New Piper's Latest Introduction Brings Advanced Glass Avionics To Every Bird in New Piper Fleet

New Piper Aircraft will offer Avidyne's Entegra integrated flight deck on the Piper Seminole - the company's advanced multi-engine trainer and one of the world's top-selling twin-engine piston aircraft. The debut of the Entegra system in the Seminole extends Piper's deployment of advanced glass avionics throughout its entire fleet of 11 aircraft, ranging from piston-engine singles and twins to single-engine turboprops.

"With the debut of the Entegra system in the Piper Seminole, Piper shows its commitment to providing our customers with the advanced technologies that are taking aviation to new heights and ever-improving levels of sophistication and capability," said Piper President and CEO James K. Bass (shown below) during a news conference held in Lakeland.

"With this latest innovation, flight academies, aviation colleges and airline training programs will be well-equipped to provide future pilots with a safe, reliable and affordable training platform that will prepare their students for the flight decks of business and commercial aircraft."

The Avidyne Entegra system, designed and manufactured by the Avidyne Corporation of Lincoln, Mass., consists of systems more commonly found on corporate jet aircraft.
"We commend New Piper for its vision and for its commitment to innovation, safety and value," said Avidyne President Dan Schwinn.

"We look forward to continued collaboration in advancing the capabilities of the New Piper line and in helping to make its aircraft among the most popular in all of GA."

Avidyne Entegra for the Seminole centers on two 10.4-inch diagonal, high-resolution, sunlight-readable displays, including an EXP5000 primary flight display (PFD) with integrated solid-state air data and attitude/heading reference system (ADAHRS), autopilot integration - to include mode annunciators, altitude pre-selector and flight director - and primary engine instruments.

The EX5000 multi-function display (MFD) provides a full-featured moving map with overlays from Avidyne's optional MultiLink™ system. Further enhancements for the EX5000 MFD include EMax Engine Indicating System, providing digital engine monitoring and recording capabilities, and CMax™ Electronic Approach Charts, featuring JeppView® from Jeppesen.

Engine displays include manifold pressure, RPM, fuel flow, and oil pressure on the PFD for each of the Seminole's engines. On the MFD, the system also shows oil temperature, outside air temperature (OAT), and electrical bus voltage. Additionally on the MFD, EMax displays cylinder head temperature (CHT), all four exhaust gas temperatures (EGT), and fuel management functions, which include fuel remaining, nautical miles per gallon, fuel-to-waypoint and fuel-to-destination. Power management tools include a lean assist function for accurate power settings. EMax also provides data logging capability of critical engine performance parameters, which are downloadable via the MFD data port in a standard spreadsheet format for easy analysis.

CMax provides instant display of Jeppesen JeppView electronic charts on the EX5000. On the ground, the aircraft position is automatically shown on the airport diagram for positional awareness while taxiing. In flight, the CMax system shows the aircraft position and flight plan on the selected approach plate to give the pilot excellent situational awareness. CMax simplifies and speeds access to needed charts, including instrument departure and terminal arrival procedures, while maintaining an organized cockpit environment during high workload phases of flight.

Avidyne's exclusive MultiLink technology integrates Avidyne's two-way, route-specific Narrowcast Datalink system with XM WX broadband satellite download of weather conditions from across the continental United States. XM WX satellite weather includes full-color NEXRAD, graphical and textual METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, TFRs, winds aloft, and lightning strike data displayed on the EX5000 multi-function display MFD. MultiLink also provides access to Avidyne's FlightCenter suite of datalink services, including flight tracking and two-way air-to-ground messaging.

For more than 30 years, the Seminole has been a benchmark for reliability and value. As one of the world's premier multi-engine, advanced trainers, the Seminole has stood the test of time, making it an aircraft that flight schools, leading universities and major commercial airlines rely on to train their pilots.

With its twin 180 hp engines, the Seminole is known for delivering high performance functionality. At the same time, its simplicity, stability and safety have made it a low-maintenance, high-value mainstay of training programs everywhere. With the introduction of the Avidyne Entegra system, the Seminole now provides an extra level of safety and functionality, as well as the advanced technology necessary to equip pilots with state-of-the-art education and training for business, commercial and personal aviation. In the Seminole, these capabilities complement power that delivers more than 168 knots cruising speed, 15,000-foot service ceiling, 770 nautical mile range and useful load of 1197 lbs.

"With this major product innovation in the Seminole," said Molly Martin Pearce, New Piper's Director of Dealer Relations & Sales, "we are delivering an excellent combination of value and performance to our customers. Moreover, by deploying this technology to our university and flight school partners, we are providing capabilities essential in training the next generation of professional pilots. As with our entire fleet of single-engine trainers, the Piper Seminole now combines cutting-edge avionics with a superbly reliable and capable aircraft. The end product is a level of knowledge and expertise unsurpassed in educating students in advanced cockpit technologies through all phases of training."

FMI: www.newpiper.com