Avidyne yesterday announced that the FAA had certified the new Vantage 12 avionics for Cirrus aircraft.
Avidyne is initially targeting the Vantage 12 upgrade for retrofit in over 4000 Entegra-equipped and pre-Entegra Cirrus SR20/22 series aeroplanes in service.
“We are delighted to announce that Vantage 12 is now certified and initial deliveries and customer installations are in process,” said Avidyne’s CEO Dan Schwinn.
“While modernising their flight deck with great new features, current Entegra users will find the Vantage 12 system very familiar to operate in terms of ease of use, with a minimal transition learning curve.”
Vantage 12 features large 12-inch LCD touchscreen displays for Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Multifunction Display (MFD), bringing improvements in display size, brightness, and processor performance over legacy Avidyne systems.
Features include Synthetic Vision with 3D display of terrain, traffic, obstacles, airports, and flight plan overlay, plus a hybrid touch user interface that enables pilots to control the system with touchscreen or dedicated knobs and buttons.
Each display features an integrated Attitude Reference Sensor (ARS), providing redundancy input the DFC90 digital autopilot which enables the MFD to serve as a PFD and for the autopilot to continue to fly the aircraft if the PFD fails.
“Avidyne was first to bring large-format, wide-horizon displays to the light GA market with Entegra, and now Vantage 12 delivers next-generation technology for owners of these earlier Cirrus aircraft,” said Avidyne President Fabrice Kunzi.
“Vantage 12 provides an easy and cost-effective upgrade to industry-leading 12-inch diagonal touch screens, 3D Synthetic Vision, dual Attitude Reference Systems (ARS) that provide full redundancy, plus many more great features that make flying easier and more enjoyable.”
Avidyne has set Vantage 12 pricing for PFD and MFD displays with dual ARS and single Air Data Computer (ADC) at $US33,000.
More information on Vantage 12 is on the Avidyne website.