Conair has received three Twin Commander 690s following an extensive avionics upgrade from Eagle Creek Aviation, based at Eagle Creek Airpark in Indianapolis. The aircraft will be used for aerial firefighting. The project included Garmin G950 flight deck integrations and tactical radio package installations on all three aircraft.

Headquartered in Canada, Conair is a leader in special aircraft operations, delivering a comprehensive range of purpose-engineered, aerial firefighting, multi-role aircraft and services worldwide. It uses Twin Commanders as part of its fixed wing aerial firefighting fleet. “The Garmin G950 glass flight deck in our Twin Commander fleet improves the pilot and air attack officer's ability to assess multiple environmental hazards simultaneously. The innovative tool offers greater simplicity in the cockpit, providing more data on demand to the air attack team within a clean, integrated display.” says Jeff Berry, business development.

Eagle Creek Aviation has long been an innovator in Twin Commander upgrades and modifications, having developed the Dash 10T engine upgrade programme and working with Twin Commander to author the factory Grand Renaissance programme. The company's recent major modification includes the installation of the Garmin G950 STC for Twin Commander aircraft.

The all-electronic Garmin panel integrates all primary flight, navigation, communication terrain, traffic, weather and engine instrumentation systems on a large 12.4-inch multifunction display and two 10.4-inch primary flight displays. The installations also included the Genesys DFCS2100 digital autopilot. “The G950 will make it easy for Conair's pilots to overlay graphical weather, lightning, traffic, terrain and other avoidance system advisories, which is essential when faced with unfavourable weather conditions resulting from major environmental fires,” says Eagle Creek avionics director Randy Morelock. “We were privileged to have had the opportunity to complete such an extensive and important project for Conair.”