Avidyne SynVis - General
Printed From: Avidyne
Category: Avidyne General
Forum Name: Avidyne SynVis
Forum Description: Topics and discussion about the Avidyne Synthetic Vision system
URL: http://forums.avidyne.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=123
Printed Date: 25 Dec 2024 at 12:19am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Avidyne SynVis - General
Posted By: AviJake
Subject: Avidyne SynVis - General
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2010 at 12:48pm
A few weeks ago, after seeing some pictures posted on Twitter of the Avidyne SynVis system, Brian T asked about obstacles within 5nm of the airfield and whether they would be displayed or suppressed.
(His exact post was: "I asked because the current TAWS inhibits obstacle warning within 5
miles of an airport. I see that area as the most vulnerable for an
obstacle collision. How will the Avidyne Syn Vis address this.")
I'm pleased to be able to report that we do NOT inhibit or suppress obstacles from the SynVis scene just because they are within 5nm of a airfield.
We will have some suppression when the system recognizes you are in the terminal area of an airfield and the obstacle is NOT a threat. But, if the obstacle becomes a true threat to your airplane, no matter how close you are to an airfield, there is no intentional suppression from display or alerting.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Replies:
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2011 at 8:28am
We've been starting to fly a few non-Avidyne pilots in a R9/Syn Vis equipped aircraft to get some more feedback. Here's the first COPA post on that topic:
http://www.cirruspilots.org/forums/p/123795/567255.aspx#567255
We'll start to post some current flight images shortly (busy at Sun-n-Fun this week).
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 21 May 2011 at 5:04pm
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Here is a link to a set of pictures from 20 May 2011 near Asheville NC flying the Avidyne SynVis in the company SR22.
https://picasaweb.google.com/MassJakes/20May2011AvidyneSynVisFlightTesting?feat=directlink
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2011 at 1:11pm
Here is a link to a pdf document that is my draft Avidyne SynVis pilot guide insert. I have a DRAFT watermark in it because the FAA hasn't signed off on it yet but this does represent exactly what we intend to certify.
Would love to hear your thoughts or feedback.
http://www.avidyne.com/downloads/media/SynVis-PG-Snippet.pdf - http://www.avidyne.com/downloads/media/SynVis-PG-Snippet.pdf
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: MASYC
Date Posted: 22 Oct 2011 at 8:27pm
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Ok guys, it has been months..... I think all of us are wondering what is happening with this featue and the R9.3 release of the software. We were thinking we would hear something at M9 and then in early fall..... At least, has the paperwork been submitted to the FAA? Or is it still in your hands. When will this critical milestone be reached? Thanks, Russ
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R9
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Posted By: MASYC
Date Posted: 22 Oct 2011 at 8:30pm
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A comment on the document: It very clearly states that the current TAWS is to be disabled as the Avydyne solution replaces all the features. (I guess). While maybe not the most important, the feature I enjoy the most and use on EVERY flight is the voice callout at 500 feet above ground level. This tells me that I should be established on short final. I would hope that this feature is inscluded in the first release so I am not going backwards in features by loading my R9 and taking advantage of SynVis. thanks Russ
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R9
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Posted By: FlyingLester
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 9:02am
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Russ,
We hear you loud and clear about the 500 ft callouts. We think we have a solution that is acceptable to the FAA that allows both Avidyne Synthetic Vision and the Honeywell EGPWS to be functional in parallel. However, until we get FAA buy-in, we don't want to release all the details.
We've not submitted our R9.3 paperwork to the FAA yet. We were hoping to have it submitted this spring, but that is looking increasingly unlikely. R9.3 is the top certification priority at Avidyne and we are working hard to get it complete as soon as possible.
-Ted
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 21 Apr 2012 at 11:23am
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Avidyne SynVis Progress Update (21 April 2012).
We have not submitted our paperwork to the FAA yet for certification. We think we're still a few months away from that milestone. We can assure all interested parties that there is no higher priority within Avidyne Engineering than to get 9.3 certified and shipping. To be explicit, 9.3 (i.e. SynVis), is our #1 project priority and that hasn't wavered.
The SynVis part of 9.3 is done and has been done for months. Said differently, we haven't had to make any changes to that code in a long time. Mike Keirnan and I have done all our company flight testing and we've both declared it done from that sense. It's really, really good.
As you know, SynVis is part of Rel 9.3 and the rest of 9.3 is slogging its way through the cert process. This is not meant to say there are tons of other features in 9.3 above/beyond SynVis. There are some nice features but SynVis itself affected more than 60% of all the code in the entire system (there are about 240,000 lines of code in R9). That is all Avidyne work. Remember that DO-178B (the certification process standard that we must follow to be blessed by the FAA) is a requirements-based development process. This means that every single function and every single line of code in the system needs to be fully described by a set of written requirements, then linked (or "traced") to the code and have accompanying tests and test code written to fully test every conceivable path the code could take and that the code actually embodies the governing requirements. There are a bunch of other, more detailed steps embedded in those tasks but that's probably too far in the weeds to cover here. That translates to an enormous amount of work. We had to make a few fundamental changes under the hood to guarantee the expected and desired performance on the graphics processor and the operating system that we didn't expect going into the SynVis efforts. We also didn't realize that SynVis would end up touching so much of the pre-existing code. Since we were in there, we made other code enhancements and efficiencies that will ensure the R9 code body is easier to maintain and grow in the future. Note that we are done with all "under the hood changes". In fact, we've been done with the code changes for months. We're "just" slogging our way through all the cert grinding efforts. It's not glamorous stuff but 9.3 is, and has been, making steady progress toward the finish line.
