Cirrus and Cessna committed GA to the world of the glass cockpit when they introduced the technology on new aircraft in the early part of this decade.
Back then we were stunned that ‘airline’ technology could be fitted to aeroplanes within the reach of the average pilot.
What greeted us then is but a patch on what we see now.
The pace of development has placed electronic flight information systems (EFIS) within the budget zone of many aircraft owners, and enhancements such as stormscopes, terrain warnings and traffic systems are now a tick in the options sheet rather than something that belonged only in a Boeing.
Such is the flexibility of the new systems that the term ‘EFIS’ is defying any limiting definition.
In the early days we were taught that a glass cockpit was made of a primary flight display (PFD) and a multi function display (MFD).
Both knew their place in the cockpit: the PFD in front of the pilot and the MFD in the centre of the panel.
However PFD and MFD are functions rather than specific bits of glass, and the technology is now available on many products to switch the two between screens.
This has given birth to two new labels for the actual screen: electronic flight display (EFD) and integrated flight display (IFD).
Thus, some EFDs can display either PFD or MFD information, whereas others come only with the one sensor set.
The PFD replaces your artificial horizon and the directional gyro or horizontal situation indicator (HSI).
Generally, they also include speed tapes on the left and altitude tapes on the right, so they do the jobs of the ASI, altimeter and VSI as well.
There is a lot of information on the one screen, and it can take a bit of practice to sort out the stuff you want to know from that which can wait.
The MFD displays all the other information such as navigation, terrain, traffic, charts, airport info, weather - its ability is largely limited only by what options you have chosen for your panel, and whether or not the system has a built-in interface.
As noted, some of them can also act as a back-up PFD should that fritz out on you.
Into the EFIS you hook up all the other magic boxes that make the integrated system work.
What those boxes should include will be up to you, but unless you are already an expert you will need to lean heavily on your avionics supplier.
They will know which products work best for you and may have done a fit-out like the one you want before. Your avionics fitter should become your new best friend.
Aspen
Aspen Avionics offers a very different solution to the upgrade problem.
Rather than cut a whacking great hole the size of a clipboard in your panel, they have designed their Evolution products to fit into the existing 75mm holes that currently accommodate the flight instruments.
Tall and narrow, the EFDs are designed to replace the vertical instrument pairs two at a time, giving you the option of one, two, or three EFDs.
All the main sensors are contained within the units and there are no remote boxes or heavy wiring needed.
The manufacturer claims that installation costs are cut by 50 per cent at least.
Two types of EFD are offered, the EFD500 and the EFD1000.
The 500 is an MFD only, so as it does not have the second set of sensors, it cannot act as a back-up PFD.
The EFD1000 can be used either for the primary flight instruments or as an MFD with PFD back-up capability.
Being modular, the Evolution system gives the owner the option of running only a PFD, or a PFD supported with one or two MFDs.
And the outlay can be spread over time as they don’t all have to be put in at once.
There are two versions of the 1000 PFD - Pilot and Pro.
Pilot is a basic system and Pro includes other functions such as flight director and autopilot integration, GPS steering and electronic HSI with dual pointers.
However, the screens are only 90mm wide, which means the AH and HSI/DG are about the same size as they were before.
Certainly, there is something to be said for having larger screens when so much information is crammed into the display.
Screen WxHxD (mm): 90 x 178 x 105
Weight (kg): 1.76 per screen
Display type: 150mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Power: 8 – 32 VDC
Avidyne
Avidyne fired some of the first shots in the glass cockpit war when Cirrus Design optioned their equipment on the SR20 and SR22.
For many of us, our first exposure to this new way of flying was gawping through the window of one of these aeroplanes.
The sight of two TV screens where the old clocks were supposed to be created more than one cynic, but it generally took only an hour or so with the Avidyne system to put the doubters straight.
In those days you could only get your hands on this technology if you bought a new aeroplane.
