Integrated Avionics Systems - Where Are They Headed

Integrated avionics systems that are beginning to appear in general aviation aircraft are forerunners of evolutionary designs that will consist of FLAT PANEL displays, movement toward FLY-BY-WIRE systems, extensive use of HIGH SPEED BIDIRECTIONAL data buses, non-critical applications of VOICE COMMAND systems, and hardware consolidation into redundant, fault tolerant, DATA MANAGEMENT COMPUTERS that will help future flight crews deal with the complex environment they will be operating in. Aircraft operators will benefit from this integration through lower installation and maintenance costs, increased payload capacity, plus on-site selection of mission operational software.