industry FMS EVOLUTION FOR LIGHT GA FMS-level flight control is possible with more affordable options S T O R Y B Y D A V E H I G D O N S Avidyne's FMS900w provides turbine-class FMS capability for general aviation aircraft. 20 AVIONICS NEWS * DECEMBER 2015 omething highly workload saving began quietly landing in general aviation cockpits a few years ago - before the arrival of GPS navigators enhanced by the wide area augmentation system, but long after GPS became a staple of general aviation cockpits. As often occurs, the device existed earlier in commercial cockpits, at a juncture of technology, where random-area navigation met aviation databases and shared their information with the flight-control system. And then it was revised into something for smaller cockpits - the flight management system. Before the FMS, a flight management computer handled navigation and direction indication; the control display unit showed pilots the way to set their autopilots. Within a decade, general aviation aircraft began to see GPS navigators with common traits and capabilities, albeit in different form factors and with alternative input interfaces. Unheralded, these new navigators gained the final element common to