Now, Avidyne have produced retrofit products to get your faithful set of wings up to speed.
The OEM system is known as the Entegra range, and the retrofit system the Envision range.
EXP5000 PFD
The Envision EXP5000 is designed to slot in where the six primary clocks are now.
The layout is a traditional PFD and lacks for nothing in the way of integrated information.
If anything, the layout is a bit busy, but with practice pilots should be able to filter out the relevant info they need for a given situation without too much trouble.
The instrument representations are all in the traditional glass style with tapes for speed and altitude either side of the AH.
The electronic HSI placed below the AH can be linked to the VLOC or GPS in the usual manner, and with the autopilot hooked in as well you can sit back and supervise as the aircraft flies the approach for you.
Handy is the A/P status indicators across the top of the screen, which means you don’t have to look down to check what you have selected.
The bezel buttons and knobs to control and input data are well laid out and you won’t have much trouble getting up to speed with what they do.
Each one has an electronic label on the screen to guide you.
WxHxD (mm): 272 x 216 x 239
Weight (kg): 5.45
Display type: 264mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Power: 28 VDC
EX500/EX5000
To accompany the EXP5000 in the Envision range, owners have a choice of the large-format EX5000 or the smaller EX500 MFD.
The moving map display on the 5000 is detailed enough to give pilots a good idea of what surrounds them in respect to terrain, air space, topographical features and airports.
It is a very good thing that the declutter feature enables you to remove what you don’t need, leaving on the vital information.
The trip page works a lot like that on your GPS, showing each waypoint, tracks, times to run and all the other bits you need to know about.
Having that all pre-calculated and at eye level makes for less work and more comfortable navigating.
The 5000 can be interfaced with just about everything but your Playstation (give them time): GPS, satellite weather, TIS/TAS/TCAS, terrain/TAWS, stormscopes and Bendix King radars are all options.
Despite all this, the EX5000 is not overly-complex to use and the functionality is fairly intuitive.
Its little brother is the EX500, a more compact screen that doesn’t mean massive disruption to your stack to be fitted.
Naturally the display area is smaller, but it seems to lack nothing in functionality.
The ability to display and follow approaches, holding patterns and procedure turns in invaluable for IFR pilots looking to make things a little easier for themselves.
WxHxD (mm): EX5000–272 x 216 x 117; EX500–159 x 110 x 273
Weight (kg): EX5000–3.06; EX500–3.24
Display type: active matrix LCD, EX5000–264mm; EX500–140mm
Power: 28 VDC
Entegra Revision 9
Avidyne push this system as “the very best flight deck in aviation”, which is a bold comment that ultimately will be proved or disproved by the customers.
What can be said is that it has everything needed to give the others a decent run for their money.
It is not a retrofit system but can be specified as original equipment on new aircraft.
Rather than having specific screens for PFD and MFD, the functions are inter-changeable, so that ‘PFD’ is just another display page to be selected by a bezel button.
The others are FMS, moving map, systems and checklists.
In this respect, the Entegra is more like two MFDs that have PFD function.
The FMS is Avidyne’s FMS900W that is designed to make each stage of the flight simpler to control and modify.
The 900W combines the integrated WAAS GPS and digital nav/comm systems and displays the output in a flight planning interface.
Things such as altering flight plans and inserting waypoints are done with the one bezel knob, which makes things easier and faster if you are single-pilot IFR.
This is a very upmarket system with some super capability.
If you’re looking around for a new aircraft to do a lot of IFR work, considering any flight deck is a good idea and the Avidyne system should not be overlooked.
Bendix King
Honeywell Bendix King has branded their EFIS system Apex Edge, and presented the GA world with some products that shouldn’t be ignored when evaluating the best system to be installed.
BK has been a bit swamped in Australia by the Garmin tide, but they have hit back solidly with this range.
KFD 840 PFD
The KFD 840 has been sized specifically to fit into existing panels, so it is clearly aimed at the retro-fit market.
