"How safe is it?" Along with "How much does it
cost?" this is a question we often hear when someone is considering
flight training as an option for depleting his or her discretionary
income. Our industry has experienced a marked reduction in overall
accidents and statistically, a 27.8% reduction in the most recent 7
years! During this same time period General Aviation fatal accidents
dropped 32.6% to just over 1 fatality for every 100,000-flight hours.
Of these accidents, 80% are either partially or completely pilot
induced, with weather related accidents and controlled flight into
terrain (CFIT) accounting for the majority of fatalities.
So what is the industry doing to address the issue
of pilot errors?
Bendix/King has taken the bull by the horns and
addressed this challenge with several new avionics products, and Cessna
has taken the next step by including the Bendix/King advanced avionics
package in their aircraft.
Situational Awareness: With its moving map and IFR
approach capability, the KLN94 GPS provides added safety through
increased situational awareness. This GPS with its full color screen is
as easy to operate, as it is to view.
Weather: Bendix/King Data Link Weather features a
state-of-the-art data link system to bring textual and graphical
weather to your cockpit with a high speed, high bandwidth system. With
the KDR 510, weather information (including METARs, TAFs, and PIREPs)
is automatically updated and displayed on your KMD 550 (multi-function
display) in your cockpit. For a small monthly fee, you can also receive
NEXRAD radar and additional weather products that promote additional
weather avoidance capability.
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT): The KMH 880
Multi-Hazard Awareness System combines traffic and terrain avoidance
features in one unit. Combined with the KDR 510 and displayed on the
KMD 550, you can have all the situational awareness available to ensure
an up-to-the-second picture of your flight situation.
Workload Reduction: The KMD 550 Multi-Function
Display (MFD) lets you spend less time looking at your instruments and
more time flying your aircraft. The system gives you the information
you need without added clutter, all while reducing the time required to
manage each safety system. Along with its capability to display
traffic, weather, terrain and moving map information, the KMD 550 also
provides a wealth of reference information to the pilot including
airports, NDBs, intersections, VORs, special-use airspace, victor
airways, rivers, roads, lakes, cities and towers. When interfaced to
the KLN 94, the KMD 550 can also display holding patterns, procedure
turns and DME arcs for even greater situational awareness. Most
importantly, this MFD is simple to use and sports a bright, razor-sharp
display!
So, how much safer can General Aviation become? It
seems to me that the sky's the limit! Who would have guessed that
today's General Aviation aircraft would have these capabilities? And I
suppose the question follows . . . “What else is possible?” Link: http://bendixking.com
About the Author
Pat Redmond, Brighton, Mi usa
airplanenoise@airplanenoise.com
http://www.airplanenoise.com
Pat Redmond, helps business owners who are tired
of long lines and baggage claims, fly their way to freedom! Enjoy
dinner with your family tonight! To learn more about the General
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site at http://www.airplanenoise.com | 