Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Honeywell’s in-development Anthem integrated avionics suite is well&nbsp;into the flight-testing phase onboard the company’s Pilatus PC-12 testbed, in preparation for some likely airframer announcements that are expected soon. The PC-12 has logged&nbsp;more than 120 flight-test hours with various Anthem systems and less than two weeks ago it flew for the first time&nbsp;with the complete integrated flight deck and also fully managed by the system, according to Honeywell.&nbsp;The milestone flight in the Phoenix area was piloted by test&nbsp;pilots Ed Manning in the left seat and Bill Lee in the right seat, with support from flight engineers Paul Carter and Will Quinn.
So far, two advanced air mobility companies—Lilium and Vertical Aerospace—have selected Anthem for their aircraft, and this illustrates one of Anthem’s core features: it is scaleable from small aircraft to large and anything in between. It is also designed for both forward-fit applications on new aircraft and retrofits to existing aircraft.
“There are a lot of big milestones coming in the PC-12 testbed in the next few months,” said Andrew Barker, Honeywell v-p of integrated avionics and general aviation. “It’s continuing to move forward at a really nice pace and fly a lot in our aircraft. We’re getting more eyes on it both in and out of the company.”
Anthem is Honeywell’s <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2022-04-01/honeywell-anthem-moving-avionics-future">sixth-generation avionics suite</a> and will not only move the company beyond its current Primus Epic integrated avionics but also create an avionics ecosystem that can take a pilot from the smallest general aviation airplanes or even advanced air mobility aircraft into business turboprops and jets, military aircraft, and airliners. In other words, Anthem pilots will not have to learn a new avionics system every time they move into a different aircraft type, similar to what Garmin has accomplished with its G1000 through G5000 family.
However, Anthem is pushing the avionics envelope and adding some new technologies that will help pilots fly more efficiently and safely. Not all the capabilities will be available for every size aircraft, but that makes sense as the cost has to scale up and down with aircraft size. “The core product offering fits in all these different verticals [market segments],” Barker explained. “The objective is to not have significant change across markets. Scaleability is the core of Anthem and what we’re trying to do.”
The main human-machine interface for Anthem is the pilot interface display unit (PIDU), and the number of these will depend&nbsp;on the size of the airplane. A small aircraft, for example, might have one PIDU and one display, while larger aircraft would have more of each.
“Along with hardware scalability,” Barker said, "software features are also scaleable.” For example, a small aircraft operator (at least for the near future) won’t need controller-pilot datalink services. “Maybe the screens and the general look will be the same but some stuff will be different at different levels,” Barker said. The PIDU is a touchscreen avionics controller, but the main displays will also be touchscreens.
One of the most interesting new Anthem features is the secure cockpit browser, which allows users to run vetted software on an Anthem display, with full functionality and connectivity. Anthem is cloud-connected, which is an enabler of many of its features but requires careful attention to security, hence the philosophy behind the secure cockpit browser.
An example of software that can run on the secure cockpit browser is the web version of ForeFlight, but almost any web-based software could work.
Honeywell engineers are fine-tuning Anthem’s human-machine interface features. “We’re getting them exactly right so they will be familiar to pilots flying in the widely available systems today,” Barker said. “We want people flying Epic to be able to use this seamlessly.”
Other Anthem features include more detailed 2D and 3D airport surface depictions with advanced runway notifications and a taxi-assist feature that helps with routing on the ground.
In the air, Anthem’s 3D waypoints on the synthetic-vision display look like points suspended in the air instead of just drawn on the ground. The conformal synthetic-vision system clearly shows the flight path so pilots can see whether the aircraft will clear the terrain. “Those are core capabilities,” Barker said.
Along with Anthem, aircraft manufacturers might opt for Honeywell’s compact fly-by-wire product, designed to bring the benefits of fly-by-wire to smaller aircraft. Lilium has selected this system to go with its choice of Anthem. “If you add compact fly-by-wire to Anthem,” he said, “then you get two products that were designed to work together. You get a lot of capability and additional safety.
“There really are lots of opportunities,” Barker concluded, “and it’s exciting to see what’s possible. This is aviation 2.0, the next generation.”

New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

Honeywell Anthem Avionics Suite Getting Ready for New Aircraft Applications

Honeywell's Anthem avionics design adds new functionality to aircraft of any size, from eVTOLs to airliners. 

Anthem Avionics Suite Preps for Prime Time

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

Start-up is developing a family of hypersonic aircraft using air-breathing propulsion

Hermeus Installs Starlink for Beyond-line-of-sight Tests

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Vulnerability to bad actors is a critical aviation issue

Aerodata Backup GPS Approved for Anti-spoofing/jamming

Hanneke Weitering

Garmin introduced the third-generation flight deck last month

Beta’s Electric Airplane Debuts Garmin G3000 Prime Avionics

Approval enables operators to add head-up display to King Air turboprops

Global Aviation STCs ClearVision EFVS in King Airs

Upgrade adds 3D synthetic vision and next-gen capabilities

Thornton Aviation Installs InSight Suite on Falcon 900B

Chad Trautvetter

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

EBACE Convention News 2023

More In Avionics

Hermeus Installs Starlink for Beyond-line-of-sight Tests

Start-up is developing a family of hypersonic aircraft using air-breathing propulsion

Aerodata Backup GPS Approved for Anti-spoofing/jamming

Vulnerability to bad actors is a critical aviation issue

Beta’s Electric Airplane Debuts Garmin G3000 Prime Avionics

Garmin introduced the third-generation flight deck last month

Global Aviation STCs ClearVision EFVS in King Airs

Approval enables operators to add head-up display to King Air turboprops

Thornton Aviation Installs InSight Suite on Falcon 900B

Upgrade adds 3D synthetic vision and next-gen capabilities

Autothrottles on HondaJet Elite II Get FAA Nod

Automation helps reduce pilot workload and improve passenger comfort

Eclipse Flight Tests Daedalean Visual Awareness System

Tests are being done in an Eclipse 550 twinjet

Universal Avionics All In on Artificial Intelligence

Advancements promise to make pilots' jobs easier and safer

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN