What do a Lake Amphibian, Cessna 172, P-51 Mustang, Bell 206 JetRanger, and T-6 Texan have in common? Each can now feature an Aspen Avionics EFD1000 primary flight display, according to Doug Cayne, Aspen’s vice president of marketing.
Cayne says the Aspen PFD is also making inroads into aerobatic aircraft, most notably in the front cockpit of the Aeroshell 100 T-6 show aircraft.
Updates on the more than 1,500 installs were just one note from the company April 21, the first morning of Sun ’n Fun fly-in in Lakeland, Fla. Aspen also announced additional products, support, and upgrades for existing and future customers. Among them is a flush-mount kit, allowing the PFD to be installed behind the panel, flush with the existing instruments. The kit will be available in mid-June for $390.
But Aspen’s biggest recent achievement is the ability to replace attitude gyro sources needed to drive an autopilot. In what Aspen is calling an industry first, owners of Bendix/King autopilots will soon be able to replace their KI-256 attitude indicator previously required to drive the autopilot. Instead, Aspen is offering an additional control unit for less than $5,000.
“We’re focused on the retrofit market, which has been underserved up to now,” said Aspen President and CEO John Uczekaj. “We’re working to eliminate backups in this market”—something, he added, that customers are begging the company for.
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