Avionics
L-3 Avionics unveils SmartDeck cockpit
For an avionics maker striving to create a truly intuitive integrated flight deck, there are worse places to look for inspiration than Apple.

In

For an avionics maker striving to create a truly intuitive integrated flight deck, there are worse places to look for inspiration than Apple.

In developing the company’s SmartDeck integrated cockpit, L-3 Avionics Systems engineers have produced an easy-to-use yet sophisticated pilot interface that applies design elements from the world of personal computers (and Apple’s ubiquitous iPod) to create an avionics system that impresses from the moment it’s switched on. Selected by Cirrus for its developmental single-engine personal jet, SmartDeck could very well end up changing the way other avionics manufacturers think about flight deck design.