Avionics News November 2014 - 26

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE
Continued from page 25

"Pioneer Aviation refined the Earth
Inductor Compass that equipped
Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on the
trans-Atlantic flight that captured the
world's imagination," explains the
Honeywell timeline. "The compass, which
compensated for weaknesses in standard
magnetic compasses, provided Lindy with
the most reliable and stable instrument
ABOVE: Although a huge leap in situational awareness for pilots, the first en route
available at the time. Lindbergh's aircraft
weather radar systems in the 1950s depicted flat images with simple, rudimentary
also was equipped with brakes from another
graphics. Today, Honeywell's IntuVue 3-D Weather Radar offers pilots a much better view
of weather hazards.
Honeywell legacy company, Bendix.
BELOW: The company's TFE731 engine created by Garrett powers many of the world's
"Jimmy Doolittle flew the first
most popular business jets, as well as several military aircraft.
successful all-blind flight from takeoff to
landing using the Sperry Gyro Horizon
Honeywell has even been to space and back. In 1969,
and Sperry Directional Gyro. Doolittle
Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 rocket included legacy displays
took off in a dense fog under a hooded cockpit (with an
and engine controls, as has every manned space flight since,
unhooded safety pilot) in a Consolidated NY-2 biplane
even the International Space Station.
from Mitchell Field, Long Island, circled the field and
While with Sundstrand Data, C. Donald Bateman
landed without once seeing outside the airplane, proving
invented the first Ground Proximity
the practicality of instruments-only
Warning System in the 1970s,
flight."
helping pilots avoid flying into
By the early 1940s, Cliff
unseen terrain and obstacles. To
Garrett had solved the issue
give pilots as much information
of cabin pressurization,
on the ground as in the air,
aiding long-range military
Honeywell introduced the
flights in the B-29
first Runway Awareness and
Superfortress, and creating
Advisory System in 2003.
the foundation for cabin
Two years ago, Honeywell
pressurization on all modern
partnered with Inmarsat to provide the
aircraft. Garrett invented the first gas
hardware for its new GX Aviation satellite
turbine auxiliary power unit in 1948,
connectivity service. When GX Aviation enters
providing independent startup and backup power.
service in early 2015, it will be the first system to provide
In the 1950s, Bendix Radio introduced the world's
passengers and pilots with high-speed, in-flight Wi-Fi
first feasible en route weather radar, the RDR-1. That
connectivity virtually anywhere in the world.
core idea continues today with Honeywell's RDR-4000
Today, with the help of its legacy companies, Honeywell
IntuVue 3-D Weather Radar.
Aerospace offers thousands more products found on
Also, in the 1950s, Lycoming's turbine engine
virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft
division began producing the T55 turboshaft engine,
in the world. Its history and contributions bring out our
creating more fuel efficient, reliable and powerful
nostalgia and affection for this amazing industry. q
aircraft engines.
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Avionics News November 2014

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