Avionics News May 2018 - 15

facturer's perspective. The EAA was
the applicant for the generation 2 STC,
not the product manufacturer. The product was certified via the STC, but the
product manufacturer never received a
production approval nor sales authority
except through the STC. The certification and production of the Garmin G5
was the obvious next step in the evolution. By essentially following many of
the same certification paths as the EAA
STC, however, Garmin pursued the
design and production approval system
contained in the PMA regulations and
truly set the feasibility for OEMs to
produce these new products.
Generation 5 of the new products
used many of the regulations and
alternate means of compliance demonstrated in the first four generations
and applied them to a whole new
series of products: simple autopilots.
Not designed for heavy auto flight
capabilities, these new products were
designed to add the option for stabilized flight for the recreational pilot to
reduce their workload and hopefully
reduce accidents.
And now we have the introduction
of generation 6 of these new products
at the 2018 AEA Convention in Las
Vegas with the primary flight displays
from Aspen Avionics and the earlier
announcement from Dynon that target
the bridging market on class 1 and 2
legacy Part 23 aircraft. For the first
time that I can remember, these new
products have dominated the AEA's
annual lineup of new products for the
recreational market. I wonder what
2019 will bring!
The renewed faith in the regulations is hopeful. There were nearly two
years between the published approval
of the AOA standard and the approval
of the EAA STC. And there are barely
six months between the autopilot
approvals of generation 5 and the new
PFDs of generation 6. The distinct
generational changes are about to
cease, as the use of all the design, certification and production tools, instead

of just one, is rapidly becoming the new
normal for general aviation products.
All of this started because I read the
regulations and didn't rely on someone else's interpretations. I studied the
regulations, I researched their history
and intended purpose, and I believed in
what I had studied. I wouldn't take no
for an answer. And I kept asking, "Why
not?" I defended my position and made
the naysayers defend theirs. And slowly
they started to change.
But all of this happened - the new
products, the invigorated market, the
exciting future - because the manufacturers are able to use the regulations. The backroom conversations
may have paved the way, but it is the
manufacturers' willingness to use the
regulations, and the agency's encouragement to produce these new generation of products. I'm not going to take
credit for the boost in the availability

of the new products, only the spark
that has led to this explosion. It's the
manufacturers and entrepreneurs who
have brought the new products to market; it's the FAA and the certification
engineers who accepted the alternate
view; it's the FAA's leadership with
the motivation to look toward new
and novel approaches to bring safety
enhancements to the cockpit.
It has been a long journey, there
have been many heated debates, but
I was always steadfast in the opportunities that the regulations provided.
Some entrepreneurs were early
adapters, some manufacturers were
reluctant to design new products with
these new norms, and some manufacturers are just now producing new
products. But wow, do these new
CERTIFIED products look great! It
has been a great journey - and it's
not over yet. Not. Even. Close. q

avionics news

may

2018

http://www.georgetowninstruments.com

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