Thank You

Robert

Understood.   Still no specific plans to support the Cessna 210s with the DFC90 yet but we are eager to find a time/way to do so.

I really am looking forward to this combi and hope you will certify it for the Commanders

There are around 7,000 Mooneys flying around the world.  Many owners I know are keen for the DFC90 when it becomes available.  My own Mooney has an Aspen Pro 1000 PFD and a STEC 55x autopilot and can hardly wait.

We agree the Mooney is a  great candidate airplane for the DFC90.   I'm sorry to keep sounding like a broken record but we are focused on knocking out the certifications for the models we've announced so far before we announce any other types of aircraft.  I suspect that will keep us occupied for most of 2012.

Hopefully the Mooney will be one of the first for consideration after the current types are complete.  All good things come to those who wait.

Victor

The C-182 STC package will officially be the first one we turn into the FAA for certification.  So, from a cert perspective, that is the next set of milestones I'll report on here.   Upcoming milestones for that effort include:  Final Aspen software configuration,  Company Ground and Flight Test Report completed, FAA Flight Test completed.

We'll also likely update the F33A and V35B flight testing progress when there is something interesting to report or they are completed.

Same will be true when the Aspen-equipped Cirrus package is ready to go into the FAA.

Short answer = No.

Longer answer = It previously would have.  But, we recently think we've found a technical solution to support 14V servos as well as 28V systems as part of the initial release.  We are conducting those tests now to prove that supposition.  28V vs 14V is irrelevant when talking about the way the DFC90 flies the airplane but is critical in the installation details.   It's a complicated story and one that I'll spare you the details of in this post but we're very excited about the recent engineered solution.   

As an interesting sidebar, the solution came from one of our autopilot engineers who came up with an ingenious solution to the problem of driving 28V or 14V servos from the same autopilot.  He found the proverbial "Westward Passage" and it really exists.

You should see more in the way of posts when we make a few more internal milestones.   Overall, it is trending very, very well.

We had a productive week this past week.  

We were able to complete all of our characterization flight testing for the DFC90 in a Baron (B55) and are pleased to report that the autopilot flies the airplane as expected.  I had the the opportunity to fly the first test flight of the week myself and can personally attest to the autopilot performance in the twin.   We were able to cover all of the envelope including the toughest point of all: high altitude, high speed, max gross weight, max aft cg and then even did an engine chop.   We were very pleased with the performance.  The aircraft will be returned to Normal category this coming week and returned to the owner.

This means we now have autopilot models for the short body Bonanza (B33), the V-tail Bonanza (B35) and the short body Baron (B55) as well as the Cirrus, Matrix/Mirage, Cessna 182 and PA32s.  We still need to create the autopilot models for the long body Bonanza (B36) and long body Baron (B58) and will start those soon.

On the Aspen PFD front, we had found three more items needing correction early in the week and by the end of the week, we now have what both companies believe to the final software load.  We flew that final load and it has the "Avidyne signoff".  Aspen will spend a few weeks performing the official software-test-for-credit on that load and as soon as we hear it is complete, we will start our final STC data submission to the FAA for the C-182-Aspen-DFC90 combo.

As soon as that initial STC is granted, we'll immediately submit for those other models (Barons, Bonanzas, PA32).

Next expected status update post will either be a notification that started the FAA testing or have made our final STC submission.

 

 

Tom Q.

             Thanks! Will a five spot make the truck go a little faster? ;-) I have only had the plane for less than a year so I am slowly working the bugs out. She is due an annual in August so I was hoping that the STC would be ready by then but no worries. Sounds like either way if I have servo problems they well need to be resolved whether the S-TEC or DFC system is installed. Thanks for your help on this.

 

 

Tom

 

I have a G-35 Bonanza with single Aspen PFD with syn vision, S-TEC 50 autopilot and new GTN 750. I have been very interested in the upgrade since talking to Jared Butson at the ABS Convention in Las Vegas last year. My understanding is that certification for the older 12 vdc V Tails is not expected until late in the year.

 

Excuse me if I missed any earlier posts, but my aircraft does not have electric trim.  How will the DFC 90 annunciate the need for manual trim as the S-TEC 50 currently does?

 

I'm really looking forward to installing the system. It will provide incredible capability to a 56 year old airplane not to mention the safety factor.

 

 

DFC90-Aspen PFD Integration Status Update (11 June 2012):As soon as we hear it is complete, we will start our company ground and flight test for score and then onto the final STC data submission to the FAA for the C-182-Aspen-DFC90 combo.