The FAA is always a variable that can sometimes be very difficult to predict, but in the case of our SynVis efforts, we are not currently worried about them putting any kind of meaningful spoke in our wheels as we head for the 9.3 finish line. The FAA has however, chosen this project to enforce a whole new set of processes and reviews - it's not clear what, if any, schedule impact that might have.
One more side note - the new R9-based product line, like the IFD540 is what we call "R9.4". You can infer three things from that statement:
1. 9.4 is serial behind 9.3, not in front;
2. 9.4 requires 9.3 to be done and certified so by definition, it can't switch pole positions;
3. Since 9.4 is the same code base as 9.3, that means any improvements or features that do show up in 9.4/IFD540, will naturally be part of or migrate into R9 as you know it.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: Harvey
Date Posted: 02 May 2012 at 3:25pm
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Could you please outline what 9.4 improvements will mean for Platinum DFC100 systems? Thanks.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 02 May 2012 at 4:03pm
Hi Harvey,
There are some features that I won't discuss here because it would give away some elements of IFD540 we're not willing to disclose yet but for starters, here are a few features that are baseline to the IFD540 that would come over to the R9 system after the initial release of the IFD540:
1. TSO'd TAWS-B;
2. Integration with the "Avi Stack" (e.g. the Avidyne AMX240 Audio Panel and the Avidyne AXP340 ADS-B Transponder);
3. Support for XM weather data;
4. Support for XM and Sirius Music channel selection and control;
5. Improved Info Pages;
6. MLX Two-way international datalink (this might be a "dot release" after initial one);
7. Improved Map + page datablocks;
8. Improved User Waypoint functionality.
Do you have any specific "wish list" items in mind?
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: Harvey
Date Posted: 02 May 2012 at 10:11pm
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I'm particularly interested in SMS text messaging. It seems such a waste to have the QWERTY keyboard and no functional communication link in flight. Thanks.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 May 2012 at 8:11am
Got it. The SMS text messaging will come along as part of the MLX integration (#6 above).
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: BoilerUP
Date Posted: 14 Jun 2012 at 3:46pm
When we had R9 installed in our SR22 in Jan/Feb 2010, we were told SynVis would be available "by the end of the year".
Here we are over 2 years later, and by Avidyne's own admissions it is going to be sometime into Q3'12 before 9.3 is submitted to the FAA. How long might we expect from paperwork delivery until it starts being shipped to customers?
I mean its only 1.5 years overdue now, what's another 6 months wait.....
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Jun 2012 at 7:15pm
It is hard to say. We've had durations from paperwork submission-to-certification/approval take as short as 1 week and as long as 4+ months. We will begin shipping within 24 hours of FAA approval.
The SynVis release has clearly taken longer than we had anticipated. We have everyone in the company who can work on the release, working on it.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: jseminerio
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2012 at 12:48am
Steve can you larify TSO'd TAWS-B. what will be required for this o work and briefly how ones Avidyne define this feature?
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SR22-G2 R9
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2012 at 9:52am
Reference your questions about TAWS-B, I might need more background.
Are you asking what "TSO'd TAWS-B" is and are you asking about in the context of a pre-existing TAWS system on a R9 equipped aircraft or in the context of the Avidyne TAWS-B system that will be an option in the IFD540?
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: jseminerio
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2012 at 11:22pm
Steve I'm curious what TAWS capabilities R9 will have with the 9.4 SynVis release for those of us with the Honeywell system and also those who don't have a Honeywell TAWS-B?
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SR22-G2 R9
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2012 at 9:09am
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Thanks for the clarification, now I understand.
Our SynVis release is what we're calling Release 9.3. Release 9.4 is what we're designating as the release that will follow that and include the IFD540 product.
With respect to the existing installations of the Honeywell KGP560 EGPWS units (aka "Honeywell TAWS-B"), our design does not allow the simultaneous use of the external Honeywell system AND the Avidyne SynVis. This is principally driven by our interpretation of the existing FAA guidance with respect to certifying Synthetic Vision. The particular clauses in that guidance that drives this states that the SynVis alerting functions can not, in anyway, conflict with the external unit alerting. In other words, it is prohibited to have the Honeywell unit declare in imminent ground collision but the SynVis systen not to make that same alert. More importantly, even if the two systems declare a terrain alert, they must start and finish as precisely the same time to avoid any conflicting information. The Honeywell unit uses proprietary algorithms and thus we can not ensure every alert starts/stops at exactly the same time. Therefore, the design is such that if a Honeywell unit is installed and operating, SynVis is disabled.
It is unfortunate but we don't know of any other way. We looked at every creative way we could think of to allow both systems to function simultaneously but could not find one. That leaves the owner/operator with several options:
1. Remove and sell the Honeywell unit; 2. Leave the Honeywell unit in the airplane but disable it to allow SynVis functionality to be present; 3. Leave the Honeywell unit in the airplane and functional and not use the Avidyne SynVis functionality part of Release 9.3; 4. Do not upgrade to Release 9.3.
Obviously, those folks who do not currently have a functional Honeywell unit installed in their airplane are unaffected by this.
I've flown the Avidyne SynVis system enough now to know it's a really great system. It looks terrific and it's got great performance to match. I'm very confident everyone will really enjoy and appreciate the SynVis system when it comes out.
