TECHNOLOGY
AVIONICS: WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2020 AND BEYOND? Avionics have come a long way over the past few years. But is progress slowing? Have we seen the biggest developments? Is there anything left to invent? Steve Nichols comments
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COMPLIANCE
Kevin Kliethermes of Flying Colours said the ADS-B Out story will continue to run in 2020 (top).
homas Watson, the president of IBM, famously said in 1943 that he predicted the total world market for its products would be “maybe five computers”. So anyone who suggests we have seen the best in terms of technology on aircraft is probably wrong – totally wrong! But can we expect in 2020 and beyond? Kevin Kliethermes, director of Sales at Flying Colours Corp, said: “At the beginning of the year, the ADS-B Out story will run as those that haven’t complied will suffer consequences. There will still be operators working to meet the US requirements for at least a part of 2020. “European regulations are coming into effect too in 2020, and we have already had a healthy amount of conversations with EU operators regarding their compliance plan as part of a larger maintenance and/or interior projects.
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“We are also seeing more requests for redundancy in the cabin avionics. We have had a few customers asking for two different types of network and connectivity just in case one should fail, which demonstrates just how important cabin connectivity has become,” he said. So what new products/legislation does Flying Colours see affecting the market? “I think that further regulations are inevitable in order to better manage the airspace,” said Kliethermes. “Some of this will be driven by the environmental issues too, as better airspace management can reduce CO2 emissions. “I would also expect there to be continuous development in relation to more connected aircraft driving enhancements and workload reduction for not only the pilots, but also the maintenance and supporting personnel.”
He said they are reviewing several different opportunities and having discussions with a number of parties regarding future product development and how it will benefit customers. “We’d like to see smaller flat panel antennas developed so that we can support smaller aircraft that want increased connectivity options. Right now the equipment is too big and expensive for the aircraft,” he said. “I suspect we’ll see more of this in 2020.” Overall, how does Flying Colours see the avionics market in 2020? “NextGen will continue to be a major talking point and will broadband internet offerings. Customers continue to want cheaper, faster and more connectivity and that will drive what customers expect to be able to have,” said Kliethermes. “Aggregating data from the aircraft to improve performance, maintenance and customer experience will be something that will need product development and will become a hot topic this year. Convergence of suppliers is also on the horizon, what used to be a silo-ed sector of the landscape is becoming a place where complementary companies are coming together to deliver a better service to the end user,” he concluded. Turning to manufacturers, Garmin said that in 2020 it will continue to announce new retrofit options available in avionics. Garmin’s Jessica Koss said: “We see growth in this market continuing well into 2020 as aircraft owners will have plenty of retrofit opportunities available to them. GPS navigation and autopilots are cost-effective, and they expand the operating capability of their aircraft.” In November Garmin announced that it had received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for the GFC 500 autopilot in additional models of the Piper PA-28 and select models of the Piper PA-32.
