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On the Record with
DEAN FLATT, PRESIDENT, HONEYWELL AEROSPACE
ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
Integration is the key word for Honeywell's avionics business
at this NBAA.
"We've integrated the cockpit with Primus Epic, and we've
integrated the cabin with our first all-digital cabin management
system" developed by Honeywell and its new subsidiary Baker
Electronics, says Dean Flatt, president of Honeywell's aerospace
electronic systems.
Honeywell has also integrated Baker, which it bought in January.
"We're here showing a lot of new things we've done since Baker has become
part of the Honeywell fold," explains Flatt. "We've taken
products from both our locations out west, mingled them with Baker's
products in the east and come up with a whole new digital cabin
management system. Integration has gone swimmingly. They were on
the leading edge as far as technology was concerned; we wanted to
integrate them with our customer base and service capabilities.
We've infused six sigma in their locations and helped them get better
operationally, and they've helped us learn about cabin management."
Baker Electronics, says Flatt, now has a global reach thanks to
the full backing of Baker products by Honeywell's worldwide service
specialists, especially in Europe.
This NBAA is a milestone for Flatt and Honeywell. The revolutionary
Primus Epic cockpit finally won FAA certification in August on
the Gulfstream 550 after a multi-million dollar development program
that can trace its genesis to the Boeing 777 flight deck, and
the Ovation E-Series digital cabin management system will be unveiled
here this week.
Three more aircraft will be certified soon with the Primus Epic
flight deck-the Falcon 900EX, Cessna Sovereign and Hawker Horizon,
as well as the Bell/Agusta AB139 helicopter.
"Primus Epic will be a big growth factor for us as it gets
under way," Flatt noted. So will digital cabin management-but
first it must land some key platforms, he adds.
Primus Epic architecture is unlikely to change over the next several
years, but the system's functionality will grow, Flatt predicts.
For example, the Department of Defense is already studying it
as a platform to network and monitor fleets of aircraft in real
time, a feature that could find its way into business aviation
for real time health monitoring.
Safety will be another growth area, says Flatt, as Honeywell's
RAAS runway incursion warning system is added to its EGPWS enhanced
ground proximity warning product.
Retrofits are looming large in Honeywell's future. The company
is contacting every operator of Primus 1000-equipped aircraft
such as Gulfstream IIs and IIIs, Learjets, Citations and Challengers
to sing the virtues of the large-screen Primus Epic CDSR retrofit.
"There is a potential market of several thousand aircraft,"
Flatt points out.
In the midst of this high-tech candy store, Flatt is excited by-a
light bulb. Not just any bulb, but a revolutionary LED-based light
with 10 times the service life of today's bulbs. Called Astreon,
the new product will shine here for the first time in public as
long-life navlights. "Can you believe it? They will be nearly
service-free," says Flatt. "They truly bring a revolution
in life-cycle costs."
--John Morris
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