One important note, SynVis is NOT a certified TAWS-B system. A certified TAWS-B system has addtional functionality above/beyond what is available in a Synthetic Vision system. For example, SynVis does include Forward Looking Terrain Alerting (FLTA). So does TAWS-B. The Avidyne FLTA function in SynVis is exactly compliant with the TAWS-B FLTA function. In fact, the FLTA algorithm in SynVis is exactly the same algorithm and code that we're using in our certified TAWS-B system that is part of the IFD540. A certified TAW-B system then adds additional functions that are not part of SynVis. These include things like Excessive Sink Rate on initial climbout or go-around and Premature Descent Alerts (PDA) on instrument approaches.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2012 at 1:35pm
In the hopes of reducing (understandable) confusion in the customer community, R9.3 and SynVis is in the certification phase while R9.4 and the accompanying product (IFD540) is in the development phase.
These are two different teams and skill sets of folks involved with each with very little cross-over.
R9.3 remains our top certification priority (and is necessary for R9.4) while R9.4 remains our top development priority.
The wording differences may seem subtle but the reality is not.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 7:35pm
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Any news on the certification process? Regards Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 7:38pm
No. We are trying to schedule the FAA to come in and do their flight test. They have a lot of people who want to participate and finding an open set of days is proving to be a real challenge. That will be the next milestone to report on when the FAA flight testing is complete.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 7:40pm
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Thanks for the prompt reply. Does all the paperwork have to wait for the flight test before submission, or is that already in the system? Rgds Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 7:49pm
All the paperwork will wait until that FAA flying is complete.
To be clear, it's a rolling submission of paperwork. All that we're
wiling to submit prior to this FAA flying is in but we will hold off on
the rest until FAA flying is complete. We just don't know what, if
any, changes may come from their evaluation.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 7:51pm
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Must be a frustrating process. Looking forward to the end result. Its been a long time coming.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2012 at 11:34am
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(SynVis Progress Update - 3 Oct 2012)
We did have a successful flight with the FAA yesterday in the SynVis equipped cert aircraft. This flight was for two of the local FAA ACO reps (1 pilot and 1 flight test engineer). They are the project leads on behalf of the FAA and they had two purposes for the flight: Familiarization flight to understand Avidyne SynVis; and determine if the system was ready for the wider FAA evaluation which they call the MPSUE. A MPSUE stands for Multiple Person System Usability Evaluation and is essentially the FAA test that uses a "statistically significant" sample of FAA cert authorities and looks at the overall system integration, human factors issues, overall assessments of system usability and often compliance with various governing guidance.
The good news is that the FAA reps were pleased with the system and declared it ready for the fuller evaluation.
The bad news is that they believe the earliest they can accomplish the broader review is the last week of November (week of 26 November) due to participant availability and even that has some risk of slipping a week or so.
Avidyne does expect to have all of our TSO work completed and submitted prior to the MPSUE and we are trying to structure the complete STC/TSO submission package to be done by then so that the MPSUE is actually the last milestone in the certification process. This will be an atypical approach and the first time we've tried that. It is at some risk but we're trying to get this system fielded as soon as feasible.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2012 at 8:50pm
SynVis Progress Update (14 Oct 2012)
The FAA has confirmed the scheduling of the MPSUE. The last of the FAA pilots has confirmed their schedule for the week of 26 Nov so baring any weather or aircraft mx issues, we *should* be through that evaluation by the last day of November.
We're extremely anxious to get this behind us and we're completely ready and in "wait mode" for the next month. In the meantime, our development team has moved on to the IFD540 development and will only come back to 9.3 in the event there is a MPSUE-driven change.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 08 Nov 2012 at 8:49am
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SynVis Progress Update (8 Nov 2012)
FAA still planning on flying SynVis. They have broken out their MPSUE evaluations into 2 scheduling blocks due to constraints on their end. We fly the first half of the FAA evaluators on 14 and 15 Nov and then the 2nd half on 27 and 28 Nov.
Will post results of those evaluations here. As noted above, the entire Avidyne development team has moved over to IFD540 while we wait for the FAA evaluations to be held.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2012 at 10:00am
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Hi. Waiting with baited breathe for news of how the first round of testing went. Much appreciate if you can give us an update when available. Cheers Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2012 at 3:08pm
(SynVis Progress Update - 14 Nov 2012) - The first half of the FAA
"MPSUE" evaluation has begun. We flew a 2.0 hour sortie today that was
uneventful. (We want all these sorties to be "uneventful" and result in
no findings that drive a change.)
We have two more flights
scheduled for Thurs, 15 Nov and then a two-week gap until 28 Nov for the
rest of the FAA pilots. Will post updates when appropriate.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2012 at 8:11pm
(SynVis Progress Update - 15 Nov 2012) - We hit a snag today during FAA MPSUE flying. We had planned two sorties with the FAA today - two different evaluation pilots. The first flight went off without a hitch but then after briefing the 2nd flight and even taxiing out for that flight, we had to call it off for the day when a landing jet experienced some type of mishap on landing roll and became disabled at the intersection of the two runways at Hanscom, thereby shutting down the airfield for all takeoff and landing operations for approximately 4 hours. The afternoon FAA pilot only had today as a window of opportunity until mid Dec and the FAA feels strongly that he must participate in the evaluation. Therefore, we can't conclude the MPSUE flying now until 13 December at the earliest.
It is exceedingly frustrating but we will press ahead with the next wave of FAA flying on the 28th of November and then wait until the hoped for last flight occurs on 12 December.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2012 at 5:02pm
How did the rest of the synvis flights go? Any major hiccups other than the cancelled and delayed test flight?
CheersAndrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2012 at 7:46pm
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Andrew,
Whoops. Thanks for the pimp - I forgot to post an update.....
