honeywell du-885 lcd displays pricelist

The idea seems simple enough: give operators of aging business jets the opportunity to remove all of their old round gauges or cockpit CRT screens and replace them with modern liquid-crystal glass displays and they would likely jump at the chance for a complete front-office makeover. Yet only a small number of buyers bought and installed avionics retrofit systems early on, as most apparently decided to wait on the sidelines hoping for additional choices and lower prices.

Nearly all of the STC programs that targeted popular business jets with multimillion-dollar cockpit upgrades failed to attract buyers in numbers big enough to make the investment of time and money pay off. Avionics makers started fresh a few years ago with lower-priced systems that added LCD glass and advanced technologies such as XM satellite weather and electronic charts, yet which left alone much of the rest of the cockpit–including the radios, flight management systems and autopilot. Interest in these less costly and downtime-intensive upgrades is gradually picking up, manufacturers say.

“When we did the initial business plan to put the Universal EFI-890R system into that aircraft, it seemed like a good solution,” he said, “but because of corrosion issues a lot of owners are having a difficult time getting the parts needed to keep those airplanes in the air.” Challenger 600 operators, he said, are beginning to migrate to the Challenger 601, and some of those buyers are upgrading their airplanes with LCD displays.

Likewise, Honeywell has gone back to the drawing board, disappointed by some previous attempts to penetrate the major retrofit market. “We’re trying to come out with some new solutions for that market that really hit on what we think those buyers are looking for,” said Chad Cundiff, Honeywell vice president for crew interface products. Customers, he said, want choices that provide equipment that is easier to install yet adds value by bringing new capabilities into the cockpit.

At last fall’s NBAA Convention, Honeywell introduced the DU-875 and DU-885 LCD upgrade packages as alternatives to a full Primus Epic CDS/R retrofit. These flat panels allow operators of Primus 1000- and 2000-equipped airplanes to replace the original CRT screens with like-size LCD displays without having to tear apart the entire cockpit. Adding flat glass displays and new control heads to the cockpit opens up possibilities for showing electronic charts and maps, XM weather and, someday, many of the same iPFD capabilities that are available in the latest versions of the Primus Epic avionics system. “That to us is an exciting kind of product that we think is really going to take off in this market,” Cundiff said.

The target market for this upgrade includes any airplane that came from the factory with Primus 1000 or 2000 CRT displays–in other words, a long list including several Cessna Citations, Learjets and Falcons. New Global Expresses, in fact, are still delivered with Primus 2000XP CRT screens, and that’s prompting a lot of interest from operators who understandably harbor frustrations about flying Bombardier’s top model yet not having the same capabilities in the cockpit as their hangar neighbors’ PlaneView- equipped Gulfstreams and EASy-equipped Falcons. “I had someone come up to me in the booth at NBAA last year and say, ‘Just tell me when it’s available; I’ve got the checkbook ready,’” Cundiff said. “That’s the kind of reaction you want to hear.”

Current Global Express operators aren’t the only ones yearning for a modern glass avionics suite on the flight deck of the big Canadian-built business jets. Midcoast Aviation, based at Spirit of St. Louis Airport, performs completions of new Global Express XRS and Global 5000s on behalf of Bombardier. The company said a handful of buyers have asked whether the Honeywell LCDs can be fitted in their brand-new airplanes when they’re having their interiors installed and paint applied. The answer, unfortunately, is no, said Blake Hogge, director of avionics sales for Midcoast. In fact, LCD displays won’t be offered in new Global Expresses until 2011, when the Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics system is scheduled for certification in that model.

Volo’s Falcon was recently back in the shop receiving its file graphic server, which adds XM satellite weather and electronic chart capabilities to the displays. “It really is just beautiful in that cockpit to see the XM weather and file graphics,” Harpster said. “We’ve got customers who have been waiting patiently for the certification to be completed, and now that it’s done we’ll have them in for those installations as soon as possible.”

Installation and certification of the Honeywell advanced file graphics server (AFGS) upgrade was performed in Volo’s Falcon 900B. This airplane is one of 14 Primus Epic CDS/R installations that Duncan recently completed or plans to complete this year, Harpster said. Duncan has also installed the system in the Hawker 800A, Hawker 1000 and Gulfstream III, and plans to complete the CDS/R installation with the AFGS upgrade in a Challenger 601-3A later this year.

