping AV200 systems to dealers. A non-certificated version of the system, the AV100, is available and in use with portable electronic flight bags. The AV200 interfaces with aircraft multifunction displays, beginning with UPS Aviation Technologies' MX20.
The InFlight system broadcasts weather information, including Nexrad radar graphics, via geostationary satellite. Information covering the entire USA is broadcast over a 5min cycle, and is the same as that provided to pilots for pre-flight weather briefings at fixed-based operators. Later this year, WSI plans to begin broadcasting winds aloft and graphical information on temporary flight restrictions.
Source: Flight International
