A message from Matt Nuffort, Senior Product Manager at Avidyne

This is a post from Matt Nuffort, Senior Product Manager, that can also be found at http://avidynelive.com/forum_topics.asp?FID=15&title=avidyne-product-development.  Matt will be hosting his own blog on our AvidyneLive site but I will post here as well for the COPA community.  Patrick

Like many of you reading this blog, I like to go fast.  Speed is both a means of getting places sooner, an invaluable result for a busy schedule, and fuel for a soul that feeds on adrenaline and competition.  Most of us fly airplanes, in part, for their speed.  Of course, speed is relative.  Relative to a car, an airplane almost always wins, especially when traffic and terrain become factors in the drive.  The Cirrus SR22 I fly most frequently is a fast airplane, amazingly fast when you consider its single-engine, fixed-gear configuration.  My boss often reminds me how slow it is, however, relative to the A-10 he flew in the Air Force.  No doubt many of his Air Force buddies remind him how slow the A-10 is relative to other flying machines. 

Nonetheless, we all appreciate the speed of our aircraft relative to earth-bound transportation options.  We are constantly seeking a means of going faster, either by making the aircraft itself faster, trading up to a faster aircraft, or adding systems that streamline our planning and routing to our destination.  

This blog will focus on numerous topics related to avionics, aircraft electronics that can make an aircraft safer, more useful, lighter (and thus faster?), easier to use, and, yes, even faster.  Avionics is where the vast majority of innovation is occurring in aviation right now, and it is for this reason that I have found myself feeding my passion for aviation by working in the avionics industry for the past 8 years, first in the Air Force and now at Avidyne.

Topics I plan to address in this blog include questions like:

1. How will avionics change the way I fly?

2. What are the most valuable avionics to install in my aircraft? 

3. Why have glass cockpits become so popular?

4. How do avionics improve safety?  Can travel in a Cirrus SR22 be statistically safer than traveling by automobile?

5. Why does user interface (UI) matter in avionics design?

6. Why does architecture matter in avionics design?

7. What type of training is required for new glass cockpits?

8. How can avionics increase the utility of my aircraft?

9. Does Synthetic Vision really make me safer?  What about Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS)?

10. What are the next frontiers in avionics?

My intent with this blog is to generate discussions about avionics.  I mentioned in my biographical sketch that I’m responsible for defining the product roadmap at Avidyne and, on a more short-term scale, which features make it into the next software release for our new state-of-the-art integrated system.  Our stated goal at Avidyne is to design avionics that make flying safer, increase the utility of your airplane, and are easier to use.  Of course, it is my belief that ease of use will inherently increase safety and utility.  A system that is easy to use inspires confidence in the user, and this confidence can lead to increased utility of the airplane.   Intuitive, easy-to-use avionics also require less initial training and less recurrent training to remain proficient.  For busy people who may not fly as much as they like, this outcome also results in greater utility.  More to come on the topic of ease-of-use design in a subsequent post…

Matt Nuffort

Senior Product Manager, Avidyne