Avidyne has announced a dual Avidyne Atlas flight management system upgrade for the Dassault Falcon 50, providing fully-coupled GPS approach capability, including LPV, LP, LNAV/VNAV and LNAV-only, extending the useful life of these venerable aircraft without the need for costly replacement of the legacy Collins ProLine 4 system. The installation was completed by SAB Aviaçâo in Brazil with a field approval.

"The dual Atlas FMS configuration is a terrific retrofit option for the Falcon 50," says Ed Paulsen, Avidyne vice president of sales and business development. "Atlas gives new life to these highly-capable airframes without the high cost of a full flight deck replacement, adding a whole host of new capabilities, most importantly opening up hundreds of airports and runway ends with GPS-based LPV approaches."

"Avidyne would like to extend our appreciation to Mario Alencar and the team of SAB Aviaçâo for initiating and completing this installation and approval," adds Juan Blaha, sales director for Latin America. "The fully integrated dual Atlas FMS/GPS/NAV/COM systems replaced several legacy remote boxes in the Falcon 50, clearing avionics bay space and increasing useful load, while extending the utility and capabilities of the aircraft."

The Avidyne Atlas FMS is a dzus-mount GPS/SBAS flight management system that meets TSO-C146c for full GPS SBAS/LPV approach guidance, including easy-to-use flight planning, 'one-touch' departure, airway and arrival navigation, and Avidyne's innovative GeoFill waypoint nomination. Atlas FMS systems feature a dedicated alpha-numeric QWERTY-style keyboard along with touch-screen 'hybrid touch' user interface, full-colour moving map and 3D synthetic vision with colour-contoured terrain. Other features of the Atlas include Jeppesen charts and airport diagrams, powerful 16w VHF comms, VHF/LOC/ILS navigation, integrated wireless connectivity to iPads for third-party apps including Foreflight or Avidyne's IFD100 App, and more.

Avidyne's GPS Legacy Avionics Support (GLAS) technology provides a direct interface to legacy EFIS systems including Collins Proline 4, ProLine 21, EFIS86- and Honeywell Primus systems for vertical guidance during approach operations. This unique integration capability enables EFIS systems certified before the availability of LPV approaches to have coupled approach guidance on these and other SBAS approaches.