The flights we pulled off last week went great. We were battling the weather and had to push back a few days. That meant we lost one of the FAA pilots due to availability but the ones we did fly loved the system and to our knowledge, had zero findings. The FAA is keeping all their pilots sequestered until the last one has a chance to fly. By that I mean, they can not share comments and opinions amongst themselves in order to not bias anyone until all have had a chance to fly but I will say that their individual debriefs to us are very encouraging. I don't want to spike the ball outside the endzone (apologies to all non-US football fans) but so far, so very good.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: Ragate
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2012 at 10:26am
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Did the last flight with the FAA happen on the 13th, and any updates?
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2012 at 1:36pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 17 Dec 2012) -
The ordeal continues. On the good news front, we did manage to fly all of the rest of the FAA pilots last week. The weather did force delays and extra sorties but all flights were eventually completed.
The FAA has not indicated to us that they know of any areas that have to change. Because of the nature of their own self-sequestering of the 4 evaluation pilots, they are just now this week meeting by phone to discuss amongst themselves and come up with a single FAA position.
On the not-as-great news front, they told us that between the geographic separation of their eval pilots and their end of the year vacations, they do not expect to provide a report and their official position on SynVis until the week of 14 January.
We surely hope we don't have to wait that long to get the report and we are trying our best to accelerate their schedule. That leaves us in the undesirable position of being frozen until we get the report. The cost in terms of schedule and impact on other programs of any changes at this stage in the cert process is so high, we expressly don't want to assume this has FAA blessing and then take it the rest of the way across the cert finish line only to find out they have some mandated change and we have to do it again.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2013 at 9:08am
(SynVis Progress Update - 9 Jan 2013) -
Just got off the phone with the FAA. They are not ready to give us their MPSUE comments on our SynVis nor will they be by the week of 14 Jan.
They are apparently still having internal debates on some of the "new and novel" features of SynVis and are not ready to provide us the unified set of feedback/comments/findings/etc.
The uncertainty of any potential changes still has us frozen on efforts to complete the release. Will post an update as soon as we receive the FAA feedback.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 3:54pm
(SynVis Progress Update - 22 Jan 2013) -
Interesting but disappointing news today from the FAA. They delivered their MPSUE findings to us and overall had 28 itemized issues with the "new and novel" features of the SynVis.
It is not quite as bad as it may sound in that most will be addressed through specific descriptions and notes in the associated Pilot Guide and AFMS update but 7 or 8 of the issues will drive a code change. The issues that require a change are all on the adjustable field of view feature that SynVis has.
Avidyne is now trying to determine our best course of action to deal with those 7 or 8 required changes. Options range from removing the feature altogether to engineering solutions for each of the specific gripes.
So at this point, the process is:
1. Avidyne determine our best course of action.
2. Avidyne propose those changes to the FAA in writing to see if those proposed changes "scratch the itch" and adequately address their concerns.
3. FAA reconvenes (I imagine through conference calls) the MPSUE team to come up with a collective position and then informs Avidyne.
4. Avidyne makes the changes (but not until we have FAA buy-in that those changes are sufficient).
5 FAA re-evaluates (in a manner not yet decided - e.g. we send pictures, local FAA re-flys, etc) those issue areas.
6. Once we have a positive indication from the FAA, we then move to take the software across the certification finish line.
One side note, while we had hoped that the FAA would not need to fly the TIA themselves, they have concluded that FAA flight involvement will be required. That too adds schedule uncertainty to the program.
Will post update when proposed issue resolution has been mutually agreed upon.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 5:48pm
Have you reached any conclusions regarding the next step? Work through the issues the FAA have raised, or abandon the zoom feature for the moment? I can imagine the time pressure on development of the new IFD must be building. Any thoughts you can share?
Regards
Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 8:01pm
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No, we have not reached any conclusions. Avidyne submitted our proposed changes in a written response on/about 23 Jan and we haven't heard anything back from the FAA yet.
We proposed keeping the adjustable field of view feature by making a few changes we think comply with the FAA direction. We do hope/expect to hear from the FAA this week on those proposals.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2013 at 8:07pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 7 Feb 2013)
We finally heard some feedback from the FAA last night. They have generally accepted in principal our proposed changes to the adjustable field of view feature to address their MPSUE concerns. There is however a "but", actually two of them.
The first "but" is they are still having active and colorful internal debates on one finding area and our response and therefore have not provided a conditional ruling in any way so this is still open.
The second "but" is that 8 of the 28 findings are to be re-evaluated during TIA testing, leaving open the prospect for potentially more problems. It is just too dynamic a situation right now to provide a high-confidence prediction on how it will play out.
In summary, 19 of the 28 findings are "Closed". 8 of the 28 items are to be re-evaluated during TIA and 1 of the 28 items is still in internal negotiation within
the FAA.
We are going to proceed with making the actual changes to the software, doing so at some risk that further changes will be required as the FAA makes up their mind on that 28th finding. This does mean that the feature remains and the operational impact on the pilot will be nearly invisible.
We don't have a date from the FAA as to when they think they can decide on that 28th item nor have they supplied dates during which they can support TIA yet.
BTW, I asked about sequestration and the effects it may be
having on the FAA now. As you may recall, the current date for
sequestration is 1 March. The official FAA policy right now is 30 days
prior to that, changes start happening so we’re already in that window.
As of 1 March, all non mission critical FAA employees are to
be furloughed.
