Beechcraft Brings State-of-the-Art Avionics, Cabin Upgrades to New Production King Air Turboprops
Beechcraft Corporation, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) that new production King Air turboprops will soon feature Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusionavionics system as standard equipment. Certifications on all three models are anticipated to occur in the upcoming months. As a further investment in the King Air line, the company is pairing the new avionics with upgraded cabin features.
“We’re improving the pilot and passenger experience in an already iconic line of business turboprops by incorporating the latest technology in the cockpit and the cabin,” said Christi Tannahill, senior vice president, Turboprop Aircraft and Interior Design. “Owners/operators will love the improved value proposition and safety features, passengers will enjoy additional standard cabin features, and the new Pro Line Fusion avionics will help pilots quickly and intuitively manage their King Air flights.”
Avionics
Pro Line Fusion for the King Air features commercial aviation’s first full touchscreen capability on all three main flight displays. The flight deck’s three 14-inch displays are interchangeable, high-resolution touchscreen and cursor-controlled. Other performance-enhancing capabilities include:
- Integrated touchscreen checklists
- Intuitive graphical touchscreen flight planning
- High-resolution SVS with patented airport dome graphics
- Convenient presets to reconfigure all three displays with a single touch
- Full multi-sensor flight management system
- Available automatic wireless database and chart uploads
- Open and scalable architecture for future upgrades and mandates
Cabin upgrades
In addition to the avionics, the company is making enhancements to the King Air’s cabin technologies, which will offer an improved and connected passenger experience. The personal device-centric cabin will include international or domestic Wi-Fi as standard on the King Air 350i and 250 aircraft and optional on the C90GTx. Also standard on all three models will be electronically dimmable window shades, offering a simple interface that provides clearer views and darker shading at the touch of a button.
New King Air 250 turboprops with the new avionics and cabin upgrades are expected to begin delivering in the third quarter of 2015, followed by King Air 350i/ER in the fourth quarter and King Air C90GTx in early 2016.
Aftermarket and training
In-service King Air aircraft with Pro Line 21 can be upgraded to the Pro Line Fusion touchscreen displays through Textron Aviation’s company-owned service centers. Differences, initial and recurrent pilot training for the Pro Line Fusion King Airs will be offered at TRU Simulation + Training’s new ProFlight training center near Tampa, Florida. Additionally, TRU will offer aircraft maintenance training for the new models in its newly renovated Wichita, Kansas facility.
Segment leadership
More than 7,300 Beechcraft King Air turboprops have been delivered to customers around the world since 1964, making it the best-selling business turboprop family in the world. The worldwide fleet has surpassed 60 million flight hours in its first 50 years, serving roles in all branches of the U.S. military, and flying commercial missions ranging from traditional passenger and cargo transport to electronic and imagery surveillance, air ambulance, airway calibration, photographic mapping, training and weather modification.
Source: Textron Aviation Inc
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