It is a self-sufficient unit having an embedded Air Data and Altitude and Heading Reference System (ADAHRS) and optional battery back-up. Although nominally a PFD, the 840 also has functions for check lists and weight and balance, which on many other systems are displayed on the accompanying MFD.
The buttons are arranged across the bottom of the bezel and the labels are subtle and unobtrusive, which helps to keep the screen uncluttered.
BK has attempted to keep the number of button pushes and selections to a minimum and create an intuitive process.
Course, airspeed and heading bug are set using the knob on the lower left and heading, QNH and altitude bug with the knob on the lower right.
Speed and altitude tapes are in the conventional places on either side of the AH.
Integration is possible with most brands of flight directors, nav radios and autopilots as well as GPS units.
WxHxD (mm): 159 x 133 x 254
Weight (kg): 3.85
Display type: 145mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Power: 11-33 VDC
KSN 770
Although at face value an MFD, the title is a bit misleading for the KSN 770 as it really is a complete nav/comm device, having an integrated GPS and digital comm unit.
It is a prime example of how cross-functionality between GPS and MFD is blurring the lines a little.
A cursor control device has added point-and-click operation, which has served to minimise all that knob-twisting and button-pushing usually needed to select something as basic as a waypoint.
Thus, the operation is more like a home computer, and it is good to see manufacturers are starting to recognise that advanced avionics are at heart dedicated computers and should operate that way.
As well as the comms and WAAS-enabled GPS, the 770 also has an advanced flight management system and graphical flight planning.
Overlays such as controlled air space and PRD areas can be selected to give the pilot comprehensive situational awareness, creating a living chart that can be tailored to suit what you want to see at any given time.
The KSN 770 can be linked to TCAS, TAWS and weather systems or enhanced with internal options: embedded TAWS, electronic charts, weather radar interface and a more powerful 16W comm unit.
WxHxD (mm): 159 x 133 x 254
Weight (kg): 3.85
Display type: 145mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Power: 11-33 VDC
KMD 150
Certainly not a budget-buster, the KMD 150 is designed for those who want an MFD, but can’t justify going the whole hog with a KSN 770.
However, it is not light on the type of operations that are going to make your mission easier.
The screen is only 125mm on the diagonal, but still has the ability to display cartographic mapping, geographic features and all the usual NDBs, VORs, waypoints, intersections, PRDs, elevations and airports.
If connected to a WX500 Stormscope you will even get the weather.
To make it more attractive to the retrofit market, the KMD 150 can come with or without an integrated GPS.
This means you don’t have to do away with your KLN 94, you can either connect it to your MFD or have it as a second GPS.
It can also be coupled to an HSI or autopilot. And it speaks four languages.
WxHxD (mm): 158 x 101 x 175
Weight (kg): 1.75
Display type: 127mm diagonal active matrix TFT
Power: 10-33 VDC
KMD 250
BK has designed the KMD 250 with a bit more flair than the 150.
Certainly it is a more attractive unit, but its real advantages lie in what systems can be optioned to make it sing in tune with the rest of your panel.
The database has all the standard features you would expect in any MFD–moving map, terrain, man-made features, airspace and the rest–and the operation is via joystick control and buttons.
Terrain mode can be switched between absolute and relative elevations: absolute is height AMSL and relative mode gives you colour-coded terrain based on your current AGL.
You can get the KMD 250 with an internal GPS or link it to your existing one.
Note: if you opt for the internal GPS only you won’t be able to go IFR.
With all the basics coming straight from the box, you will want to start looking at what options you want.
The KMD 250 can work with TIS, TAS and TCAS traffic systems and lightning detection and stormscopes.
TIS provides traffic information on Mode S transponders within 3,000ft vertical and 7.5nm.
It gets the info through the Mode S system itself, so you will need one of those to go with it.
