Dassault has selected a cockpit upgrade from Exton, Pa.-based Innovative Solutions & Support that is designed to bring a host of advanced capabilities to Falcon 2000 and 2000EX models originally delivered with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics.
IS&S announced Monday here at the convention that Dassault is developing a supplemental type certificate (STC) for non-EASy-equipped Falcon 2000s that will add four 10.4-inch-diagonal LCDs to the cockpit and bring functionality for displaying electronic charts and XM satellite weather.
Dassault Aircraft Services will install the IS&S upgrade in the U.S. and Dassault Falcon Service will perform the work in France. Installers will retain the original instrument panel and wiring but replace the existing CRT screens with the IS&S displays. An additional benefit is a weight saving of about 45 pounds.
IS&S also announced that Cessna has gained a long-awaited STC for a flat-panel upgrade in the Cessna Citation 500, 550, S550 and 560. Designed around a suite of two or three displays, the upgrade is targeted to sell for less than $300,000 installed.
Called the AdViz system, the Citation upgrade is initially available through nine Cessna-owned Citation Service Centers and eventually will be distributed through Cessna’s authorized installer network. System options include Jeppesen e-charts, XM weather, display from enhanced-vision system cameras and Waas LPV approach capability.
The initial AdViz installation in a Citation V was completed in April after two years of development work. Two more airplanes have received the display suite, and Cessna has a backlog of orders, said IS&S president Roman Ptakowski.
Cessna’s AdViz and the Dassault upgrade are based on IS&S’s Vantage Cockpit/IP open-architecture display upgrade, which was designed to interface with third-party avionics, including radios, autopilot and weather radar. IS&S also offers the system in the Pilatus PC-12 in a two-display configuration that sells for $170,000, as well as other large and small display combinations. It has so far sold 36 PC-12 Cockpit/IP upgrades.
In addition on Monday, IS&S also announced that it is moving forward with plans to offer synthetic-vision capability in its Cockpit/IP products. Adding SVS to the system would require a separate certification effort centered on a separate server unit hosting a worldwide terrain, obstacle and airport database.
Asked about IS&S’s instrument panel in Eclipse EA500 very light jets, Ptakowski said that the company is supporting those products and is willing to hold discussions with Eclipse Aerospace about Avio NG upgrades for those jets that had not received the IS&S panels. Eclipse Aerospace bought the assets of bankrupt Eclipse Aviation on September 30.