Lincoln, MA. – September 27, 2010--– Avidyne Corporation, a leading provider of integrated flight decks, displays, and safety systems for general aviation aircraft, announced they have received approval from the Agência Nacional De Aviação Civil – Brasil (ANAC) for retrofit installation of the DFC90 attitude-based digital autopilot in Brazilian-registered Entegra-equipped Cirrus aircraft.
“Brazil continues to be a growing market for Avidyne,” said Patrick Herguth, Avidyne’s Chief Operating Officer. “This ANAC certification allows our Brazil-based Entegra-equipped Cirrus customers to take advantage of the performance and safety enhancements of the DFC90 retrofit.”
“Avidyne is committed to continuously enhancing safety for all of our customers and we are pleased to make the DFC90 retrofit available for our Brazilian Entegra owners,” said Avidyne President and CEO, Dan Schwinn. “The attitude-based DFC90 provides significant improvements in autopilot performance, while innovative features like Flight Envelope Protection and the ‘Straight & Level’ button offer our customers dramatic improvements in safety.”
About the DFC90
The DFC90 is an attitude-based digital autopilot system that is designed as a slide-in replacement for the S-TEC55X autopilot in existing Entegra-equipped Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft. The significant performance and safety benefits of the attitude-based DFC90 make it a very attractive upgrade for the more than 4,000 owners of Entegra-equipped Cirrus aircraft. The Release 8 software and Mod 55 PFD hardware upgrades enable the DFC90 autopilot to take advantage of the precision attitude information of Entegra’s integrated Air Data and Attitude Heading Reference System (ADAHRS), without the need for costly wiring changes to the aircraft.
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), and Navigation (NAV, APPR, LOC/GS, GPSS). Customers upgrading from the STEC 55X will notice several major performance and feature improvements including:
1. Superior Performance – Attitude-based precision, especially when tracking an ILS to minimums in windy conditions, and when hand-flying the Flight Director. Improved user interface including a dedicated GPSS button, plus a new Indicated Airspeed Hold (IAS) mode which provides a more efficient way to make Flight Level changes .
2. Increased safety - Flight Envelope Protection guards against autopilot-induced stalls (underspeed) and overspeeds, and the “Straight & Level” button provides one-touch recovery from unusual attitudes.
3. Ease of Installation – The DFC90 is a slide-in replacement for the STC 55X. No wiring changes are required which dramatically reduces downtime and installation cost.
DFC90 Availability
DFC90s are now shipping, and PFDs with Release 8 and MOD 55 enhancements are available through Avidyne’s Platinum Exchange program.
Avidyne also offers a full Money Back Guarantee for customers who purchase a new DFC90 Digital Flight Control System with Flight Envelope Protection. Under the terms of this offer, if for any reason within the first 30 days after purchase, you are not completely satisfied with your DFC90 Autopilot Flight Computer compared with the performance of the S-TEC 55X, Avidyne will refund the entire cost of your upgrade and reinstall the S-TEC 55X.
Prices do not include installation costs or shipping charges. STEC55X unit must be returned to Avidyne.
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 include 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 dual-antenna 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 Columbus, OH, Melbourne, FL, and Boulder, CO.