Innovative Solutions & Support, based in Exton, Pa., has made a name for itself by offering avionics at prices that are lower than its competitors. That’s undoubtedly a big part of the reason Eclipse Aviation decided to bring the IS&S displays to its compact Eclipse 500 after its fallout with Avidyne last year. While it’s true that IS&S had to put other projects on hold to allow it to complete the Eclipse 500 type certification program, the remaining Eclipse development work this year is “only a small part of the company’s engineering load,” according to Ray Wilson, IS&S’s CEO.

First off, IS&S will need to rethink its retrofit offering for the Pilatus PC-12, Wilson noted, after Honeywell gained approval for the Apex glass cockpit in the model a few months ago. “We’re trying to reshape the Pilatus offering because, to be quite honest, the units we’ve sold have gone mostly onto aircraft just arriving in the country as a first fit, and not as true retrofits,” Wilson said. Now that new PC-12s are rolling out of the factory with the Apex system, IS&S plans to add functionality to its offering for that airplane to make the cockpit more attractive to operators of in-service PC-12s, he said.

In addition to marketing its Cockpit/IP retrofit avionics system in the PC-12, IS&S has inked an agreement with Cessna to offer the LCD upgrades in older Citations as well. The installations will be available at any of the 34 Cessna Service Centers (factory and authorized) worldwide. About 2,500 Citations are candidates for the retrofit, Wilson said, adding that flight testing is scheduled to begin next month, with the initial STC expected to be in hand by October.

Besides Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, Universal and IS&S, five other avionics suppliers– Chelton Flight Systems, Avidyne, Garmin, French firm Sagem Avionics and Nextant (see sidebar)–are offering avionics retrofit systems for business jets and turboprops. After shifting much of its attention to the rotorcraft aftermarket in recent years, Chelton Flight Systems now appears to be getting back on track in the fixed-wing retrofit arena. Part of Cobham’s Avionics and Surveillance Division, the company is being merged with autopilot maker S-Tec to create a so-called “avionics center of excellence” in Mineral Wells, Texas. The move is part of Cobham’s plan to develop a fully integrated cockpit as a follow-on to Chelton’s popular FlightLogic EFIS, which has been STC’d in hundreds of airplanes and helicopters, including the Cessna Citation 501, Pilatus PC-12 and King Air 100, 200 and 300. S-Tec, which Cobham acquired at the beginning of this year, employs 180 people and operates out of a 10-acre engineering and production campus on Mineral Wells Airport. There was no word on when the new Cobham cockpit would be certified, but expect the fixed-wing retrofit market to be a prime target for the system when it finally emerges.

General Dynamics Aviation Services recently started offering retrofit installations of glass from Sagem in the Gulfstream II and III. The companies say they will also market similar retrofits in the Challenger 600 and 601-1A, Falcon 20 and 50, and Hawker 700 and 800. The integrated cockpit display systems from Sagem are based on 10.4-inch LCD screens that include engine power indicators, electronic horizontal situational indicator and VOR/GPS/ILS coupled with the navigation displays. The system also provides a range of fault detection alerts and integration between the displays and airframe configuration data.

Avidyne was one of the first avionics makers to recognize the King Air series as an ideal candidate for a cockpit retrofit. The company’s Alliant avionics package for the King Air 200 and 90 series serves as a replacement for many of the airplanes’ original analog gauges, bringing integrated glass displays, digital automatic flight controls, modern air-data computers and additional capabilities to the twin-turboprop’s flight deck. The quoted list price for Alliant hardware is around $170,000, plus $60,000 to $80,000 for the installation, which requires downtime of around two months.

Following Avidyne’s lead, Garmin is now offering its G1000 avionics system as a retrofit in the King Air 90, and says it plans to bring the upgrade to the King Air 200 and B200 soon. The G1000 suite integrates all primary flight information, navigation data, communications, terrain awareness, traffic, weather and engine instruments on a large 15-inch multifunction display and two 10.4-inch primary flight displays. Also included with the installation is the Garmin GFC 700 three-axis autopilot, which is capable of flying coupled WAAS approaches and vertical navigation profiles. G1000 standard features include WAAS GPS receivers, class-B TAWS, dual AHRS, XM weather, SafeTaxi and FliteCharts. Available as an option in the system starting next year will be Garmin’s synthetic-vision technology (SVT) upgrade. Garmin has established a select list of authorized G1000 retrofit dealers to sell and install the G1000 system in the King Air C90 series.

