Avionics News March 2016 - 67

this time it doesn't. The pilot is
suddenly out of his comfort zone
and gets out of sorts and starts a
chain of events that too often ends
in a loss of control accident.
"With Avilon's (patent-pending)
Path Guidance Panel, we have
integrated the tactical part and
integrated it with the FMS in
such a way that we now have two
smaller displays on the panel that
show the pilot both the lateral and
vertical paths of the aircraft in
real time," he said. "You see the
glideslope in white and a magenta
line showing the aircraft's current
flight path and where the two will
intersect. If it (autopilot) is not
going to capture it, you'll know
well in advance so you can stay
ahead of the aircraft.
"We feel the Path Guidance
Panel is going to have a significant
impact on improving the safety of
the airplane, especially in singlepilot operations. That's our goal
and the thinking behind its development."

this kind of upgrade to their customers even at the lower price."
Helping shops reduce labor and
increase profitability was one reason
why Sandel targeted the venerable
Beechcraft King Air as the first airframe to receive the Avilon package.
And it's also a reason Sandel chose
to limit the program's availability
to four pre-approved dealers: Cutter
Aviation, Landmark Aviation, and
Stevens Aviation in the U.S., and
Rocky Mountain Aircraft in Canada.
"While the Avilon package is currently only available through these
four dealers, this is not to say in any
way there will not be other projects
coming along that they will not be
able to offer," he said. "We're definitely looking at this as a long-term
growth project."

Choosing the King Air
After reviewing an extensive list
of eligible airframes, Block said the
venerable King Air was chosen for a
number of reasons.
"First of all, it's a well-known,
Part 23 airplane," he said. "And
since this is a completely new, fullpanel upgrade, we felt it would be
easier for the FAA to work through
if we used a familiar airplane. Next,
research showed that over 90 percent
of the available King Airs have not
yet been upgraded. Why? We believe
it's squarely because there is no suitable and affordable solution out there.
To us, King Airs are a dramatically
under-served market."
Block added that another benefit
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New panel with a new
business model for
avionics shops
As noted earlier, by making
installations a lot easier and faster,
Sandel's Avilon was created to
virtually revolutionize the avionics
upgrade business.
"Looking at it from the dealer/
installer's standpoint, if all you
are selling is labor, you can be
much more successful if you can
ultimately move more aircraft
through your shop in the same
time," Block said. "So it became
obvious if we could come up with
a way to greatly reduce the time
and labor content, we could help
dealers in two ways. First, there's
a shortage of skilled people in the
avionics business, and second, it's
more profitable for dealers to sell
avionics news

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march

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