Avidyne used the stage at Sun ’n’ Fun in Lakeland, Fla., last month to launch a suite of datalink services for general aviation. The new FlightCenter services announced at the show are intended to provide flight tracking and two-way text messaging to operators flying with Avidyne avionics. As described, password- protected access to a special Web site lets the aircraft owner (or anyone the owner provides with the password) view the aircraft’s real-time flight track and send and receive text messages from the aircraft while it is in flight.

The service uses automatic position reports and down-link flight plan information to create and display map views of an airplane’s route of flight, including departure time, continually updated present position and estimated time of arrival. The services are available in the air using Avidyne’s MultiLink-enabled FlightMax Entegra integrated cockpit and FlightMax EX500 and EX5000 multifunction displays and on the ground through any standard Internet connection.