Chilean Army Takes Delivery Of First CN-235 Flight Deck Upgrade

Universal Avionics has delivered a flight deck upgrade to the Chilean Army’s first of three CASA CN-235-100 maritime patrol aircraft.

With this upgrade, the operator is gaining fully-coupled 3D approach capability with Nav-to-Nav autopilot capture.

Installed by LB Aircraft Engineering in conjunction with AVENPA Chile, the flight deck upgrade includes 4 EFI-890R Advanced Flight Displays, 2 Flight Management Systems (FMS), 2 Vision-1 Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) and 1 Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS).

The installation replaces obsolete 1980s avionics including legacy Electronic Flight Displays (EFI) with four large Primary Flight and Navigation Displays that address current and future requirements. Utilizing TAWS and Vision-1 products, the operator will gain improved situational awareness, address Performance-Based Navigation (PBN), and be able to reduce maintenance costs.

“We are pleased to support both LB Aircraft Engineering and AVENPA with the CN-235 flight deck upgrade,” said Robert Kline, Universal Avionics Airline Sales Manager for USA and Latin America. “Their modification will significantly improve the Chilean Army operational capability,” he added. “The two remaining aircraft will follow this year.”

“We see many advantages with incorporating this state of the art flight deck upgrade into the CASA CN-235-100 aircraft,” said Jay Salazar, Engineering Director of LB Aircraft Engineering. "We are convinced that this modernization of the flight deck will not only greatly improve the situational awareness and working environment for the cockpit crew, but will also facilitate for improved operation of the aircraft in its various military tasks,” he added. “Incorporating the latest in advanced avionics technology, this retrofit was seamless”.