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On the Record With
DEAN FLATT, PRESIDENT, AEROSPACE ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS, HONEYWELL AEROSPACE
It's been a year of highlights for Honeywell's avionics business, with no fewer than eight different aircraft models now flying and certified with the Primus Epic integrated flight deck. Meanwhile, the little brother APEX flight deck system has won six applications (of which two still remain secret), and the RAAS (runway alert and avoidance system) has entered service.
In the back end of the airplane the electronic cabin management systems developed by Baker Electronics (which Honeywell bought a little over a year and a half ago) have proven popular enough to amass a large backlog.
"We are thrilled overall, and especially thrilled with Primus Epic," says Dean Flatt, president of Honeywell's aerospace electronic systems. He summarized his programs for ShowNews as follows:
• Primus Epic. Certification on the Gulfstream G450 as the PlaneView flight deck brings to eight the number of aircraft types in service with the integrated flight deck. "The pilots love it and we've got great feedback from every user group no matter who the customer is," says Flatt. Engineers have been less enthusiastic as they—and Honeywell—grapple with the time it takes to load data into the system.
"Entry into service has been good, I would say ahead of any other avionics, but that's not to say it's been faultless or that every customer is equally ecstatic," allows Flatt. "We do have some minor technical glitches we're working on, and we're issuing some software releases right now to make some changes. One of the glitches that's less customer friendly than I would like is that the way we have to load software—called data loading—takes a little longer than everyone is used to seeing. We have two upgrades coming that will make it more user-friendly."
There was also some infant mortality of Primus Epic hardware—notably the network interface card—and that problem has been addressed, according to Flatt.
"We've learned a ton. These subsequent certifications have been much easier than the first as there is a huge learning curve. I would say the things we learned on fly-by-wire flight control in Primus Epic helped us win the flight control system on the Boeing 7E7."
Customers are now choosing aircraft because they are equipped with Primus Epic, Flatt maintains. "When people choose airplanes because of your avionics, and your organization learns how to make itself better—what more can you ask of a product?"
• APEX. This doesn't have all the integration—and shouldn't have—of Primus Epic, making it ideal for the single-pilot turboprop/light jet market. It is now specified on four aircraft: the Ae 270 Spirit, Extra 500, Grob Ranger and ADP 79, and has won two more that will be announced later. "We are working on a go-forward version and a retrofit version, to make sure we have a good suite at the lower end," says Flatt. APEX has the advantage that its open architecture lets OEMs pick and choose other manufacturers' products to fit into the avionics package.
• Cabin Management Systems. Flatt reports a pickup in sales of the Baker-developed cabin management systems, which he believes are becoming more of a discriminator in sales.
"People in the back want to be able to take their relaxation whether from satellite TV or DVD player, do their work and get the information on and off the aircraft.
"We will have to continue to focus on that, and on the reliability of the equipment. I wouldn't be surprised if some guys riding in the back seat would leave without an FMS before they would leave without their cabin management system."
Flatt maintains the Honeywell CMS compares favorably with Lufthansa Technik's NICE system and Rockwell Collins' Airshow. "We're all scrambling like crazy to make sure we have the latest and greatest, and Internet capability on board the aircraft. You will see a lot of innovation in these cabin management systems over the next few years."
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