I am ready to put a DFC90 deposit down for my 14V '68 Bonanza E33, Aspen EFD2000 configuration, NO autopilot currently except the Brittain wing leveler. I urgently need an autopilot....

Robert

Getting closer.

Aspen found a defect during their official software test-for-credit that took a few days to fix and retest.   Then, during our company flight test, we found some behavior that we wanted to change with respect to the speed that we drove the existing aircraft servos in a 14V configuration.  That too has been resolved and we're in the middle of our company flight test as I type this.  We started that a few days ago and expect to fly repeatedly  this weekend to complete it.  We have about 250 total flight test points to hit and data log and then summarize in our company test report.  We're on track to finish those test points this weekend then spend a few days writing up the report.

The FAA is all queued up and waiting for us to declare we are ready for their test pilots.  At this point, they have blocked out the week of 16 July to conduct that FAA flight test.  The FAA has agreed to accept our company results for the 28V variant and they will fly the 14V variant.  We plan to ferry the 14V C-182 up to MA from FL next weekend to support the FAA flight test.  So it's all on us to get the rest of our tasks done prior to that so we can make that FAA window.

Next expected status update post will likely be a notification that we've started the FAA testing in the C-182.

Here we go.   The C-182 has arrived in Massachusetts tonight.  The FAA will be at Hanscom Field at 0830 Friday (3 Aug) morning to conduct their official flight test.  We and the FAA expect that to be completed in a single day.

I'll make a post when I know the results (but that could be delayed a day or two because I'm going out of town on family business).     

As for other airplanes updates, while we did take temporary possession of an A36 about two weeks ago, we haven't made any autopilot progress yet.  The airplane has been down for maintenance reasons since we've had it.   We think the airplane will be flyable sometime next week and if so, it'll take a few days of flying to finish up that autopilot tuning.

We should also be borrowing a IO-550 equipped B-58 Baron in August to do that tuning.

No news yet from the FAA.  We don't consider that to be bad or good news.   We do know they are churning through their various internal wickets and they would contact us if there were any problems or issues discovered.  We just don't know how far through the FAA-internal process they are at this point.

Will surely post an update if we hear anything this week.

DFC90 - Aspen PFD Integration Status Update (6 Sep 2012):

Another big milestone was just achieved yesterday.  Aspen received official TSO and STC approval for their DFC90 Activation Utility from their FAA yesterday.  That means every road block has been lifted and the final step in the FAA approval process is now with the local FAA office that Avidyne works with.  They have all the material they need, have already reviewed it and noted it all looks fine and now we are in the final waiting game for the final FAA approval signature.   In the recent past, it has typically taken about 2 weeks for those signatures to come once we hit this stage in the process.

The next post here from me *should* be a very good one...

Cheers,

Duncan

DFC90 -  Aspen PFD Integration Status Update (2 Oct 2012):

It's official.  We have STC and TSO approval for the DFC90 in Cessna 182s with the Aspen PFD.  This is the first certification of the DFC90 with the Aspen PFD.

 

I'm literally in the shop right now about ready to troubleshoot my STEC.  Would love to get rid of it.

What about a field approval?  Is that an option?  I would think the altitude envelope would be the difference so could that be placarded to prohibit anything above the non turbo or is it way more complicated than that?

Regards,

Tom Indseth

 

 

Just curious on the process though - why did you have to exclude the turbo models? 

 

Oh and goes without saying, but...  congrats on the STC!  That's a big win, and nice to see some real competition heating up and promoting new ideas and new players.  It's too bad it's such an uphill battle.  Something like this in my opinion really provides a big safety margin that is currently not available.  Flight envelope protection, straight and level button, etc.  

 

It's too bad that there isnt' a differentiation for something like this which would provide a fast track approval. 

 

Too late to run for President though.

 

Best,

 

Steve

 

 

Thanks for the follow up. No doubt I will run in to the sales group at ABS/AOPA next week. That should be a major topic of interest for the membership.

Currently have IIIC with AP DG. No Alt hold or pitch servo currently. No Aspen PFD yet as well.

If approved what would be required to install the DFC90 and estimated cost?

See:   http://avidynelive.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=236&title=dfc90-100-and-r9-and-the-pa32 - http://avidynelive.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=236&title=dfc90-100-and-r9-and-the-pa32

As a side note, we now have full autopilot models for all three variants of the Bonanza (33, 35, 36) and both main variants of the Baron (55, 58).   We are now transitioning to certifying those autopilot software models.  It'll take a few months to get them all STC'd.  We're starting with the V-tail Bonanzas.