The FAA has issued a supplemental type certificate (STC) to Aspen Avionics for its Evolution Max primary and multifunction flight displays and shipping of the new units has already begun. The Max displays retain the original Aspen configuration, fitting into the space occupied by the existing attitude and heading indicators.
Announced at last year’s EAA AirVenture show, the new Evolution Max displays are “bolder and brighter” and offer 400- by 760-pixel resolution with faster processing speeds, more vibrant colors (now up to 16 million colors), and the ability to enlarge fonts and windows.
Up to three Aspen displays can be installed in a traditionally configured “six-pack” instrument panel, or one to begin with then adding one or two more later. With two Aspen displays installed (an EFD1000 Pro Max PFD and MFD1000) and an optional external backup battery, the airplane’s vacuum system can be removed.
The Max displays now provide GPS-aided AHRS to provide useful information in case of a pitot-static failure, so an air data failure will no longer “red X” the attitude indicator. Other features on the MFD500 and MFD1000 Max include an audio panel interface so that audio callouts are available, such as terrain and altitude; chart and countdown timers; 350-nm zoom levels; height above ground level on nav and terrain maps; and Metar flags on nav map. The Max displays also show an altitude intercept “banana” indicator based on climb or descent rate. The Aspen displays are approved under an approved model list STC on more than 600 aircraft types.
Buyers of Aspen’s EFD1000 E5 Electronic Flight Instrument can upgrade their units to the TSO’d Max display configuration. Upgrade prices start at $4,995 to the Evolution 1000 PFD configuration.
A single Evolution 1000 PFD Max costs $9,995, and with synthetic vision and angle-of-attack indicator $13,485 (Pro Plus Max). The MFD1000 Max costs $8,995 and the MFD500 Max $5,495. Package prices for multiple displays start at $13,995 for the two-display Evolution 1500 system (EFD1000 Pro Max, MFD500 Max). The Evolution 2000 system with an EFD1000 Pro Max and MFD1000 Max costs $16,995 (plus $1,000 for the optional backup battery). And the three-display Evolution 2500 with EFD1000 Pro Max, MFD1000 Max, and MFD500 Max costs $19,995 (plus $1,000 for the optional backup battery).