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Collins Fusion-equipped King Air B200- and B300-series aircraft.
While having ASI’s backup AHS in the pedestal indeed ensures system redundancy, it also provides signifi- cant ergonomic benefits to single- pilot operators.
“Having the standard heading se- lector mounted up on the panel is just inconvenient for pilots, especially when flying alone,” stated ASI’s VP of Customer Support, Randy Mullin. “Reaching up to the panel to make a progressive heading change while shooting an approach can be unneces- sarily difficult. It’s just easier to have the AHS located down on the pedestal. That’s where pilots want it.”
While ASI’s pedestal-mounted auxil- iary heading selector is ideally suited to reduce the workload of King Air pilots, the unit was initially devel- oped for a foreign authority special mission customer.
“Textron Aviation approached us to develop a solution for a foreign King Air operator,” explained ASI’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Evan McCorry. “They had a search and rescue mis- sion profile but didn’t want to pay to update their current FMSs.”
“Also, because of their missions, the operator wanted to be able to do heading inputs manually, and locating the unit in the pedestal would make that easier for the crew,” he added. “We engineered and manufactured the auxiliary unit in-house and were able
to do the installation in their aircraft via an FAA 337 major alteration form.” McCorry said that during the unit’s development, the ASI team realized that the AHS would be a great addi- tion to any Collins Pro Line 21- or Fusion-equipped King Air because of its benefits. The company has earned FAA STC validation and foreign cer- tification approvals from EASA, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and Argen- tina. Both of the ASI configurations, with and without USB ports, have FAA parts manufacturing authority
(PMA) approvals.
While providing a fully redundant,
remote-mounted auxiliary heading selector provided a host of benefits, Mullin said that the development team saw an additional opportunity with the new unit.
“King Airs don’t have any USB pow- er plugs in the cockpit, and with so many pilots relying on iPads today, that’s often a problem,” he said. “We amended our STC to offer versions of the AHS installation that includes USB A/C charging ports in the sidewall near the pilot’s and co-pilot’s seats.”
“To simplify the system’s installa- tion, the power supplies for the USB ports are located inside of the AHS chassis,” Mullen added. “Most King Air owners coordinate the installa- tion of the AHS and USB connectors with other maintenance tasks. If the cockpit seats are already removed, the components can be installed in as little as 20 hours.”
“The flight guidance panel heading (HDG) switch has historically been a single point of failure in an other- wise redundant system,” McCorry said. “Adding our auxiliary heading selector, which is isolated from the aircraft’s primary system, provides unmatched mission readiness.”
“Add the optional USB A/C charg- ing ports, and operators can provide a new level of convenience and capabili- ties to crews flying Collins Pro Line 21 and Fusion-equipped King Airs around the world,” he added. “These are amazingly capable aircraft, and we’re proud to have developed a sys- tem that adds safety by reducing a pilot’s workload.”
Dale Smith has been a commercial, private and business aviation marketing and media communications specialist for nearly 40 years. He is an award- wining aviation journalist and aviation artist. Dale has been a licensed pilot since 1974 and has flown more than 40 different types of aircraft. Contact Dale at dalesmith206@comcast.net.
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/ E M E R G I N G T E C H / January 2023 / TWIN & TURBINE • 21
The STC offers versions of the AHS installation that includes USB A/C charging ports.