Using the BK Quicktune feature, frequencies selected in the KMD 250 can be loaded directly into the standby slots in KX 155A or KX 165A nav/comm sets.
The screen itself is smaller than the KMD 150, so you will have to decide for yourself whether size or functionality is your priority.
WxHxD (mm): 159 x 76 x 190
Weight (kg): 1.62
Display type: 96mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Chelton
When Chelton launched the FlightLogic EFIS it caused quite a stir in the market. One reviewer even went as far as calling it “phenomenal”.
The reason is not that the functions or the screens were spectacular, but rather that it had some built-in capabilities that other companies had to catch up with, and at the time it was one of the first retrofit products around.
Chelton is now a part of the Cobham conglomerate and other EFIS manufacturers have caught up with many aspects of the product, but that doesn’t mean that FlightLogic is by any means behind the game.
The Chelton PFD is different from the others in that it is almost a living thing and is based on head-up display (HUD) symbols.
When it senses that you don’t need to see something, it takes it away, which results in an uncluttered screen.
For example, who needs angle-of-bank indicators when you’re flying straight and level?
The moment it senses bank angles the indicators appear.
And if you drop the undercart, the little aircraft symbol in the middle of the display grows wheels as well.
For certain, the designers have focused on the importance of representing the aircraft and its relationship to the ground more so than high-class nav ability.
Those functions are available on the MFD instead.
But the bits that stunned the world were synthetic vision (SV) and highway-in-the-sky (HITS).
Situational awareness in critical events has been improved remarkably by the advent of this capability.
SV gives you a genuine representation of the terrain contours below you.
Rather than just a flat brown plate to differentiate the ground from the sky, SV shows you the mountains and valleys in a graphic recreation that is amazingly close to reality.
The benefit is that you see the world as it is and can relate the aircraft path to the ground much better.
No more blindly trusting the charts and the RNAV to get you around the mountain, SV shows you exactly where it is.
HITS is described by Chelton as being “child’s play”.
This is ironic given the close resemblance of this system to one of the features in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
HITS creates a series of green boxes over the SV background on the PFD.
All the pilot needs to do to follow a programmed approach or flight path is fly the aeroplane through each green box in succession.
It certainly is a lot easier that chasing the CDI needles on an ILS.
With HITS you also get a flight path indicator.
This is a small dot surrounded by three radial lines that shows you where you are tracking rather than heading.
By keeping the track indicator rather than the little aeroplane in the boxes you automatically compensate for wind.
FlightLogic is not the cheapest system around, but has to be considered given such advanced capabilities.
WxHxD per screen (mm): 160 x 140 x 114
Weight (kg): 2.0
Display type: 212mm diagonal LCD
Power: 8-32 VDC
GARMIN
GMX 200
The GMX 200 is clearly designed for owners who want to keep the traditional clocks but have been seduced by the extra capability of an MFD.
As there are four different models, you will need to decide what you want it to do before making your decision.
The standard has all the MFD traditionals like moving map, terrain elevation database, PRDs and options for Jepp charts and DAPs, as well as support for ADS-B capability.
The traffic version has all of the above plus support for TIS, TAS and TCAS.
The radar/TAWS model supports the GWX 68 radar, other radars, select TAWS sensors and ADS-B.
The radar/traffic version supports traffic, GWX 68, select TAWS sensors and ADS-B.
As you can see, it is important that you select the right MFD not only for what you want now, but also for what you will want in the future.
Once you have that straight, your GMX 200 will be a handy little unit.
It does not include an integral GPS, but gets the nav information from a linked 400 or 500 series Garmin, such as the GNS 430.
One very nifty feature is the ability to split the display screen so you can have two functions at once, for example, approach on one screen and terrain on the other.
There is also a terrain elevation profile that runs across the bottom of the screen, making it very obvious if terrain is likely to impede your forward progress.
