New FMS Reduces Workload In Single-Pilot IFR Operations

In addition to the just announced certification of Avidyne's much awaited Release 9 Flight Deck, we're pleased to report that the Avidyne FMS900w has gotten the same respect from the FAA. The certification of their new Entegra FMS900W WAAS-enabled GPS/NAV/COM Flight Management System (FMS) is designed to reduce workload for single-pilot IFR operations. The FMS900W utilizes fully-redundant, state-of-the VHF and TSO C146b Gamma 3-compliant GPS sensors for the most advanced, yet easy-to-use FMS in all of aviation. The FMS900w received Technical Standard Order (TSO) certification as part of Avidyne's Entegra Release 9 Integrated Flight Deck retrofit for existing Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft. 

"One thing that sets the FMS900w apart from all its predecessors in the FMS market is that we were not encumbered by the small-screen limitations that restrict the capabilities of other systems," said Patrick Herguth, Avidyne's Chief Operating Officer. "The FMS900w was designed from the outset to interface with large-format displays, so we can show more information at a glance, and format the data in a much more meaningful way."

"The FMS900w is the cornerstone of our next-generation Entegra Release 9 platform, which was designed to make flying simpler and safer," said Avidyne president Dan Schwinn. "Our goal is to deliver an Entegra FMS that is highly capable to meet the demands of 21st-century flight yet it has to be simple and intuitive to operate, and the FMS900W has exceeded our expectations, and is by far the easiest-to-use Flight Management System in the industry," he added.

A clean-sheet design with big-screen display capability in mind, Avidyne's FMS900W is a WAAS-enabled GPS/NAV/COM Flight Management System (FMS) that includes a single FMS control/display unit with QWERTY keyboard. Designed to reduce workload for single-pilot IFR operations, the FMS900W uses fully-redundant, state-of-the-art VHF radios and TSO C146b Gamma 3-compliant GPS723 GPS sensors that are designed to meet Required Navigation Performance (RNP-0.3).

Avidyne's FMS900w makes creating and editing Flight Plans much easier and more intuitive. Flight plan information can be entered via the bezel controls of either IFD or via a dedicated control/display unit.  All drop-down menus are context sensitive and choices are displayed in a prioritized order.

Its route construction, guidance and navigation are all breakthroughs in the general aviation market.  All 23 ARINC-424 leg types, including RNP radius-to-fix (RF) legs, are used without modification to create the same flight plans commercial airlines use. The guidance algorithms use these leg types to determine roll-steering commands to the autopilot for all legs of the flight plan, including procedure turns and holding patterns. The navigation solutions use WAAS satellite corrections to provide a position solution to within three meters in all phases of flight. 

GeoFill Simplifies Flight Planning

The FMS900W is compatible with all domestic and international airspace requirements and features full Airway Flight Planning capability and Avidyne's exclusive GeoFill, which simplifies flight plan entry by predicting and displaying the next waypoint or airport of a flight, based on the aircraft's position. These powerful flight planning features reduce the pilot's workload by as much as 75% by intelligently predicting the next leg or waypoint on a flight plan and automatically displaying only the relevant ones based on airway connectivity and distance filtering. The pilot is presented with only logical choices based upon the action required and the FMS will "autofill" the remaining characters in an entry based upon distance from the current aircraft position. This eliminates fumbling through irrelevant navaids, which is a common problem with other systems.

FMS Vectors and Improved Autopilot Interface

Another innovation of the FMS900W is its FMS Vectors capability, which offers increased situational awareness when the aircraft is flying a heading vector from Air Traffic Control by displaying the vector directly on the map display.  In legacy systems, navigation between an en route GPS-guided course and a terminal phase VHF navaid such as an Instrument Landing System (ILS) was often suspended during transition to the approach.  Entegra Release 9 automatically calculates the transition from en route GPS to ILS intercept and draws a curved intercept flight path on the display.  It even includes wind-corrected roll steering commands to the autopilot.  With Entegra Release 9, the pilot can, in fact, "fly the Magenta line" on the display throughout the entire flight since he's given FMS guidance from 200 feet AGL to 200 feet AGL without interruption.  In addition, Entegra Release 9 enhances communication between the FMS and the autopilot such that the FMS will automatically change autopilot modes to match the FMS phase of flight.  This eliminates "modes confusion" and provides constant situational awareness.

Next-Generation All-Digital VHF Radios

The FMS900w system also interfaces with Avidyne's DVX740 VHF NAV/COM radio, which was first certified in 2006 and has accumulated thousands of hours flying in very light jets, features a 16 Watt high-efficiency transmitter w/8.33 kHz spacing and provides four COM and four NAV channels which can operate simultaneously carrying voice or data.  It incorporates innovative digital signal processing on the actual RF in software, which eliminates the need for single-channel tuning synthesizers, allows multiple receive channels that can mix voice and data, and easily upgrades to support new data formats such as VDL Mode 3 (NEXCOM).

The FMS900w was certified as part of Avidyne's Entegra Release9 Integrated Flight Deck retrofit for Cirrus SR20 & SR22. The total system cost of the Entegra Release 9 suite is $72,800, which includes dual XGA displays, dual FMS900w with single control/display unit, dual GPS/FMS receivers, dual 16-watt VHF COMM radios, and MLB700 XM/SIRIUS Broadcast datalink receiver.

Avidyne has a backlog of Entegra Release 9 customers and initial installations are already underway now at selected Release 9-qualified Avidyne Service Centers.  Avidyne is accepting orders now for installation in June 2009.

FMI: www.avidyne.com, www.release9.com