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

L3 Aviation Products has received FAA technical standard order (TSO) authorization as well as an approved model list supplemental type certificate (AML-STC) for its EFI-650 LCD cockpit display in a number of regional and legacy business aircraft. L3 has also submitted paperwork to EASA and Transport Canada for their approvals.&nbsp;


The EFI-650 was developed as part of L3’s alliance with Thomas Global Systems and incorporates the latter company's branded Adaptive Display Architecture processing technology. L3 Aviation Products is a division of L3Technologies (Booth Y60).


Weighing half a pound, the EFI-650 is an LED-backlit LCD. That's about half as much weight as the cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays that it replaces. It is a form-fit-function replacement, meaning that the EFI-650 can quickly be swapped with old, worn-out CRTs that are too expensive to repair. When the old CRTs are removed, so, too, are their high-voltage power supplies, which are no longer needed. There is also no need for cooling fans as the new displays are passively cooled.


Tens of thousands of business jets—Challengers, Citations,&nbsp;Falcons, Gulfstreams and Hawkers—and regional airliners still fly with CRT displays and are candidates for the EFI-650 upgrade, according to Larry Riddle, L3 Aviation Products v-p of marketing and sales for general aviation. “I think the potential is significant.” Parts and repairs for CRTs are increasingly difficult to find, and the mean-time-between-failure for the EFI-650 is more than 25,000 hours. The new displays can be swapped&nbsp;individually or all at once, giving operators latitude in how much they want to spend as their CRTs wear out.&nbsp;Retail price of the EFI-650 is $34,500.&nbsp;


“This solution is lighter, produces less heat and requires less power than aging CRTs,” said L3 Aviation Products president Stuart Mullan, “and will extend the life of legacy aircraft by offering reliable active-matrix LCD technology for displaying critical flight data.”

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News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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