IS&S in July announced upgrades for its Pilatus PC-12 avionics retrofit program, including a single-sided cockpit option, wide area augmentation system (WAAS) capability and group RVSM certification for all panel configurations.IS&S also named Finnoff Aviation, Boulder, Colo., as an independent sales agent for the company's cockpit/IP flat-panel display system for the PC-12, a single-engine turboprop manufactured in Switzerland. The latter company is led by Chris Finnoff, former president of Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd.
Interviewed at the company's headquarters in Exton, Pa., President Roman G. Ptakowski said IS&S sees a market for more than 300 PC-12s, mostly in North America. The company initially certified a cockpit panel layout with two 15-inch displays, and then pursued other configurations.
"Unique among competitors, we actually have multiple architectures," Ptakowski said. "You can buy a PC-12 upgrade with two 15-inch panels, four 10- inch panels or a combination of one 15 (and) two 10s, or two 10s only, as long as we have redundancy of at least two displays. We have an architecture that has been certified by the FAA. We provide a lot of flexibility so people can do a single-side upgrade and then eventually do the dual side. They have an opportunity to address it the way they see fit."
IS&S expects to make WAAS capability available in the fourth quarter for both single-side and full-cockpit display architectures, allowing pilots to fly precision approaches at smaller airports. RVSM certification, available for all cockpit configurations, will allow pilots to fly at flight level 290 and above.
