So... What's The Next Major Glass Panel Offering??? SmartDeck Could Be It

We're big fans of innovation... especially when that innovation means that one's flying could potentially become easier, safer and more methodical than ever before. A number of companies are on the right track in their pursuit of building the next generation of glass panels... but few of those programs impressed us as much as the SmartDeck program now under the direction and development of CMC Esterline.

We've been monitoring the progress of this program and NBAA 2011 showed the Aero-TV crew that much had transpired since your last update at Oshkosh 2011. On display at the show, we saw the latest new SmartDeck functionality upgrades... including a second-generation Highway-in-the-Sky (HITS) symbology architecture and a three-display, dual-pilot configuration.

An old friend and avionics industry veteran, Greg Plantz, director of marketing and sales for SmartDeck, showed us the latest developments... "Our engineering and human factors teams have evaluated the ways pilots interact with advanced avionics systems and this updated version of the SmartDeck represents much of what we have learned...

For example, our unique Highway-In-The-Sky symbology is being reconfigured to give pilots the information they need using the attitude and directional cues with which they are more familiar. This greatly improves situational awareness while reducing pilot workload and stress."

A little over a year ago, Esterline acquired the exclusive license to the L-3 SmartDeck integrated cockpit, and is aggressively shopping the system to OEMs around the world. CMC Esterline has told ANN that the company sees a lot of opportunity as the economy continues to recover in both the GA and the business jet market for SmartDeck.

FMI: www.esterline.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews