Spectrum Aeronautical selected the Honeywell Primus Apex integrated avionics platform for its new Freedom S-40 mid-sized business jet. The Primus Apex configuration for the Freedom features four screens: 15-inch primary flight displays (PFDs) at the crew stations, and two 10.4 inch multifunction displays (MFDs). All use Honeywell’s ultra-high resolution graphics, and the installation incorporates multiple redundancies for enhanced reliability. Additional features include advanced auto-flight control, graphical flight planning, true paperless charts and maps, keypad data entry, and cursor control device technology. The system is also compliant with current mandates, such as Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) and Enhanced Mode S Diversity.
It includes trend monitoring, affording tracking of operating performance by individual aircraft and across the Freedom fleet down to the component level. Spectrum also cited Honeywell’s 600 service centers affording worldwide support for the equipment, in its decision.
“We feel Honeywell’s Primus Apex platform provides a combination of best-in-class features and rock-solid reliability that offer the flexibility our customers are looking for,” said Spectrum President Austin Blue. “The system is already certified in several applications and, like our aircraft, Primus Apex offers features typically found on business jets that cost millions more to purchase. We’re confident that it will assure Freedom pilots easier flight deck operation and improved overall safety.”
“The Freedom is a game-changing platform that can take full advantage of the features we’ve incorporated into Primus Apex,” said John Todd, vice president, business and general aviation, Honeywell Aerospace. “Our systems integration expertise will be an advantage for Spectrum as they continue the S-40.s development and certification program.”
Spectrum’s Freedom provides seating for up to seven passengers with a stand-up cabin up to six feet (1.8m) of height and width, and includes a private enclosed aft lavatory. The S-40 will be approved for single-pilot operation, with maximum a speed of Mach 0.77 (440 kts). The aircraft has non-stop range capability of 2,250 nautical miles (4,170km) at a cruising altitude of 45,000-feet. The Freedom is powered by GE Honda Aero Engines HF120 fanjets and is scheduled for certification in late 2009. Spectrum is also developing the Independence S-33, a seven-place light jet using Williams International’s FJ33-4A jet engines, scheduled for certification during 2010. Both aircraft feature the company’s revolutionary fibeXTM advanced composite material technology, resulting in empty weights that are about 40 percent less than comparably sized aluminum aircraft. The light weight combined with efficient next-generation fanjet engines allows significant reduction in fuel consumption and emissions.
Spectrum recently received a fleet order for the Freedom and its sister aircraft, the Independence, from Charlotte-based Jetpool. Related Story