Barco steps up production of avionics displays for Honeywell's Primus Apexâ„¢ flight deck

Avionics display specialist Barco is experiencing a growing order intake for its large-screen KDU flight displays for business aviation. The KDU line is a dedicated display solution specifically designed for integration into the Honeywell Primus Apex flight deck. In order to meet the growing demand for this cockpit, Barco has decided to step up the production capacity of its KDU displays. This year, Barco schedules a total production of six hundred units. By 2010, this figure should have climbed to one thousand displays a year.

To date, Barco's KDU flight units had been selected for a variety of business jet platforms, amongst which the Pilatus PC-12E turboprop airframe. Under several new contract wins for the Primus Apex system, Honeywell will now also integrate the large-screen displays cockpits aboard the Spectrum S-40 Freedom, the Harbin Y12 and Viking Twin Otter aircraft. The state-of-the-art flight deck, each featuring four displays, will equip these platforms with enhanced functionality, including advanced auto-flight control, graphical flight planning, paperless charts and maps, keypad data entry, and cursor control device graphical interface technology.

The KDU display family consists of a 10-inch ‘KDU-1080' version and a 15-inch ‘KDU-1500' model. Both provide pilots with sunlight-readable images and a wide viewing angle to enable optimum cross-cockpit legibility under all lighting conditions. Thanks to their large screen surface and high-resolution, the displays bring larger views and improved situational awareness to the cockpit.

On the occasion of this year's NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention in Orlando, FL, Barco will showcase the 10-inch and 15-inch flight displays on its booth (#397).