WxHxD (mm): 159 x 127 x 203
Weight (kg): 2.0
Display type: 165mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Power: 10-40 VDC
G600
When Garmin leapt boots first into the glass cockpit market, they were hamstrung by their G1000 system being available on new aircraft only.
That situation has been rectified with the advent of the G600 system.
The G600 is designed to replace the three vertical instrument pairs the PFD emulates, giving the pilot a reasonably large PFD and MFD right in front of them.
This means nothing has to be sacrificed in the radio stack to fit the MFD in, and the navigation info is only an eye’s flick to the right rather than being in the centre of the whole panel.
It uses the same altitude and heading reference system as big brother G1000, which can reset and reference itself while the aircraft is moving.
Those of us who remember sitting patiently with the engine running on the early Cirruses until the system told us we could move will welcome this!
The AH in the PFD is a very healthy 122mm on the diagonal, which makes for a good, clear display with little squinting needed to read the figures along side.
The DG is in the traditional spot under the AH, but instead of having a bounding box, it is overlaid on the ground representation of the AH.
A minor thing, but it adds to the uncluttered appearance.
Next door, the MFD is of ‘portrait’ orientation, which is to say that it is taller than it is wide, like a piece of A4 paper.
This suits some of the options like the DAP database and airport diagrams.
The G600 also has an in-built flight director for some autopilots and has been built with future upgrades in mind like weather radar and Class B TAWS.
This is an integrated system that delivers both PFD and MFD. If you’re after only one, look elsewhere.
WxHxD (mm): 250 x 170 x 83
Weight (kg): 2.9
Display type: 165mm diagonal colour LCD
Power: 10-40 VDC
G1000
Garmin presented a serious challenge to Avidyne when the G1000 system became an available option on selected new aircraft.
We’re talking high-tech multi functional capability that is not up for retrofit.
You can, however, specify it as original equipment in a brand new aeroplane.
Such is the flexibility of the G1000 that it can be specified as either a two-screen or three-screen set-up with either 250mm or 305mm LCDs.
The PFD and MFD functions can be interchanged between screens, so when the first officer has control they can have the PFD in front of them.
Another option is the massive 380mm MFD, provided your panel can take it.
Being an OEM system, the G1000 is fully integrated into your aircraft and becomes the primary method of displaying flight instruments, navigation info, weather, terrain, traffic and engine data, depending upon what you have chosen.
There is also a built-in GFC 700 autopilot to do the flying for you.
With this type of equipment, there is a lot of time for pilots to get their heads outside the cockpit.
And as you can imagine it can be optioned to the hilt.
Class B TAWS, Jepp charts, TIS and colour weather radar … if your budget can take it, Garmin can install it. You can even get synthetic vision!
As well as a generic version to slot into most GA panels, Garmin have tailor-made G1000s to go into Beech Bonanza and Baron, Cessna, ex-Columbia Cessna, Diamond, Mooney and Tiger AG-5B aircraft.
SAGEM
ICDS Series
Sagem Avionics have their very own name for a glass cockpit: Integrated Cockpit Display System.
The ICDS series of screens come in three different sizes, the 163mm ICDS-6, 213mm ICDS-8 and 264mm ICDS-10.
The screens can be installed vertically or horizontally to suit your panel layout.
The open architecture enables the PFD and MFD functions to be interchanged between screens, giving owners a wide choice of combinations for their panels.
ICDS screens can operate as a PFD, MFD, engine management system and navigation display, or a combination of any of these.
That means you can have some handy things, like engine data displayed alongside your PFD if you need to watch something carefully.
Sagem MFDs can also display video feed from fixed low-light or lipstick cameras and high-definition and forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras.
Although not something a PPL might want, it can be handy for operators engaged in security or SAR operations.
WxHxD (mm): (ICDS-8 only) 225 x 161 x 89
Weight (kg): 1.9
Display type: 213mm diagonal active matrix LCD
Power: 10-35 VDC
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