Story ID: 
Aspen Displays Gain Features With Software Upgrade
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Aspen is certifying a software upgrade for display of ADS-B IN weather data, and MD Helicopters picked Aspen MFDs for new single-engine MD models.
Word Count: 487
Aspen Avionics is releasing a new software upgrade for its Evolution 500/1000 glass MFDs, and it should be available in less than a month. The upgrade adds some requested ADS-B IN features, such as textual Metars, TAFs, TFRs, Airmets, Sigmets, convective Sigmets and winds aloft. The ADS-B IN features are available from any Aspen or Aspen-compatible ADS-B receiver, and Aspen has partnered with FreeFlight Systems, Garmin and L-3 Avionics for solutions that don’t require replacing the entire avionics system.

Notams are not yet available, but Aspen president and CEO John Uczekaj expects such features to become available “as the FAA and industry make them available. Notams are important, and having that capability is a huge deal.”

The advent of ADS-B OUT, with its accurate display of aircraft position and velocity, is going to lead to further advancements. “We’re seeing manufacturers figuring out that there’s a lot more to ADS-B than telling where you’re at,” he said. “Competition is driving prices down. Availability of data is what’s going to create innovation. With more data, the more creative ways you’re going to find to present that data. The ADS-B world has opened up lot of things for avionics manufacturers that we probably don’t know about today.”

Aspen also announced that the integration between the Genesys Aerosystems 55X autopilot and the Aspen PFD “is on short final” and will also be available in less than a month. The upgrade will require a $1,995 software unlock and a $2,080 analog converter unit. The 55X’s annunciations are displayed on the PFD, eliminating the need for a separate annunciator and also putting the information directly in the pilot’s line of sight. Benefits of the 55X installation include a smooth, automatic level-off with “smart” vertical speed technology, which “reduces vertical speed as the preselected altitude is approached,” according to Aspen. Pilots will also be able to set vertical speed and altitude targets on the PFD and view flight director cues when hand flying or with coupled autopilot operations. 

MD Helicopters is the newest OEM to select Aspen displays for installation in new airframes and the second helicopter manufacturer to make the Aspen selection. The installation will feature two Aspen MFDs in single-engine MD models, and includes a customized engine instrument display developed by Howell Instruments. The Howell design offers enhanced exceedance monitoring and notification, digitized and prioritized CAS messaging and a dual-channel design with full segregation to ensure there is no single point of failure, according to Aspen.

For the experimental aircraft market, Aspen’s GPS product line, acquired in the June 2015 Aspen Avionics-Accord Technology transaction, is now offering the NexNav Micro-i GPS sensor through Aspen’s dealer network. Owners of experimental aircraft can use the 0.4 pound Micro-i as the position source for ADS-B OUT installations, and it will be available in the fourth quarter for $800.