EAA AirVenture – OSHKOSH – July 25, 2011-– Avidyne Corporation, a leading provider of integrated avionics and safety systems for general aviation aircraft, announced today that they are expanding the available market for the DFC90 Digital Flight Control System to include the Cessna 182, Beechcraft Bonanza and Beechcraft Baron models. The DFC90 is currently certified for Entegra-equipped Cirrus SR20s and SR22s, and Avidyne is nearing certification of the DFC90 for Piper PA-46 Matrix and Mirage aircraft.
“Avidyne previously announced plans to interface the DFC90 with the Aspen EFD1000 series integrated flight displays — initially in a Cirrus — and we are on track for certification in the C182, Bonanza, and Baron, which will open the DFC90 to much larger number of aircraft,” said Patrick Herguth, Avidyne’s Chief Operating Officer. “The attitude-based DFC90 provides considerable performance and safety benefits and its plug-and-play capability will make it an affordable and attractive upgrade option for many aircraft owners.”
“The DFC90 has proven to be an incredibly successful product for Avidyne, and we certainly want to be able to make it available for a wide variety of general aviation aircraft,” said Avidyne President and CEO, Dan Schwinn. “We have had tremendous success with the DFC90 in the Cirrus market, and we fully expect to see lots of enthusiasm among other aircraft owners as we continue to expand the list of eligible aircraft.”
The DFC90 adds the precision and reliability of an attitude-based flight control system, along with Indicated Airspeed Hold (IAS Hold), which is a preferred method for climbing and descending while on autopilot. In addition, the DFC90 provides the safety enhancements of the ‘Straight & Level’ mode and Flight Envelope Protection & Alerting.
About the DFC90
The DFC90 is an attitude-based digital autopilot system that is designed as a plug-and-play replacement for a growing list of aircraft with legacy autopilots. Depending on the configuration of the legacy systems, the DFC90 will make use of existing servos, brackets, trays, and wiring as is practical in order to minimize installation cost and downtime.
The DFC90 has all the standard vertical and lateral modes of operation of a turbine-class autopilot system, including Flight Director (FD), Altitude Hold (ALT), Airspeed Hold (IAS), Vertical Speed Hold (VS), Heading (HDG), Navigation (NAV, APPR, LOC/GS, GPSS), and Control Wheel Steering (CWS).
Customers upgrading to the DFC90 will notice several major performance and feature improvements including:
1. Greatly improved stability due to the use of attitude data to control the autopilot inner control loops. This is particularly evident and important when tracking an ILS to minimums in windy conditions –especially when upgrading from a rate-based system.
2. The new Indicated Airspeed Hold (IAS) vertical mode includes a dedicated Airspeed knob and a new airspeed bug on the PFD, and provides a preferred way to make Flight Level changes.
3. The flight director capability of the DFC90 is vastly improved and greatly improves the ability to hand-fly approaches – especially when upgrading from a rate-based system.
4. The“Straight & Level” button overrides all autopilot modes and levels the aircraft in both pitch and roll from a wide range of capture attitudes for an added measure of safety.
5. “Flight Envelope Protection & Alerting” virtually eliminates autopilot-induced stalls (underspeed) and overspeeds. With Flight Envelope Protection, the autopilot avoids exceeding the flight envelope while providing visual and aural warnings to the pilot even when the autopilot is not engaged in any mode.
The DFC90 also provides a dedicated Vertical Speed knob, pitch hold mode, wide autopilot engagement/intercept angles, a dedicated GPSS button, automatic Back Course Approach selection, multiple-color annunciations to indicate armed and active states, intercept mode annunciations, and Avidyne’s hallmark ease of use.
Pricing & Availability
The retail price of the DFC90 Digital Flight Computer for Cirrus SR20/SR22, Cessna 182, and Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft is $9,995*.
The retail price of the DFC90 Digital Flight Computer for Piper PA-46 Matrix/Mirage and Beechcraft Baron series aircaft is $14,995*.
*PFD software/hardware upgrades are priced separately. Contact Avidyne and Aspen for additional details.
Aircraft must have an Avidyne Entegra Primary Flight Display (PFD) or an Aspen EFD1000 PFD.
Certification of the DFC90 for the Cirrus, Cessna 182, and Beech Bonanza series is expected in early 2012. Contact Avidyne for specific make/models included in initial certifications.
Certification of the DFC90 for the Matrix and Mirage is expected in Q42011.
Certification of the DFC90 for the Beech Baron series is expected in early 2012. Contact Avidyne for specific make/models included in initial certifications.
Avidyne has announced a DFC90 Deposit Program for owners of eligible Entegra– and Aspen-equipped aircraft who want to reserve a slot for their DFC90 at significant savings. Contact Reid Antonacchio at (239) 249-0414 for details.
About Avidyne Corporation (www.avidyne.com)Avidyne’s continuing leadership in innovation and its Flying Made Simple™ system design make flying safer, more accessible and more enjoyable for pilots and their passengers. The company’s expanding line of products also includes the industry-leading Entegra integrated flight deck line for new and existing aircraft, DFC90 and DFC100 digital flight control systems, datalink-capable EX600 multi-function displays, the TAS600 series of active traffic advisory systems, the MLB700 broadcast datalink receiver, the MLX770 world-wide datalink transceiver, and the TWX670 Tactical Weather Detection system. Headquartered in Lincoln, MA, the company has facilities in Westerville, OH, Melbourne, FL, and Boulder, CO.
