Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Jetcraft Avionics is unveiling an enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) that will be available for aftermarket retrofit in business jets.


Jetcraft’s HUD Vision Access system consists of an Elbit-Kollsman EVS II enhanced vision system combined with an Elbit AT-HUD head-up display. The first installation is underway on a Bombardier Challenger 604, and once that is certified, Jetcraft plans to develop similar installations on a Bombardier CRJ200 and Challenger 605. Jetcraft is announcing the EFVS retrofit program tomorrow at an event at the Elbit exhibit (“The Future of Low Visibility Operations” at Booth No. 4185, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.), and at the same time introducing the aviation world to a new personal-computer-based HUD simulator training and practice program developed by FlyRealHUDs.com.


Before Jetcraft’s development of an aftermarket EFVS retrofit, the benefits of lower landing minima (generally 100 feet lower for ILS and LPV GPS approaches with vertical guidance) were available only to new aircraft equipped with EFVS. The Jetcraft EFVS upgrade will be the first aftermarket EFVS (HUD with EVS) solution. In addition to credit for approaches, Jetcraft is working with industry committees and regulators to seek approval for credit for surface movement guidance and reduced takeoff minima.


For pilots, a key feature of EFVS is that the infrared EVS image is displayed on the HUD. While other companies are working on approach/landing minima credit for head-down displays (using primary flight displays instead of HUDs), the EFVS combination of EVS and HUD is currently the only way to employ the 100-foot credit. So this means that pilots using EFVS need to learn how to use the system, and this is where FlyRealHUDS.com comes in.


Learning how to use a HUD is challenging because the only way to practice is to book some time in an expensive full-motion simulator. FlyRealHUDs.com has developed a much lower cost way around this problem, a plugin piece of HUD simulator software that works on the X-Plane flight simulator (both PC and Apple Macintosh, version 10.10 or later). With the FlyRealHUDs.com plugin, pilots and simulator enthusiasts can fly any X-Plane aircraft with a full-blown real airliner or business jet HUD. The HUD plugin includes all the normal HUD features, such as the flight path vector, flight director cue, acceleration cue, angle-of-attack, EVS mode, glideslope and localizer indicators, rollout guidance, runway remaining, etc.


The benefit of using a program like FlyRealHUDs.com is that pilots can not only learn how to use a HUD, they can also practice flying with a HUD in varying weather conditions and also practice flying HUD-assisted instrument approaches into unfamiliar airports. X-Plane allows users to set any kind of weather conditions, or use existing real weather, time and date. “The FlyRealHUDs.com application may in the future be used as part of operator recurrent training,” according to Jetcraft. Demos of the FlyRealHUDs.com plugin are available at the Elbit booth, along with more information about the Jetcraft-Elbit-Kollsman Hud Vision Access EFVS retrofit.

New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

Jetcraft, Elbit-Kollsman Offering HUD/EVS Retrofit

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Hanneke Weitering

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Garmin introduced the third-generation flight deck last month

Beta’s Electric Airplane Debuts Garmin G3000 Prime Avionics

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

Approval enables operators to add head-up display to King Air turboprops

Global Aviation STCs ClearVision EFVS in King Airs

Upgrade adds 3D synthetic vision and next-gen capabilities

Thornton Aviation Installs InSight Suite on Falcon 900B

Chad Trautvetter

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Automation helps reduce pilot workload and improve passenger comfort

Autothrottles on HondaJet Elite II Get FAA Nod

Tests are being done in an Eclipse 550 twinjet

Eclipse Flight Tests Daedalean Visual Awareness System

Advancements promise to make pilots' jobs easier and safer

Universal Avionics All In on Artificial Intelligence

Jessica Reed

News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

Session will cover current and coming connectivity solutions

Duncan Aviation’s Vena Talks Connectivity at NBAA-BACE

Charles Alcock

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

NBAA Convention News 2012

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