MONTREAL, 29 July 2009. The Cockpit 4000 integrated avionics system from Esterline CMC Electronics in Montreal -- as installed on the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) T-6B Texan trainer aircraft -- has received approval for use on U.S. aircraft by officials of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Washington.

CMC won Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval from the FAA for its Cockpit 4000 flight deck avionics following civil certification by Transport Canada of the cockpit avionics set last month. TSO approval covers materials, parts, processes, and appliances used on civil aircraft, but does not necessarily involve approval for installation.

The Cockpit 4000 encompasses the suite of primary flight, engine, and navigation displays, with flight management systems, global positioning systems, head-up displays, navigation and mission processors, multi-function displays, and control panels.

With two T-6B aircraft ready for delivery this fall, CMC is on schedule to deliver its cockpit avionics suite for HBC full rate production in the fourth quarter of this year. CMC received the order in November 2008 for the first 35 production aircraft after completing all necessary program requirements.

The T-6B Texan is based on the Beechcraft T-6A, already in service as the U.S. military's Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft, and is also the primary trainer for the NATO Flying Training Canada (NFTC), and the Hellenic Air Force of Greece.

Through the introduction of the CMC advanced avionics upgrade, the T-6B aircraft retains all of the inherent training and flying characteristics, while introducing open architecture avionics.

For more information contact CMC Electronics online at www.cmcelectronics.ca.