Aviation Week & Space Technology - 3 November 2014

ments, regrouped in the center of the
fl ight deck.
The downside of keeping the original
lower-fi delity AHRS is that the Citation
VII certification will not include one
of the most powerful features of typi-
cal 3-D synthetic vision, a flight-path
vector that shows where the aircraft’s
nose will physically intercept terrain,
runway or the
zero-pitch line.
The option will
be available on
aircraft with
higher-perfor-
mance iner-
tial systems,
though. Uni-
versal is using
a heading-cen-
tered synthetic
scene (points
where the nose points) rather than a
track-centered view. A track-centered
view tends to fi lter out turbulence or
yawing motion but develops an of set
between the view from the windscreen
and the synthetic view in crosswinds.
Eye appeal comes from the new
higher-resolution LED side-lit displays
that use a 3-arcsec terrain database to
render 3-D synthetic vision in the fore-
ground fading to lower resolution in the
background to mimic how the human
eye perceives a scene.
While Universal will sell an optional
reference-select panel for entering
headings, altitudes and speeds for the
autofl ight systems, Glunt notes that all
inputs can be made directly into In-
Sight’s new electronic control display
units (ECDU) in the central pedestal.
The ECDUs are mounted below a cur-
sor control device and above alpha-
numeric keypads, all three of which
are used for centralized control of the
displays and the FMS.
Icon-based menu navigation and
graphical fl ight planning are shown on
both the EFIS displays and the ECDUs.
Radio control is handled on the ECDU,
with InSight offering “suggested” fre-
quencies, depending on location and
phase of fl ight, an option Glunt says has
always provided him correct information
for frequencies needed at an airport.
Pushing the “Com 1” button on the left
bezel of the ECDU brings up a window
showing the suggested and preset fre-
quencies in a large type size that is more
legible to aging and fatigued eyes.
The low-profi le cursor control, a but-
ton the size of a U.S. quarter that re-

cesses the pedestal, is somewhat of an

anachronism for a modern cockpit—it

is stif and moves the cursor at relative-

ly slow speed—but it is appreciated by

pilots. Glunt, who came to Universal 18

months ago, says he did not like the de-

vice when fi rst introduced but is now “a

fan.” “It takes a little practice to become

adept with it, but given the other cursor

controls on the

market, this

one is surpris-

ingly function-

al,” he says.

Glunt used the cursor to click on map

items and restricted airspace zones in

the multifunction display (MFD) to

show how information about the point

comes up in a window. In that window,

approaches for an airport can be added

to the fl ight plan by hitting the “A” but-

ton to the left of the cursor. The “B” but-

ton to the right of the cursor puts the

cursor symbol in pan mode for large-

scale scrolling around the map.

Reida says the displays are built with

an adaptive collar to allow for dif erent

orientations and screen sizes. “We have

our eyes on 12-in. and 15-in. displays,” he

says, adding that the company is also

considering going back to 8.9-in. dis-

plays as an option. Glunt demonstrated

a wireless fl ight plan uplink to the FMS

from an iPad, a follow-on InSight option

that will include a small remote router

and will be of ered downstream of the

certifi cation.

Available initially will be high-res-

olution airport maps, which include

labeled runways, taxiways and build-

ings for more than 600 airports that

are shown in both ego- and exocentric

views on the primary flight display

(PFD) and multifunction displays. At

Orlando Executive, which is currently

not covered in the high-resolution da-

tabase, Glunt put the geo-referenced

airport diagram up on one MFD and

a 3-D exocentric view on the other to

show the relative location of the aircraft

to taxiways, a useful tool even though

the taxiways were not labeled. Runway

numbers are included, though, and a

large white number 7 came into view on

the PFD as we turned onto the runway.

The synthetic view of the runway was

somewhat choppy through the fl at turn

but not overly distracting.

During the fl ight, the PFD, which is

approximately conformal to the view

out the window, was split in 75/25 for-

mat to show sub-windows of moving-

map charts and traffic in the small

windows at the bottom. The system

has shading logic that creates a haze

layer in the sky that closely matched

the October sky over Florida at 20,000

ft. En route, Glunt showed options for

bringing weather and other services up

on the MFD using both the icons on the

displays or alternatively with the but-

tons on the ECDU.

Once heading back to Orlando Ex-

ecutive, he used the cursor control to

select the airport on the moving map

and load the Runway 7 area navigation

(RNAV)-GPS into the fl ight plan. Near-

ing the airport, I noted that the Cita-

tion VII’s InSight software load did not

include an extended runway centerline

option. However, the feature will be on

the certifi ed system to help pilots locate

the airport from farther out. Within a

couple miles of the airport, the graphi-

cal airport and main taxiways began to

appear on the PFD, along with the phys-

ical runway through the windscreen.

The virtual runway danced some-

what in yaw as some light turbulence

tossed the Citation, matching the view

through the windscreen but somewhat

amplifi ed. The synthetic view was su-

perb nonetheless and spot-on in align-

ment with the centerline to touchdown

and beyond. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/NOVEMBER 3/10, 2014 49

The InSight ECDUs on Universal’s

Citation VII test aircraft (inset)

feature screens with large type for

input clarity.

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