Avionics News September 2012 - 38

ASPEN’S CONNECTED PANEL
Continued from page 37

to the MFD. Those two devices together provide the data communications and robust encryption pedigree needed in order to have a certified architecture.” Along with the obvious operational and time-saving benefits from having a Connected Panel in your panel, Hayden noted that the iPad now becomes a virtual and very large, dedicated touchscreen controller in the cockpit. “Think of it as another user interface into your certified avionics,” Hayden said. “If I was looking to upgrade to one of the new touchscreen navigators, for about the same installed price as one of these systems, I can add an Aspen PFD and MFD with Connected and get a virtual touchscreen display controller for my existing GPS. Connected offers an extremely compelling alternative to upgrading the GPS because it can provide all the same capabilities, while adding so much more to the airplane. “Plus, with our certified XM weather receiver, you will be able to mirror its display right on your iPad. If you are using another weather receiver that is Connected Panel Enabled, we can route that data back through the Connected Gateway and make the information available to the iPad on a single data stream. “Anyone who is already using an iPad as part of their flying environment will no doubt want the integration. It will make operations more efficient, while giving a lot more utility for the iPad

in flight. For shops, it’s another central revenue stream. It’s a way to up-sell to Aspen MFDs and the CG100. “The Connected Panel will be covered under our AML, so it will be available on more than 900 makes and models of aircraft. It’s part of the FAA certification.” Build It and They Will Come Do pilots need a Connected Panel? No. No more than they need an iPad in the cockpit, GPS, NEXRAD or glass displays. Pilots have been flying for decades with analog instruments, paper charts and calls to 800-WX-BRIEF. But, the added situational awareness, enabled by today’s modern electronics, makes flying easier, more convenient and, above all, safer than ever before. While yours truly hasn’t had the pleasure to personally fly a Connected Panel-equipped airplane, I know other members of the aviation media who have. And, to a person, they all come away convinced there are just too many benefits to pass the Connected Panel off as just marketing fluff. And, that’s the Connected Panel as we see it today. Like the iPad, as new applications are introduced with capabilities we haven’t even thought of, the Connected Panel will only get better. “Automation through data synchronization is the way to think about it,” Hayden said. “We can pull all kinds of information into the airplane and connect that to

“Connected is more than a product, it’s basically creating an ecosystem or platform that everyone else can plug into (wirelessly), from both an avionics side and an applications development side.”
– Brad Hayden, Aspen Avionics vice president of marketing

certified systems, so that those traditionally federated off-board devices we have been using for the past 10 or 15 years can now have the same collective flight awareness the pilot has. “You are starting to be able to add additional intelligence into the portable devices. Pilots can add infrastructure now, and during the next five to 15 years they can just keep changing the portable devices to insert more computing power and capability to the cockpit without having to upgrade their hardware.” Aspen announced the TSO for Connected Pilot, the first in the Connected Panel product line at the 2012 AirVenture in July. q

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Avionics News September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News September 2012