30 days prior, all non mission critical travel is cancelled
and employees are encouraged to clear as much work off their to-do lists as
feasible. We surely don't want sequestration to come to pass but it seems like some impacts are already being realized. Wish we knew more or had a highly deterministic outcome but we don't yet.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2013 at 9:34pm
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2013 at 9:45pm
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I'm afraid this is "normal" and par for the course when trying to get complicated systems certified. We, and all of our competitors go through this all the time.
There are never any shortage of challenges.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2013 at 11:39am
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(SynVis Progress Update - 22 Feb 2013)
The FAA has settled (sort of) their internal struggle to have a unified position to the 28th issue from MPSUE. They actually broke it into two issues, closed one and left the other for further evaluation during TIA.
With that, we know what further changes we will make to address the adjustable field-of-view findings and will make those in the next few days.
That will also allow us to start the software test-for-credit task which will take a few weeks once started due to the size and number of changes made in Rel 9.3.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2013 at 6:53pm
(SynVis Progress Update - 5 March 2013)
We have completed the software changes on our end and have entered official Software Test-For-Credit (TFC). It will take us several weeks to get through TFC and I'll make a new post when we have, or earlier if there is something interesting to report.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2013 at 9:22pm
Good to hear there is progress. There are 3 R9 aircraft heading off on a flying safari to South Australia on April 15th. What do you think our chances are of having Synvis for the trip?
Regards
Andrew
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2013 at 6:19pm
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Sounds like that's a NO then........
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2013 at 8:47pm
Sorry Andrew - missed the original question but no good news on the question. We won't have cert in time for your April trip. Sounds like a great trip, just wish our software was certified in time for it.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2013 at 9:34pm
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We leave in a few days. Last chance!!!!!! Seriously, any news. How are things going? Regards Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 11 Apr 2013 at 4:50pm
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As expected, we won't have cert in time for your April trip but progress to the finish line continues. We're in the middle of formal software test-for-credit for Release 9.3. It's a massive undertaking and has a few weeks left to go. So far, there have been no surprises or problems. We started the testing in early March and the test metrics say we're about halfway through.
When that testing is done, we'll enter into FAA TIA testing (their final exam flight test) and when that's done, wrap up any loose ends with the paperwork and await cert.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Apr 2013 at 4:35pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 19 April 2013)
Not done yet but here's a metric/data point for reference. As noted earlier, we are in official software test for credit. There are a total of 842 tests that we have to run and pass. As of this entry, we've successfully completed 623 of the 842 meaning we have 219 tests, or 26% still to go.
Some of those 219 tests are quickies and some are a lot more involved and time-consuming and I'm afraid I'm not smart enough to be able to project how many days of testing we still have. I will say that the remaining 219 tests are no harder or longer than the previous 623 so you can make your own projections if curious.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 10 May 2013 at 9:42am
(SynVis Progress Update - 10 May 2013)
Data point update on SynVis test for credit progress.......
Hit some tough tests recently (previous tests were a few years old and we have updated the test environment a lot since then so a lot of the tests need updating/rewriting). No failures, just slow going.
As of Wed two days ago, we had completed 678 of the 849 tests meaning we have 21.1% still to go.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: Grahambo
Date Posted: 30 May 2013 at 6:26am
Hi guys, hope the testing is going well, we are all waiting for some good news on this so we can fly it this summer!
Is the work you are doing required for synvis on the IFD 440 & 540 as well? Also given that I understand that the software for R9 and the two IFD's are the same, are there plans for the MLX770 to work on that platform? In Europe we have the issue that MLX770 work on the old Entegra system but not R9.
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N482CD SR22GTS R9
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 30 May 2013 at 3:35pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 30 May 2013)
Data point update on SynVis test for credit progress.......
As of Wed 29 May, we had completed 715 of the 867 (we've added some tests in the past two weeks) tests meaning we have 17.5% still to go. We've added some additional engineers to the testing task and for the last few days, we're knocking out about 10 tests per day. We think that will ramp up to 15ish per day within a week.
Yes, the FLTA portion of SynVis in R9 is identical to that in the IFD440/540.
We definitely are keenly aware of the desire for the MLX770 to work on R9 and the IFD440/540s and expect to get to that in an upcoming release but it is not part of 9.3 or the initial release of the 540.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2013 at 4:28am
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How is that 15 tests per day coming along? Must be getting close if you hit that mark. No pressure or anything........ Regards Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2013 at 8:02pm
Not sure. I'm on the west coast right now so I'll check on Monday when I return.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Jun 2013 at 8:28am
(SynVis Progress Update - 14 June 2013)
As of Thurs 13 June we have completed 751 of the 867 tests meaning we have 13.4% still to go.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2013 at 8:36pm
(SynVis Progress Update - 21 June 2013)
As of this afternoon, we have completed 793 of the 867 tests, leaving 8.5% still to go. The rest do look tough.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: MysticCobra
Date Posted: 24 Jun 2013 at 12:27am
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Can you confirm "...do look tough"? (I'm hoping you meant, "...don't look tough," and just made a typo!)
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 24 Jun 2013 at 10:12am
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No typo.
We've actually run all those remaining tests in the last week and each has some problem with the test script to repair. The test script repairs look tricky in some cases and that's what I'm referring to.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 9:38am
(SynVis Progress Update - 8 July 2013)
As of 5 July, we have completed 855 of 915 tests, leaving 6.6% still to go.
As you can see, the total test count increased since the last report. This is principally due to adding more tests to more completely test new functionality. The remaining tests have all been run but the tests (so far no code, just tests) need updating/corrections to get working.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: tony
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 7:49pm
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Steve, don't ya just love software guys....they are always 95 percent complete...
