CERTIFICATION AS A DISTRIBUTION PROBLEM

Universal Avionics has announced that Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency has issued a Supplemental Type Certificate for its InSight integrated flight display system, complementing existing approvals from the FAA, Transport Canada and EASA. The Brazilian STC was issued for the Cessna Citation VII, introducing a new flight display system with engine indication and Universal’s flight management system.

Regional validation is the practical constraint on avionics retrofits and is worth explaining, because it is invisible from the outside. An STC is granted by a specific authority for a specific aircraft type, and an aircraft on a Brazilian register cannot be modified under an FAA STC without a validation from ANAC. A retrofit programme’s addressable market is therefore not the global population of a type but the population registered in jurisdictions where the STC is valid. Each additional regulator that validates the certificate expands the market without any change to the product itself, which is why Universal frames the announcement in terms of simplifying scheduling, installation and support for operators and MROs worldwide.

THE OBSOLESCENCE ARGUMENT

The case Universal makes for the upgrade rests on three propositions. As legacy cathode ray tube displays become increasingly expensive and difficult to maintain, replacement offers a cost-effective alternative to sustaining obsolete equipment – the underlying problem being that CRT displays are no longer manufactured, so operators depend on a shrinking pool of repairable units with rising costs and lengthening turnaround times. The company states the retrofit sheds up to 200 lb, which increases useful payload, and that it makes the aircraft digital airspace ready through integration supporting CPDLC datalink, LPV and RNP precision approaches, and wireless tablet integration.

The airspace access point is the one with the longest tail. Datalink and performance-based navigation capability increasingly determine which airspace and which approaches an aircraft may use, and an otherwise sound airframe without them faces progressive exclusion from routes and airports rather than a single disqualifying event. Dror Yahav, Chief Executive of Universal Avionics, said expanding InSight’s regional approvals gave operators a straightforward, high-value way to modernise, and described the system as a proven digital flight deck solution helping resolve display obsolescence, enhance operational flexibility and keep valuable aircraft flying in modern airspace.

PLATFORMS COVERED

InSight STCs are available or in certification for the De Havilland Canada Dash-8; the De Havilland Canada CL-215, CL-415 and DHC-515; the Dassault Falcon 20, 50, 50EX, 900B, 2000 and 2000EX; the Hawker 800A, 800B and 800XP; the Cessna 650 Citation VII; the Gulfstream G-III; and the Learjet 35A and 36A. The list is notable for its composition, every type on it is out of production, and several are decades old. The system is designed as an integrated flight deck with embedded synthetic vision, advanced mapping, electronic charts and radio control, requiring fewer external line replaceable units than traditional architectures while retaining the ability to interface with federated components including attitude and heading sensors, air data computers, radars, traffic systems, radios and autopilots.

Universal Avionics has operated for over 45 years and developed the world’s first flight management system. It is a subsidiary of Elbit Systems and distributes InSight directly and through its global authorised dealer network.