TUCSON, AZ – Universal Avionics has been selected by Piedmont Airlines, Inc., headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland, to provide GPS-based Flight Management Systems (FMS) for retrofit to their Dash 8 series 100 fleet.
This contract is in addition to a previous award to provide Multi-function Displays for this same fleet.
“This award for the Dash 8 represents a lot of hard work on the part of Piedmont’s leadership team and one of our top Authorized Dealers, Field Aviation of Toronto,” said Norm Matheis, Regional Sales Manager - Canada for Universal Avionics. “It also demonstrates efforts on our part to maintain our position as the premier supplier of advanced flight deck technologies for the Bombardier Q-Series/
Dash 8 regional turboprop,” he added. “Solely-VOR/DME-based navigation can’t be part of the equation anymore for a U.S. regional airline. In standardizing for the Q-Series, Piedmont will benefit from Universal Avionics’ FMS innovations while realizing operational efficiencies through investment in technology.” Piedmont has been a long-term operator of Universal Avionics FMS in its Q300 fleet.
The new FMS will support operations with all procedural leg types in accordance with ARINC 424. This sophisticated capability allows flying the most complex procedures such as a heading to altitude, precision arc, procedure turn, holding pattern and more – all the necessary maneuvers required to accurately fly SIDs, STARs and approaches.
The Flight Planning function is designed to provide the pilot with the quickest, most efficient means of creating a flight plan, and the most pilot-friendly method of altering the flight plan elements as desired or as required by Air Traffic Control (ATC). The integration through Field Aviation’s Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) package supports future systems growth flexibility, as Piedmont’s business and operational needs dictate. Modifications will be completed in 2015.
Additional Universal Avionics retrofit systems selected by Q-Series/Dash 8 operators include a five-display EFI-890R Advanced Flight Display suite with Vision-1® Synthetic Vision, Radio Control Units (RCU), Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) and UniLink® Communications Management Unit (CMU). Universal Avionics SBAS-FMS, UniLink CMU and Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorders (CVR/FDR) are fitted in new production Q400 aircraft at the Bombardier OEM in Toronto, Canada.
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Universal Avionics is a leading manufacturer of innovative avionics systems offered as retrofit and forward-fit solutions for the largest diversification of aircraft types in the industry. Markets served include Business, Special Missions, Government / Military, Airline (regional / commercial), Helicopter and OEM. To learn more about Universal Avionics, visit www.uasc.com/company/about.aspx.
