Avionics News March 2012 - 23

Increasingly, these aircraft owners voice some frustration at the lack of new WAAS navigators that are not part of some all-in-one nav/comm/GPS package and sized to fit into the slots of their existing area navigators. “There must be thousands, even tens of thousands that would be replaced with a WAAS version if someone offered it,” one pilot recently observed. But, if there’s a 2-inch version in the works, it’s not apparent, though some avionics-business insiders conceded the market potential while noting the ongoing development of other viable WAAS options.

comm and automatic direction finders through the 1950s and 1960s avionics designs, the evolution moved from the first solid-state Bendix/ King KX-175 and KX-170B nav/comm to the slimmer 2-inch digital-display integrated electronics descendants – the KX-155 and KX-165 nav/comm, which both fit the emerging form factor: 6.25 inches wide by only 2 inches tall. Many pilots opted to pair one of the emerging visual flight rules and IFR GPS or GPS/comm navigators with one of the earlier multifunction displays complementary to any traffic or weather

The technological revolution continues with the rise of WAAS GPS approved under TSO C145a and the many benefits it affords, such as satisfying the position-data requirements for ADS-B out.

For the moment, it appears that the 2-inch option is dormant, and there’s more happening in what some insiders peg as the successor size to the 2-inch-height box of 15 years ago. But, there are growing options for aircraft owners interested in adding only WAAS GPS without the extra expense and added installation from the growing numbers of all-in-one options.

Change – There’s Always A Price

With a general aviation fleet aging faster than it’s growing, it’s no secret that today’s owners and pilots fly a very old fleet with lower residual values on the open market than in years. The two dominant-size packages in their panels come down to the 6.26-inch-wide box measuring either 2 inches or 2.5 inches tall. These slots are filled with thousands of VHF nav and comm, nav/comm, transponder and audio-panel gear. While the 2.5-inch-high standard carried nav/

sensors. Aside from that early generation IFR GPS, many owners are happy with their stacks. “Why,” asked one nonplussed pilot recently, “doesn’t anyone make a WAAS-certified box that will fit that space where my (old GPS) fits?” He and other pilots are often past early adapters who quickly moved on TSO C129a GPS navigators when they arrived, opting for Class A1 units to gain the utility of an IFR-approved area navigator also approved to fly terminal procedures and non-precision approaches. Now, many pilots are eager for WAAS, but not necessarily at the cost of replacing what still works well – among them the existing, late 1990s MFD, two also-perfectly functioning VHF nav/ comm, both with glideslope and working connections to his autopilot system …as is the IFR GPS. What is ideal for the pilot? A so-far non-exisContinued on following page
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Avionics News March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News March 2012
