Avionics News April 2013 - 58

ESTERLINE CMC ELECTRONICS
Continued from page 57

fully integrated glass avionics in light aircraft; and it was
essentially a first-generation system by a company still new
to much of its market. But competition was coming. Avidyne
later unveiled its highly regarded Integra Release 9 package;
Honeywell’s own effort to develop an integrated package for
light aircraft appeared stalled.
The time was ripe for the entry of L-3 Communications
and its innovative SmartDeck.
Winning Fans, Influencing Pilots
SmartDeck brought to the general aviation market a system
that challenged the G1000 system in terms of the depth of
integration and capability, and it set a new bar for ease of
learning and simplicity of use.
The company’s standard Synthetic Vision System surpassed anything else then available for Part 23 aircraft; the

layout and symbology were easier to grasp.
And the complexity of operating the system amounted to
three clicks.
Quickly after its introduction, SmartDeck won raves
from pilots who had a chance to sample the product. It won
technical standard order approval, and eventually there was a
supplemental type certificate to install a two-screen package in the Cirrus SR22. But initial interest from planemakers
working on updated or new models failed to land a launch
customer.
Despite its promise and advanced systems, no OEM planemakers embraced SmartDeck.
In the fall of 2010, Esterline CMC announced it negotiated
for an exclusive license to produce and market SmartDeck,
moving the Canadian company more toward the Part 23
market than ever before.
The addition of SmartDeck was the first clear signal of
Continued on page 60

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE INTERFACE
The SmartDeck avionics suite
demonstrated by Greg Plantz at the
2012 NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention looked much like the system
L-3 unveiled five years earlier.
“We’ve done nothing to undercut the fundamental strengths
of SmartDeck’s interface,” Plantz
stressed. “We’ve added operating

flexibility without changing the basic three-click architecture of the
interface.”
The primary design objective L-3
pursued focused on both integration and ease of use. Those goals
were achieved through the design of a menu structure employ-

58

ing the same three-clicks-or-less
philosophy pioneered by Apple in
its iPod design for tapping navigation, weather, traffic and terrain
avoidance, communication, flight
controls, engine monitoring and
enhanced vision.
L-3 achieved this by combining
a number of situational awareness

technologies into the package.
The advances developed by Esterline CMC preserve those advances and add two new control-input
options for the user: touch-sensitive screen inputs and the voice
command addressed in the adjacent article.

avionics news

•

april

2013

For pilots programming flight
plans, changing frequencies and
entering approaches, the entire
management of SmartDeck still
needs but three clicks.
“Whether you prefer touch or
voice or twisting knobs, we’ve
worked to keep the command
structure simple and easy to learn,”
Plantz said.
The question remains whether
or not a savvy airframe OEM will
learn the ease that SmartDeck operates. In the minds of some who
have sampled several systems, the
SmartDeck operating architecture
rivals its competitors for ease of
learning and voice command.
“We don’t want users to need
days of study to learn how to use
the fundamentals,” Plantz said.
“We’re shooting for hours.” q



