Entegra FMS900W Designed To Reduce Workload In Single-Pilot
IFR
Avidyne Corporation has some BIG news to share at Lakeland 2008.
Early Tuesday, the avionics manufacturer announced the introduction
of their new Entegra FMS900W WAAS-enabled GPS/NAV/COM Flight
Management System (FMS). Designed to reduce workload for
single-pilot IFR operations, the FMS900W provides fully-redundant,
state-of-the art VHF and TSO C146b Gamma 3-compliant turbine-class
FMS capability for all general aviation aircraft.
Utilizing a fully-modular architecture, the FMS900W Flight
Management System is an enhancement to Avidyne's Entegra Integrated
Flight Deck platform and is designed specifically to take advantage
of Entegra's large-format displays and Byteflight peer-to-peer
databus architecture.
"This system represents another major step in Avidyne's
commitment to enhancing our Entegra platform and to continuing to
deliver on our philosophy of making flying simple," said Avidyne
president Dan Schwinn. "We challenged our team 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."
FMS900W system components include single or dual remote-mount
LRUs, each with Avidyne's GPS723 WAAS/RNP GPS Sensor and a DVX740
VHF NAV/COM module and optional ACD215 Control/Display Units.
Avidyne's GPS723 sensor is a fully compliant RTCA DO-229D, Gamma 3
navigation system, and is designed to meet Required Navigation
Performance (RNP-0.3).
The DVX740 -- 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).
Creating and editing Flight Plans is easy and intuitive with the
FMS900W. Flight plan information can be entered via the MFD bezel
controls or via a dedicated ACD215 Flight Deck Controller (FDC).
All drop-down menus are context sensitive and choices are displayed
in a prioritized order.
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.
The FMS900W will store up to 100 user defined routes-each with
up to 128 legs. It is capable of route copying, flight plan
inversion and using up to 1,000 definable waypoints.
In dual-FMS installations, the fully-redundant systems eliminate
the need to manually cross-fill active flight plans and user
waypoints. The FMSs automatically transfer data across a
dual-redundant high-speed Byteflight databus. In the unlikely event
one FMS fails, the other will pick up the flight plan without
missing a step.
It will also continuously nominate and tune VOR and approach
frequencies to the NAV radios so the pilot doesn't have to manually
tune a NAV frequency.
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.
Avidyne says it is nearing completion of the product design
phase and will soon be entering into the certification phase of the
Entegra FMS900W program. Announcements will be forthcoming over the
next several months as we move through the certification process.
Current and future Entegra owners can expect that several
hardware/software upgrade paths will be offered, depending on
current configuration, for those who wish to take advantage of all
the benefits of the FMS900W.