What’s it take to make an old aircraft new again? Deft coordination between multiply departments, a few hundred hours of man-power and the latest in avionics technology – exactly what Elliott Aviation has been doing by installing the Garmin G5000 integrated flight deck in Citation 560XLS.
“The beauty of the G5000 is that it upgrades the airframe to a much more modern aircraft, so it makes it viable for many years as a useful tool for the aircraft operators,” said Bill Reeves, Elliott Aviation’s director of maintenance services.
As Dave Brown, Garmin’s sales manager for the Citation Excel/XLS program, described, a G5000 install removes the obsolescence-bordering equipment of the Citations and provides them with the power and advancements of today’s technology.
“That tech was all developed in the mid-90s, came around in the late-90s, so it's still 1990s technology. The Citation XLS still have CRT primary flight displays. We don't even, in our own homes, have too many things that still have CRTs or use equipment from that era of electronics,” said Brown. “Really, what a lot of the G5000 does, is it takes out the obsolescence you have now and you get all the new kinds of features and benefits of a modern cockpit.”
“One of the biggest benefits for an operator is to save on long-term costs,” added Conrad Theisen, director of avionics sales at Elliott Aviation. “In addition, operators are taking care of obsolescence issues. This process removes the cathode ray tube and replaces them with 14 inch flight displays. You're also getting rid of RMUs, remote tuning units, that are becoming obsolete. A few other things that look at financially – most of these 560XLs are on an avionics parts program and with the Garmin G5000 upgrade, operators are going to be saving $75 per flight hour because they’re removing all the high dollar Honeywell equipment. Not to mention the overall reliability of the G5000.”
Outside of battling obsolescence, the G5000 brings with it a host of modern features to the Citations, as well. Upgrades include the ability for pilot and copilots to work off different displays, via the ability to split the main flight display on the G5000; enhanced software and radar systems allowing for greater, interactive maps and reports, including the ability to see weather and airport information miles away from Citation pilots current location.
Brown said that one of the big upgrade the G5000 brings is the restructuring of the Citation’s autopilot with the G5000 install.
“One of the big things we do is if you look at any modern airplane, I think all of them now have the autopilot controller up front and center on top of the glare shield. You know where older ones, you had some mode controllers up on a panel and you did some of the course selection and things down in the pedestal, a kind of combo. On the Citation Excel/XLS, integrated all the annunciation into the G5000, so then we could use that spot where the annunciators and CAS messages were before and put the autopilot controller in. When we do it, it actually looks just like a new airplane. These retrofits don't look like a retrofit. They look like they're coming off the line that way,” Brown elaborated.
And if retrofitting a Citation 560XL with a Garmin G5000 looks like a daunting task – the assumption is correct. Brown says the G5000 is “not a minor install” and is a job “you want to have at least a couple of fairly experienced leads on.”
At Elliott Aviation, three Citations are currently being retrofitted with the G5000, with nearly every department at Elliott Aviation involved in the process, said Reeves.
“There are a lot of teams involved in this process. Just about every department we have is involved by the end of the job. A standalone G5000 install, with no interior or maintenance or anything extra, gets multiple departments involved. The runs and operational checks are completed by the service department. The procurement of parts is done by the parts department. The actual building of the wiring harness is done by our wiring shop. Prior to arrival and throughout the process, our planning department helps orchestrate the intercompany communication. Then in the avionics department, we have the avionics install team working on the installation in conjunction with the interior team. Once the install is completed, the avionics repair team works on going through the systems and completing ops checks. In addition, the structures team gets involved for any penetration, antennas, or modifications that are required for that installation,” Reeves described.
The involvement of so many different departments results from the extensive work needed to be done to, essentially, strip down and rebuild avionics in the Citation.
“When the airplane arrives, complete performance runs on the airplane, do an avionics check, system checks, and a cabin system check. The airplane gets docked, stored away in the hanger, protected, and we start removing the interior, then we go into avionics removal. The avionics bays are stripped down, the panel is removed, and then we remove the existing wiring harnesses from the airplane,” said Theisen. “Once the existing wire harnesses are removed, the next process will be to install or lay in the prefabricated wiring harness for that airplane. The wire harness for that particular airplane is prebuilt, ready to go prior to the airplane arrival.”
“Once that wire harness is installed, there's an interface process going on. Ninety percent of that wire harness is complete from connector to connector, but there are some interface points in the airplane that we do have to tie in and work in. While that's all happening, our structures team comes in, in conjunction or behind, mounting trays, connectors, antennas, Servo mounts, radar – all that happens at the same time,” continued Theisen. “Once all that is complete, the new avionics structure, LRU suite gets laid in the airplane, then we bring in our avionics checkout team. Those guys will come in and do the configuration of the suite, the full checkouts function chat, operational check of a new G5000 suite. Once all that is complete, the interior will go back in the airplane.”
The extensive work requires a lot of coordination and deft communication between the multiply departments working on the plane to keep the work running smoothly and on schedule – with the main challenge of the G5000 install being on that interdepartmental coordination.
“We plan each aircraft prior to arrival. We have meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to go over our plan and make sure we’re on target and hitting all of our milestones. In addition to that, we have a meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the aircraft itself to coordinate with all of the departments and inter-department work,” Reeves explained. “The biggest challenge when installing a G5000 is in coordination. With additional work scopes not just a standalone G5000, it can become more challenging. If something changes and one department is behind or ahead of schedule, coordinating that through good communication between the departments, because if one department is a little ahead or a little behind, we need to alter the plan to make up the difference so we get back on track in a very short amount of time. The key in an intricate installation of this magnitude is excellent communication between departments.”
And while additional work may make the job more challenging for the crews working on a Citation, both Reeves and Theisen agree there isn’t a more opportune time for operators to get additional work done to their aircraft then when it is down for the G5000 installation.
“Whatever they’d like to have done could be done, such as routine maintenance or any scheduled maintenance. Anything that’s close to being due could be done. And anything cosmetic or modifications could be done to the airplane, as well. Many operators take advantage of their downtime to take care of some other maintenance needs, whether it’s cosmetic, interior or paint, or service that’s coming due,” said Reeves.
“While the airplane is opened up, it's a great opportunity for any type of interior upgrades, refurbishments, cleaning, anything like that. We do have full maintenance capabilities, so any type of doc inspections, anything to that effect, would be a great time to get a lot of that done too. Time item type stuff because the airplane's already open, and we do have accessory shop, so there's opportunities for break overhauls, and other types of accessories, as well,” Theisen added.