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 22 Jul 2013 at 10:58am
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(SynVis Progress Update - 19 July 2013)
As of 19 July, we have completed 876 of 915 tests, leaving 4.3% still to go. Looks like we're doing about 1% per week with these tough last group.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2013 at 11:58pm
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Someone at Oshkosh went to an Avidyne presentation and posted this on the COPA forum The CEO at the press conference showed a PPT chart that had 9.3 after the 540 certification. He indicated he thought it would most likely be first half 2014. Are we really still 6~12 months away? Regards Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2013 at 6:44pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 7 August 2013)
Still digging out from Oshkosh and have not had time to find CEO and ask him what he meant. I can report that as of today, we have completed 903 of 915 tests in the software test for credit, leaving 1.4% still to go.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: tmorgan
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2013 at 12:44pm
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Jake: Now that you are inside 2% remaining, can you describe the remaining steps that you must accomplish to get to the release/distribution of sysvis? Perhaps all of us anxious folks can use that to reach an estimate of time remaining. Thanks, Tom
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2013 at 2:23pm
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You bet.
First an update - we only got through 2 of the remaining 12 tests last week - really tough sledding right now.
When we complete the Software Test For Credit ("TFC", composed of successfully running these 915 tests), we have the following steps to accomplish:
1. Run the "Integrated System Test". The IST takes a more holistic (sorry, had to throw that word in there) approach to the system testing. Instead of the specific requirements-based test approach that the Software TFC is, the IST is a system-level "torture" test type of approach. 1000 power cycles, abrupt power interruptions, various types of off-road torture tests, etc. This typically takes a few days.
2. When the Software TFC is complete, the software has reached the "Red Label" milestone. We need Red Label and a conformed test article and test aircraft to perform the following:
A. Submit for, and conduct, a FAA "Request For Conformity". This takes a couple days and provides evidence/proof that the units under test (R9 boxes and the test aircraft) are in a known configuration and conform to released drawings. RFC is needed for the B and C below.
B. Perform Company Test. This is composed of flying the conformed company aircraft through a series of flight test points that demonstrate the system performs as advertised and in adherence with the various FAA published standards for Synthetic Vision (and that we didn't break anything else in the process). The output of this step is a released company test report that the FAA will review in combination with the RFC to accomplish step C below. The testing will take about a week (assuming weather and aircraft and pilot all stay cooperative) and the report takes a few days to generate.
C. Perform FAA Type Inspection Authority (TIA) testing. This is the FAA run "Final Exam" testing. Sometimes they delegate this back to us to perform, sometimes they conduct it themselves. It consists of about a day's worth of ground testing and about 2ish days of flight testing. The output of this activity is an FAA-written TIA Report (TIAR). It is this TIA Report that the FAA uses as the thumbs up/down document from it's flight test department to sign off on the STC.
3. Produce and submit the final TSO document package. Many of those docs can't be completed until we hit Red Label status. We've turned these docs about 50 times in the last decade so we know exactly how to produce them, they just take some time to create, even with using previous program templates. That takes about 2ish weeks to generate all those docs and get them internally approved and DER approved and submitted to the FAA.
4. Produce and submit the final STC document package. Very similar story and timeline to step #3 above.
5. Await the FAA review of the material in Steps 3 and 4. If clean and comment free (not often the case) that typically takes 1-3 weeks. If returned with findings, then obviously longer, the duration being dependent on the nature of the FAA change requests. The output of this step is a signed off on TSO and STC.
5A. A different part of the FAA ("AEG") also needs to review and sign off on the flight manual supplement. They typically turn that document review in a matter of days but it always remains a schedule risk item dependent on that office's current workload and body availability.
6. Ship the software release to the field. We typically do this a day or two after TSO/STC granting. One noteworthy item for R9.3 is that the database size to support SynVis is such that the on-board storage needs to be upgraded. So, unless that storage increase has been accomplished on your R9 units in the last 6ish months, the R9 boxes (or just one of the blades per unit) will need to take a trip through the Avidyne factory for that upgrade.
There are a couple of other miscellaneous tasks but I think this should provide a decent overview and standard reporting milestones for you to track progress. Hope this helps (and yes, we know you all are extremely anxious to get this update into your aircraft!).
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2013 at 10:50am
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(SynVis Progress Update - 3 Sep 2013)
As of Friday, 30 August we had only 4 tests left to complete of the 915. When those last ones are done, we'll move on the Integrated System Test (IST) step.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2013 at 9:43pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 18 Sep 2013)
Last week we finished the Software Test for Credit tests. We're now in the midst of the Integrated System Test (IST) step. We've added some extra robustness tests that will add some duration to the IST step.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2013 at 3:43pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 3 Oct 2013)
We hit a glitch during Integrated System Tests. We found a problem with integration to Mode S transponders during the end game testing which we've subsequently fixed and are now re-doing IST. That caused about 2 weeks of damage. Not the end of the world but certainly not optimal.
