Avionics News June 2014 - 23

L-3 Aviation Products: Trilogy
L-3 arguably launched the field of stand-alone glass
standby packs for light business and general aviation aircraft in the Trilogy.
Key features of the Trilogy package include:
Attitude, altitude, airspeed, slip/skid and optional heading data combined on a single digital display that mirrors
most glass PFD presentations.
Logically grouped flight data eliminates multiple instruments, making the transition to standby easier.
An internal battery (in the ESI-2000 model) provides
operation for a minimum of one hour after power loss, and
a screen icon shows battery state.
A single instrument reduces weight and scan times versus reading multiple instruments.
Solid-state design offers increased reliability compared
to electro-mechanical instruments.
Trilogy's space-saving footprint, internal lithium-ion
battery and complete digital design make it a complete
standby instrument pack for aircraft delivered with or
upgraded to glass panels, as well as aircraft still flying on
aging or traditional analog gauges.
The 4-by-6-inch color display features programmable
colors for airspeed limits correct for the aircraft. Four soft
key buttons on the bezel - either gray of black - provide
quick access to user-defined display settings, barometric
adjustments and menu options.
The Trilogy also can provide heading information when
coupled with L-3's optional magnetometer.
For more information, visit www.as.l-3com.com/products/trilogy.
Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics:
MD302 Standby Attitude Module (SAM)
Long before the Wichita, Kansas, company introduced its
SAM - the Standby Attitude Module - the company offered
one of the more affordable options for a stand-alone electrically powered AI in the "Lifesaver" attitude gyro with the
an integral battery to power it independent of the aircraft
electrical system.
But Lifesaver provides only an attitude indication, no
airspeed and no altitude.
The company's SAM, however, raises the bar a few
notches.
The SAM delivers attitude, airspeed and altitude, plus
slip/skid indication below the AI depiction and giving the
pilot-in-a-pinch one more effective tool for maintaining
control and flying coordinated turns.

The SAM offers multiple benefits.
First, like the Lifesaver, power is fully self-contained
thanks to a Nanophosphate lithium rechargeable battery.
The compact power pack delivers operating power for a full
hour of standby operation. The length of time stems in part
from the efficiency of the integral, solid-state attitude and
air-data sensors the company employs when manufacturing
the MD302.
Second, it fits into less space than the three-instrument
packs of 2-inch units often employed as standby reference.
Third, not only does the SAM retain the same presentation of a digital PFD's AI, it also presents the same sort of
vertical tapes for altitude and airspeed.
In nod to the stress of a panel-system failure in instrument conditions, Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
split the attitude and air data depictions between two colorprogrammable displays. Digital PFDs typically center the
attitude indication and flank it with the altitude and airspeed
tapes.
The speed tape is color-programmable to match the individual speed markings of the host aircraft; weight is a mere
1.6 pounds - less than most attitude gyros, alone - and its
software is field-upgradeable.
With mounting flexibility to install horizontally or vertically - and even decide on which side to put the single control knob - Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics' SAM
should fit where other solutions can't.
For more information, visit www.flysam.com.
Sandia Aerospace: SAI 340 Quattro
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sandia Aerospace offers another in the increasingly crowded field
of glass standby systems in the SAI 340 Quattro, with
its own solid-state attitude gyro, and air-data sensor and
internal battery that promises nominal duration of two
hours, with a minimum of 30 minutes.
Introduced by Dennis Schmidt at the 57th annual AEA
International Convention & Trade Show in Nashville,
Tennessee, it includes mounting bracket; it can be adjusted to accommodate panel tilt between zero and 10
degrees.
Thanks to its compact form and relatively shallow
depth, the SAI 340 will fit into most panels' standardinstrument opening.
Since it's designed as a stand-alone package, it needs
only power and plumbing to the pitot-static system and
it's ready to work.
For more information, visit www.sandia.aero. q
avionics news

june

2014

http://www.flysam.com http://www.as.l-3com.com/products/trilogy http://www.as.l-3com.com/products/trilogy http://www.sandia.aero

Avionics News June 2014

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