Posted by John McHale
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, 17 May 2011. The retrofits of the Pro Line 4 to Pro Line 21 avionics systems from Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for use on Falcon 2000 and Falcon 2000EX jets.
Under the retrofit program Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) displays will be replaced by liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. About 250 Falcon aircraft will participate in the avionics upgrade, which has four 10- by 8-inch LCDs and an Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS).
Pilots use the IFIS to view electronic charts, enhanced navigation maps and XM graphical weather. The XM includes NEXRAD, winds aloft, satellite images lightning data. The retrofit makes use of an open architecture to enable future upgrades to data link mandates and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) out.
Also included is a fight management system (FMS) upgrade that makes ue of Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) GPS Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) approaches. The WAAS/LPV solution is compatible with more than 2,400 airports across the globe. Another STC was issued for users of Rockwell Collins' AHC-85E Attitude Heading Computer to upgrade to a WAAS LPV-ready AHC-3000S.
