Aero-TV: New Avidyne Autopilots - DFC90 and DFC100

There was lots of sudden good news at this year's otherwise modest AOPA Convention... and most of that news seemed to revolve around new products and announcements by Avidyne.

Today, they took the wraps off the DFC90, Avidyne's new attitude-based Digital Flight Control System and Entegra Release 8.0 as an upgrade specifically for Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft with Avidyne's Entegra Flight Deck Systems. In order to take advantage of the precision attitude information of Entegra's Air Data and Attitude Heading Reference System (ADAHRS), the EXP5000 Primary Flight Display (PFD) requires both a hardware modification and a software upgrade to Release 8.0. The hardware modification makes the PFD compatible with either the existing S-TEC 55X autopilot or the new Avidyne DFC90 without the need for costly changes to the aircraft's wiring or servo systems.

The DFC90 adds the precision of an attitude-based flight control system and Avidyne's innovative, safety-enhancing Flight Envelope Protection capability. Avidyne previously announced the DFC100 Digital Flight Control System for Cirrus aircraft with the new Entegra Release 9 suite. The DFC90 & DFC100 systems are scheduled for certification and delivery in mid-2010.

New DFC90 and DFC100 autopilot systems will also include Avidyne Autopilot Flight Envelope Protection, a safety-enhancing feature that prohibits inadvertent autopilotinduced stall and overspeed situations. The DFC90 and DFC100 also include a Straight & Level button which overrides all autopilot modes and levels the aircraft in both pitch and roll for an added measure of safety in the event of an unusual attitude or other emergency situation.

With a retail price of $9,995, the DFC90 is an integrated flight computer and control panel that is designed as a slide-in replacement for existing rate-based STEC 55X flight computers.

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Autos & Vehicles

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