Flying Colours has completed an unusual two-phase project on a Bombardier Global Express – retrofitting the Honeywell Primus Elite flight deck and installing Honeywell’s JetWave Ka-band system.
The customer selected Flying Colours Corp based on the team’s flexibility around the installation process. “Timing was the biggest challenge for sure on this project,” said Kevin Kliethermes, director of sales for Flying Colours Corp. “Due to flight schedules, the project was broken into two separate events and required all team members to work in concert to be successful.”
The work was completed at the company’s headquarters in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and required the avionics team to work in close collaboration with Honeywell, Bombardier and avionics colleagues at Flying Colours’ Spirit of St. Louis site to expedite the project within the timeframe.
As part of the Primus Elite upgrade, six new Honeywell DU-875 displays were installed to replace cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. The Primus Elite Advanced Features’ (PEAF) software suite is optimised on aircraft carrying a full complement of the new DU-875 displays. PEAF adds a Synthetic Vision System (SVS), which provides 3D colour images of runways, terrain and obstacles.
Flying Colours says the display upgrade also brings brighter, clearer, high-resolution pictures to the pilots, yet the system runs cooler so creates less heat in cockpit, making for a more comfortable working environment. In terms of operations the displays are 7 lb lighter per unit. “There are numerous benefits to this upgrade,” said Kliethermes. “It removes CRT obsolescence issues and it enables updates in the cockpit to the latest technology with a relatively quick turn time.”
Complementing the flight-deck upgrade, Flying Colours’ avionics team mounted a new radome, tail antenna and the Honeywell JetWave hardware, which when connected with Inmarsat’s Jet ConneX Ka-band network. The cabin wi-fi enables video streaming, internet access, emailing, voice, cell phone usage and Honeywell’s GoDirect suite of apps. These are possible from take-off to landing, around the globe (not including the polar regions).