Avionics News April 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2013

Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View From Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
Breakthrough
Member Profile
Digital Displacement and Fusion
Avionics News Through the Years
A Conversation With...
The Race to ADS-B Out
AEAviators
NextGen Status Report
Member Profile
Esterline CMC Electronics
What Radial Are We On?
AEA Offers Free NCATT Certifications and Endorsements at 2013 Convention
Work On Your Business, Not In Your Business
Business Basics
Survey Reveals Hiring Trends for the Aviation Industry
Meet the AEA Awards Nominees
What's New
Before & After
Avionics News April 2013 - Intro
Avionics News April 2013 - Cover1
Avionics News April 2013 - Cover2
Avionics News April 2013 - 1
Avionics News April 2013 - 2
Avionics News April 2013 - 3
Avionics News April 2013 - Point of Communication
Avionics News April 2013 - 5
Avionics News April 2013 - AEA Now
Avionics News April 2013 - 7
Avionics News April 2013 - 8
Avionics News April 2013 - 9
Avionics News April 2013 - 10
Avionics News April 2013 - 11
Avionics News April 2013 - 12
Avionics News April 2013 - 13
Avionics News April 2013 - The View From Washington
Avionics News April 2013 - 15
Avionics News April 2013 - International News and Regulatory Updates
Avionics News April 2013 - 17
Avionics News April 2013 - 18
Avionics News April 2013 - 19
Avionics News April 2013 - Breakthrough
Avionics News April 2013 - 21
Avionics News April 2013 - 22
Avionics News April 2013 - 23
Avionics News April 2013 - 24
Avionics News April 2013 - 25
Avionics News April 2013 - Member Profile
Avionics News April 2013 - 27
Avionics News April 2013 - 28
Avionics News April 2013 - 29
Avionics News April 2013 - Digital Displacement and Fusion
Avionics News April 2013 - 31
Avionics News April 2013 - 32
Avionics News April 2013 - 33
Avionics News April 2013 - 34
Avionics News April 2013 - 35
Avionics News April 2013 - Avionics News Through the Years
Avionics News April 2013 - 37
Avionics News April 2013 - A Conversation With...
Avionics News April 2013 - 39
Avionics News April 2013 - The Race to ADS-B Out
Avionics News April 2013 - 41
Avionics News April 2013 - 42
Avionics News April 2013 - 43
Avionics News April 2013 - AEAviators
Avionics News April 2013 - 45
Avionics News April 2013 - NextGen Status Report
Avionics News April 2013 - 47
Avionics News April 2013 - 48
Avionics News April 2013 - 49
Avionics News April 2013 - 50
Avionics News April 2013 - 51
Avionics News April 2013 - Member Profile
Avionics News April 2013 - 53
Avionics News April 2013 - 54
Avionics News April 2013 - 55
Avionics News April 2013 - Esterline CMC Electronics
Avionics News April 2013 - 57
Avionics News April 2013 - 58
Avionics News April 2013 - 59
Avionics News April 2013 - 60
Avionics News April 2013 - 61
Avionics News April 2013 - What Radial Are We On?
Avionics News April 2013 - 63
Avionics News April 2013 - 64
Avionics News April 2013 - 65
Avionics News April 2013 - 66
Avionics News April 2013 - 67
Avionics News April 2013 - AEA Offers Free NCATT Certifications and Endorsements at 2013 Convention
Avionics News April 2013 - 69
Avionics News April 2013 - 70
Avionics News April 2013 - 71
Avionics News April 2013 - Work On Your Business, Not In Your Business
Avionics News April 2013 - 73
Avionics News April 2013 - 74
Avionics News April 2013 - 75
Avionics News April 2013 - 76
Avionics News April 2013 - 77
Avionics News April 2013 - Business Basics
Avionics News April 2013 - 79
Avionics News April 2013 - 80
Avionics News April 2013 - 81
Avionics News April 2013 - 82
Avionics News April 2013 - 83
Avionics News April 2013 - Survey Reveals Hiring Trends for the Aviation Industry
Avionics News April 2013 - 85
Avionics News April 2013 - Meet the AEA Awards Nominees
Avionics News April 2013 - 87
Avionics News April 2013 - 88
Avionics News April 2013 - 89
Avionics News April 2013 - 90
Avionics News April 2013 - 91
Avionics News April 2013 - 92
Avionics News April 2013 - 93
Avionics News April 2013 - 94
Avionics News April 2013 - 95
Avionics News April 2013 - What's New
Avionics News April 2013 - 97
Avionics News April 2013 - 98
Avionics News April 2013 - 99
Avionics News April 2013 - 100
Avionics News April 2013 - Before & After
Avionics News April 2013 - 102
Avionics News April 2013 - 103
Avionics News April 2013 - 104
Avionics News April 2013 - Cover3
Avionics News April 2013 - Cover4
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