Bringing the Avidyne and Garmin glass cockpits to business jets and turboprops could eventually have a profound effect on the market for major retrofits, some installers say. That’s because the capabilities of these newer systems is on par with those of the high-end packages from Honeywell and Rockwell Collins, but their installed prices are far lower, around $350,000 in the case of the G1000 system in the King Air.

“It’s the first time that something like this has come along at such an attractive price,” said Mark Wilken, director of avionics sales for Elliott. “There are very few options with the G1000 system, beyond choosing an active or passive traffic alert system. You get the XM weather, you get the XM radio for the passengers, you get a new weather radar, you get air-data computers, you get AHRS, you get displays, you get engine indication, you get your autopilot, you get dual WAAS/LPV GPS receivers. Everything is there. And you take out every bit of avionics wiring in the airplane and you put a new, smaller avionics harness in it with much lighter weight, and you have literally everything you need. I would say that’s revolutionary for the price.”

"For us it"s getting back to basics, the equipment our customers are flying every day," says Rob Wilson, president of Honeywell"s business aviation unit. "That means retrofits, modifications and upgrades." Topping the list of requested applications for those upgraded cockpits, says Wilson, are flight efficiency optimisers like required navigation performance (RNP), enhanced GPS approaches (WAAS LPV) or NextGen features such as controller-pilot datalink (FANS 1/A).

In response, Honeywell is introducing flightdeck upgrades that will put "glass" display upgrades into legacy cockpits while introducing the advanced navigation, communication and surveillance (CNS) features to a large variety of existing and new Gulfstream models.

Along with flight management system upgrades that support WAAS LPV, FANS and RNP special aircraft and aircrew authorisation required (SAAAR) down to 0.1nm (0.18km) separation, Wilson says the retrofit package will also offer legacy cockpits the growth potential to add synthetic vision and paperless terminal charts. Based on the Barco-built DU-885 liquid crystal displays with LED backlighting, Honeywell will offer the package for legacy GIV, GIV-SP, G300, G400 and GV family aircraft.

Similar enhanced capability programs are under way in Dassault aircraft with Primus Epic EASy and Primus 2000-equipped cockpits, as well as in Bombardier Challenger and Global Express models with Honeywell cockpits.

Rockwell Collins unveiled an upgrade programme in 2007 that augments legacy Pro Line 4 cockpits with Pro Line 21 features. Duncan Aviation, the STC holder, has completed two such conversions on Dassault Falcon 50EXs. The upgrade interfaces existing Pro Line 4 sensors, radio and autopilots, to Pro Line 21 displays, which offer graphical weather, electronic charts and airport diagrams, display of enhanced vision system video and other features. Along with the Falcon 50EX, Duncan also holds STCs on the upgrade for the Hawker 800A, Hawker 800XP and Astra 1125, and is developing one for the Falcon 2000. Constant Aviation will obtain an STC for the same conversion on the Beechjet 400A later this year.

The avionics manufacturer has not yet decided whether its new flagship offering - Pro Line Fusion - will be available for the retrofit market. Selected for eight new platforms so far, including the Global Express Global Vision upgrade and Gulfstream G250, Fusion will offer increased situational awareness through synthetic and enhanced vision as well as multi-scan weather radar on 15in (38.1cm) LCD displays, the largest in the industry.

In the cabin, Honeywell is giving customers lower-cost connectivity through an upgrade to Ovation Selection that will allow passengers to send and receive Blackberry messages and pay only by the size of the message.

Honeywell provides operators with multiple upgrade paths and solutions to choose from including: DU-875 One-for-One Replacement, Primus Elite Enhanced Features, and Primus Elite Advanced Features, as well as upgrade options for Gulfstream GIV, GIV-SP, and GV (SPZ-8000) operators.

The end of September marked a new milestone for ScioTeq.The avionics visualization specialist from Kortrijk in Belgium delivered its 5.000th TSO certified DU-875/885 avionics display to Honeywell.

ScioTeq’s TSO’d DU-875/885 is part of Honeywell’s Primus Elite platform, which has STC’s on over 13 aircraft types, such as Bombardier Global Express, Embraer Legacy L600/650, Gulfstream G IV/IV-SP/V, Falcon 900 EX&C, Do-328, Citation X,..

This platform is designed as an affordable upgrade for the previously fielded DU-870/880 CRT displays, and replaces them with a state of the art LCD solution.

The DU-885/875 guarantees a better image quality, less heat in the cockpit, a lower weight, Advanced Features, Synthetic Vision and lots of other benefits at a lower cost of operation.