We are now dry-running the company test points (flight test stuff) now so that we've run them all once prior to going Red Label and doing it for credit.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: tmorgan
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 8:31pm
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Jake: In light of this.... One noteworthy item for R9.3 is that the database size to support SynVis is such that the on-board storage needs to be upgraded. So, unless that storage increase has been accomplished on your R9 units in the last 6ish months, the R9 boxes (or just one of the blades per unit) will need to take a trip through the Avidyne factory for that upgrade. ......have you considered starting the hardware upgrade program now so that the week++ delay to remove/ship/upgrade/ship/re-install can be accomplished in parallel with completing the s/w development? Thanks, Tom
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:01pm
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Tom Where did that info come from? Thats a bigger deal for those of us outside the US because of the shipment delays involved. Would be interesting to hear a bit more detail. Is it a GPS blade that has to go back I wonder? Regards Andrew
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:04pm
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Sorry I just saw it at the end of the 21 August post. Question to AviJake - Can we work out what storage we have on our current setup someway? I had an IFD changed out a while back so am not sure what the situation would be with my aircraft. Cheers Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:13pm
We did check and it's not feasible to start the hardware upgrade ahead of time. The detailed answer is very complex but suffice it to say we would have a hardware/software incompatibility if we tried to get a head start and upgrade the hardware right now. Sorry guys.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:18pm
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(SynVis Progress Update - 10 Oct 2013)
We're 1-3 days away from going Red Label. That will be a great milestone. Keep your fingers crossed that the US budget gets resolved before then - we need the FAA cert office to sign off on conformity before we can start the for-credit flight test and they are completely shut down during the budget crisis. If it isn't resolved by Red Label, then we go into a day-for-day slip.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:27pm
Steve - What piece of gear are we going to have to send in for upgrading. Is it the GPS blades or the whole IFD?
regardsAndrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:33pm
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The whole IFD. There are other components of the unit that we'll upgrade in addition to the main flight software. We just couldn't come up with a workable set of logistics to get that done in the field or via just one blade.
We're now trying to work through various logistics options that make down time for your airplane as minimal as possible. Current options run from same day upgrade due to exchange pool assets to units crossing in the mail, to ship the units to Avidyne and wait to get those same units back. We know the impact the longer options mean, especially for overseas folks like yourself.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:39pm
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Having one reserve unit sent out and the aircraft here upgraded one by one in rotation as the IFD goes back and the next one is sent out would be great if you can manage that. Means a delay in upgrading for the later aircraft but minimum downtime for each plane.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:45pm
Understood. It may be a while before we sort out the plan and I bet we'll have several plans in play depending on where in the world the units have to go.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2013 at 9:46pm
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Looking forward to getting this capability.......FINALLY :)
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 7:36am
(SynVis Progress Update - 16 Oct 2013) We hit "Red Label" status this morning. We're now waiting for a budget to get passed so that the FAA cert office can open back up and we can move on with FAA conformity and company flight test. R9.3 is in a holding pattern until that can happen.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2013 at 1:43pm
(SynVis Progress Update - 25 Oct 2013) We still haven't gotten any traction with the FAA in having their signoff for conformity (required before we can do company test that counts as submittable). In the meantime, here is a link to the draft pilot guide for R9.3 so at least you can see what's new/in store. This version of the R9.3 PG is still in Draft format for two reasons - I have some formatting issues to resolve in the Table Of Contents and the FAA hasn't officially signed off on the release yet. But, that being said, I fully expect the content to remain unchanged. Let me know if you have any feedback. This link will take to a page of various tech pubs. At the top is a section of pilot guides. The first is the current shipping version of software and the one labeled R9.3 Pilot Guide is the new version.
http://www.avidyne.com/support/downloads/r9.asp" rel="nofollow - http://www.avidyne.com/support/downloads/r9.asp
For reference, here is a high-level list of the changes included in R9.3.
Major Items in
Release:
1.
Synthetic
Vision
2.
3-screen
support including changing CAS behavior in 3-screen systems
3.
Weather
Radar
4.
Improved
map panning and user interface responsiveness
5.
Additional
DME integration
6.
Improved
ADAHRS alignment indications
7.
Added
more capability to left IFD
8.
Added
user option to suppress Flap Overspeed Aural Alert
9.
AXP340
Mode S ADS-B Transponder support
10. Added Meridian aircraft type
11. Added Epic aircraft type
12. Honeywell IHAS traffic support
13. WSI Datalink performance
improvements
14. Added Canadian, Mexican and
Caribbean METARS and TAFs
15. Additional ELT types support
16. Additional datalogging
17. Datablock enhancements
18. Added Canadian Mandatory
Frequencies to Freq List
19. Added a watermark to expired
Charts but continued display indefinitely
Software Issues
Fixed:
1.
55X
Integration Issues resolved
2.
Stale
Datalink product issues resolved
3.
Cross-side
VHF radio squelch break issues resolved
4.
Autopilot
behavior on course reversals resolved
5.
Traffic
alert suppression while on the ground
6.
Chart
Day/Night mode now matches dimming bus day/night mode
7.
Mode
S remote ident fixed
8.
SR22G3T
checklist fixed
9.
Next
DTK datablock error resolved
10. Fixed integration issues with
Shadin Miniflo fuel computer
11. Ensure glideslope always
automatically arms on a WAAS approach when it should
12. Dozens of other subtle bugs
resolved.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: Grahambo
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2013 at 7:08am
Hi Steve
Can you tell me if the software release supports ACK ELT's?
Graham Boulger
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N482CD SR22GTS R9
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2013 at 2:28pm
Yes, it does as long as you are using one of the Aviation 232 format ACK ELTs. I'm not familiar with their entire product line but we do explicitly support the Aviation 232 variants.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: Ragate
Date Posted: 11 Dec 2013 at 10:54am
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I'm sure you're tired of the same question, but are there any updates? I'm assuming Q4 is out.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 12 Dec 2013 at 7:58pm
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Q4 is probably out. I don't ever throw the FAA under the bus unless it is warranted and it is now.
The Boston office is maxed out and Avidyne (and I think others) are on the short end of that stick. Combined with end of year (use or lose) vacation status for the FAA and normal holidays, I am not optimistic we'll see approval before the end of the year.
