Rockwell Collins approved to provide LPV upgrades for King Air aircrafts

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 08, 2010) - Rockwell Collins has received Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) to provide Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) upgrades for King Air C90GTi, B200, B200GT, B200C, B200CGT, 350 and 350C aircraft. The announcement was made at the Aircraft Electronic Associations’ (AEA) tradeshow in Orlando, Fla.

Rockwell Collins has worked closely with Hawker Beechcraft to develop and certify the coupled LPV solution which includes an upgrade to Rockwell Collins GPS-4000S for these aircraft. The STCs will allow King Air operators with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21â„¢ avionics to take advantage of the more than 1,900 LPV approaches available today with minimum decision heights as low as 200 feet. Upgrades will be available through Rockwell Collins’ network of certified dealers.

The LPV certification complements Rockwell Collins Approved Model List (AML) STC available today to upgrade the entire Pro Line 4™ and Pro Line 21 fleet to a GPS 4000S enabling the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) GPS capability. Operators who upgrade to the GPS-4000S may take advantage of WAAS in North America and simplify operations with GPS as primary means of navigation and eliminate time-consuming Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) check.  WAAS improves the availability and integrity of GPS navigation, providing service for all classes of aircraft in all flight operations in its coverage, including en-route navigation, airport departures and airport arrivals.

Rockwell Collins plans to complete approximately 15 certified WAAS/LPV solutions over the next year on a variety of Pro Line 4 and Pro Line 21 aircraft manufactured by Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault and Hawker Beechcraft.

Source: Rockwell Collins