Based on flight planning actions performed by the pilot, such as pre-populating the flight plan with winds and temperatures aloft, the app delivers updated flight plan trajectory and routing data to the FMS before and during the flight. Jean-Marie Bégis, director of product management and partnerships for Universal Avionics, provided a demonstration of how pilots can also use FlightPartner to send re-routing updates wirelessly to the FMS directly from their iPad using a tablet and FMS at their booth at AEA. The application is also capable of managing navigation or synthetic vision system database updates for the FMS.
Both iPad apps are hosted on a secure data cloud maintained by the Arizona-based avionics maker and are capable of two-way communications, data collection, and uploading and downloading of FMS and other avionics systems data.įlightPartner is the more pilot-centric of the two applications, allowing pilots to build and file a complete flight plan on their iPad, upload it to the FMS upon aircraft power-up, and dynamically alter it throughout the flight. Universal Avionics first launched its new connected FMS technology as the cloud-based FlightPartner and FlightReview “Connectivity Ecosystem” iPad applications during the 2021 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference and exhibition.
The new “Connectivity Ecosystem” technology from Universal Avionics that gives pilots the ability to connect their iPads to their flight management system (FMS) could see its first passenger-carrying flights this year, according to a demonstration of FlightPartner and FlightReview provided to Avionics International during last week’s Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) convention in New Orleans. Universal Avionics provided a demonstration of its new FlightPartner-pictured here-and FlightReview "Connectivity Ecosystem" applications during the 2022 Aircraft Electronics Association's annual convention last week in New Orleans.