Raytheon Aircraft
Services has successfully retrofitted the first Rockwell Collins
Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) into a Hawker 800XP
aircraft. The aircraft was completed at Raytheon Aircraft Services
in Little Rock, Ark.
"We believe this will be the first of many IFIS retrofits on
current Hawker 800XP aircraft," said Denny Helgeson, vice president
and general manager, Business and Regional Systems for Rockwell
Collins. "IFIS provides customers advanced features of a modern
flight deck to enhance operational efficiency and situational
awareness."
The system's electronic charting functionality provides
operators with approaches, procedures, airport diagrams and Notice
to Airman (NOTAMS). Operators of IFIS-equipped aircraft have ready
access to the appropriate charts for the entered flight plan and
aircraft position may be viewed on geo-referenced charts, improving
situational awareness. The charts are enhanced through proprietary
graphics and color pallets designed to improve readability,
especially at night.
Rockwell Collins' IFIS enables operators to take advantage of a
variety of weather services to receive real-time data link weather
images. For continental U.S. coverage, XM WX Satellite Weather
offers a low-cost solution providing continuous, real-time
graphical weather. For aircraft equipped for data link, Universal
Weather offers a wide range of graphical weather information--in
addition to its traditional textual weather and Air Traffic
Services capabilities--including NEXRAD and echo/tops movement data
for the Continental United States, as well as worldwide turbulence,
icing, graphical METARS and wind information.
The system's enhanced map overlays increase situational
awareness on the flight deck by depicting the aircraft's relative
position to geo-political boundaries, restricted and controlled
airspace, and high- and low-level airways.
Central to IFIS is the
Rockwell Collins File Server Unit (FSU), which is integrated with
the Pro Line 21 system's active matrix liquid crystal display
(AMLCD) multifunction displays using an Ethernet network. The
system's easy-to-use, graphical interfaces are designed to reduce
complexity and improve efficiency. The FSU supports more than two
gigabytes of data with growth to 16 gigabytes and features an
Ethernet port for faster and more convenient software/database
uploads.
Another option that will be available to operators once they
have IFIS will be the addition of 3D Flight Management System
map functionality. This feature provides IFIS equipped Hawker
800XP operators another situational awareness tool that allows
pilots to view flight plans in a 3-dimensional view.
Rockwell Collins IFIS is also standard equipment from the
factory on the latest model in the Hawker 800 series, the all new
Hawker 850XP mid-size jets.