The ACO has flat out told us they won't likely even start servicing the project until Jan. I suppose a Christmas miracle is possible but I believe it is extremely unlikely.
We've been ready for weeks and weeks and turned in our data a long time ago. And still we wait.
Let me be clear it is not a lack of desire on their part, just a result of some internal prioritization that we are unable to influence in a meaningful way.
This has reached a point of extreme frustration.
What further aggravates the situation is the 8.33 kHz spacing mandate in Europe that takes effect on/about 1 Jan. R9.3 has the 8.33 support and while the FAA has frequently acknowledged they understand the deadline and the motivation to get 9.3 approved, I am not optimistic that even that will influence approval dates.
Wish I had happier news.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2014 at 8:05am
(SynVis Progress Update - 10 Jan 2014)
Still waiting on final approvals. Things are now moving at the local ACO but I'm estimating it will take until about 15 Feb for final sign off based on the current pace.
I'll make a new post if that date looks like it will move by more than a week either direction.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: TheFlightstuff
Date Posted: 11 Feb 2014 at 5:13pm
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Wow thats great news. This is release 9.3 correct? Will this also include activation of the MLX unit for in flight weather here in Europe?
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Flying in Europe? go to http://www.rocketroute.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 11 Feb 2014 at 8:20pm
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I wish it were great news.
Yesterday, the FAA informed us of a brand new requirement for data package submittals they are now mandating. It is shockingly frustrating to introduce a brand new type of data submission requirement at the 11th hour and 58th minute.
We were completely unsuccessful in convincing them that it is needless data and in direct contradiction to published guidance on the data submission content. So, we are now trying to get our heads around the magnitude of this additional data they are demanding and how hard/long it will take to create it.
It would appear at this time to be on the order of several thousands of pages of effort. Standby as we scramble to deal with it.
(BTW, MLX support is not part of R9.3.)
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: TheFlightstuff
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 2:34am
Sounds like you need a better legal team to fight the FAA on this.
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Flying in Europe? go to http://www.rocketroute.com
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Posted By: tony
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 5:38am
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are they requiring more artifacts and essentially driving you from DO-178B to C?
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Posted By: BoilerUP
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 6:15am
This is getting kind of ridiculous.
Has Garmin, Collins, Honeywell, or even Aspen Avionics had the same kind of nightmarish time getting synthetic vision approved?
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 8:32am
This is getting ridiculous. Are we ever going to see this product?
Why are you guys subjected to this while the other guys get their product out years ago?
I don't get it. You need a lobbyist.
Regards
Andrew
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 8:50am
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Yes, this is ridiculous.
What most people don't realize is that there are multiple FAAs. Each region of the US is covered by a different certification office and they can, and sometimes do, apply different standards to applicants. This is clearly not the intent of the FAA and they have some mechanisms in place to minimize the likelihood but in practice, it's not foolproof and this is definitely and example of that.
We're still working out the true impact of this new requirement on the cert date. It's a non-trivial undertaking.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 9:14am
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Are the FAA offices Garmin and Aspen use really that much more "reasonable"? It seems bizarre that a company can be subjected to such a competitive disadvantage due to the governments inconsistent application of policy. Don't you have a congressman or senator or someone fighting your corner? The FAA are going to send you guys broke at this rate. I don't even live there and this still pisses me off.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 12 Feb 2014 at 9:21am
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Welcome to the world of certification. It can be maddening at times.
Garmin and Aspen use different offices from us and from each other. Both are subjected to the same kind of thing at times. Garmin has programs going for years before the public is aware. Aspen and Avidyne elect to inform the public of products/programs when they start. All have cert challenges.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: aoffen
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2014 at 8:41am
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Any news on how long this latest flaming hoop is going to take to jump thru?
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2014 at 10:08am
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Maybe.
About an hour ago, we finished the work that we understood we had to add. We're now trying to schedule a session with the ACO to walk our way through this new material with them to see if it meets their new expectations.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 04 Mar 2014 at 7:58pm
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(R9.3 and SynVis Cert Update - 4 Mar 2014)
The FAA has committed to spending time this coming Friday 7 Mar to review the new data we've submitted per their request.
I'll post an update on how that meeting goes.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 07 Mar 2014 at 5:18pm
(R9.3 and SynVis Cert Update - 7 Mar 2014)
The FAA audit came off flawlessly today with zero findings or otherwise actionable items after 5 hours of review.
That log jam is now resolved and on to the next one (which happens to be DO-254 compliance concerns). We're working with yet another FAA rep to try and resolve that one.
Should know more early next week.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
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Posted By: tony
Date Posted: 07 Mar 2014 at 9:02pm
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Steve, you needs to ask the ACO to delegate approval authority to the company DERs . Given the amount of work you guys do, the ACO would have done that by now.
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Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 9:08pm
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(R9.3 and SynVis Cert Update - 19 March 2014)
We had an unexpected but welcome visit today from the FAA who spent a few hours in our lab "flying" SynVis. These were the flight test guys who are just one part of the full FAA cert team.
Nevertheless, that visit was very helpful in that they officially closed out all open human factors MPSUE issues - there had been 12 left open that were going to be evaluated during TIA flights.
They are also talking (I emphasize talking only - no actual decision has been made yet) about delegating all TIA back to us. That has become a lot easier for them to do with the closure of the MPSUE items that were supposed to be evaluated by the FAA during TIA.
On the continued disappointing news front, there has been zero progress on the DO-254 compliance issue the FAA has raised. We're working with them to unblock that log jam but so far, no dice. I will say this issue appears to reside entirely within the FAA. We're trying to figure this one out.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com
|
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