Meggitt Avionics said yesterday that it is offering dealers a pre-certification sales initiative for combined orders for its Magic electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) and Magic 2100 autopilot. By placing a program order during the STC phase for a specific aircraft, dealers will be assigned a production slot giving them a priority production and shipping position.

To take advantage of the program, the order must be placed before the specific aircraft STC is awarded and a $5,000 refundable deposit must accompany it. The deposit will be refundable until the STC is complete.

The Magic EFIS is a suite of four instrument panel displays featuring the latest flat-panel, active-matrix, liquid crystal and solid-state sensor technology. (Magic stands for Meggitt Avionics new-Generation Integrated Cockpit.)

Already approved for installation in all turboprop Twin Commanders, it replaces standard electromechanical attitude and heading indicators with a 4.5-in.-high by 5.3-in.-wide primary flight display (PFD) and an identically sized navigation display (ND). In addition, all engine and fuel quantity/fuel flow instruments and gauges are replaced with dual redundant engine and instrument display systems (EIDS).

Initial STC approval for the new 2100 digital flight control system (DFCS) is for 690A/B Twin Commanders. Approval is expected later this year for the Jet Prop Twin Commanders. The 2100 is a three-axis attitude-based flight control system, with guidance provided by the Meggitt air data, attitude and heading reference system (ADAHRS). That is the same sensor system that drives the new Magic EFIS.

Dealers must show a specific aircraft make, model, N-number and serial number on the order as well as the aircraft owner’s name. Upon acceptance, the dealer will receive a production slot certificate stating the slot number, anticipated certification completion date and the anticipated equipment shipment date. Production slots will be transferable at the discretion of the owner.

T-props Are Target Market

Ken Paul, v-p of sales and marketing for Meggitt Avionics/S-TEC, said that the recent consolidation of Meggitt Avionics and S-Tec “improved efficiency and refocused how we do business.”

He said the company mission is to help the owners of older twin-engine turboprops keep their aircraft flying into the future. Most are worth an average of $1 million, but many are valued as high as $2.5 million. But they contain avionics packages that are decades old and no longer supported by the OEMs.

Meggitt is beginning a major marketing initiative aimed at a twin-turboprop aftermarket estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 aircraft. Consisting of the Magic EFIS and EIDS upgrades plus the 2100 DFCS autopilot, the Magic program focuses on specific aircraft including the Twin Commander 690, King Air 90 and 200, the Conquest 441 and 425 and the Cheyenne II.

The installation for the Twin Commander has already been developed and the STC was issued in July. The installation for the Conquest 441 has also been developed and the STC is to be issued this month. STC approvals for the remaining aircraft are expected to be completed by mid-2003.

Paul said that a twin-turboprop owners can install a left-side EFIS and an autopilot for $150,000, and with the ADAHRS guidance, can be made RVSM compliant.