So, You Want to Fly With Howard Stern?

Textron, the multinational technology conglomerate and parent company of airframers Cessna, Beechcraft and [formerly] Hawker, has partnered with SiriusXM, the American provider of satellite and online radio services, to provide buyers of new Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes complimentary, three-month access to SiriusXM’s satellite-broadcast aviation weather, information, and audio programming.

The promotion pertains only to aircraft factory-equipped to receive satellite radio transmissions, and affords Textron customers a ninety-day sampling of SiriusXM’s top-tier Aviation Weather and information service, as well as SiriusXM’s Platinum Plan, which includes the full spectrum of SiriusXM audio entertainment. Subject services are available in the 48 contiguous United States and Canada.

Dave Wasby, Sirius XM vice-president and general manager of Aviation and Marine said of the partnership: “We are very pleased to expand the SiriusXM Aviation Weather and information program to Textron Aviation, a highly-respected leader in aviation with one of the most diverse product lines in the industry. With SiriusXM Aviation, Cessna and Beechcraft customers will be able to receive valuable weather features and information that are not available via ground-based networks, and updated data at a faster refresh rate – which is key to situational awareness. Plus, with SiriusXM’s Platinum Plan, pilots can enjoy the best in audio entertainment in the cockpit for the duration of their flights, as well as outside the aircraft with the SXM App.”

Cessna and Beechcraft flight-decks offer Garmin’s GDL69 and Collins’s XMWR-1000S receivers. Both units deliver SiriusXM Aviation Weather, information and audio service. Features include: high-resolution composite radar with a 2.5-minutes update-interval; NEXRAD storm cell attributes; 2.5-minute updates for lightning strike locations—both cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground; base reflectivity radar; and Icing NOWcast.

SiriusXM Aviation provides additional key benefits that ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast) weather cannot deliver. These include: no line-of-sight restrictions or altitude limitations; continuous coast-to-coast coverage; and high-resolution radar across the entirety of the 48 contiguous United States.

The SiriusXM Platinum Plan delivers SiriusXM’s full lineup of audio entertainment content and includes hundreds of channels of ad-free music, plus sports, news, comedy, and whatever Howard Stern is up to.

FMI: www.txtav.com