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.