25 July 2017
The first certified aircraft to have non-certified avionics as the primary instrument display is… Cubcrafter’s XCub.
On the first day of this year’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, US manufacturer, CubCrafters, announced FAA approval of a non-TSO’d, fully-integrated EFIS avionics suite for its Part 23 certified XCub. The approval came via an amendment to the type certificate and allows the use of Garmin’s G3X Touch system and also its digital autopilot.
The G3X Touch is already the avionics suite of choice for builders of Cubcrafter’s Carbon Cub kitplane.
Before this announcement, other OEMs have received approvals of non-certified products, originally intended for the experimental and LSA markets, for retrofit on Part 23 light aircraft. However, this is the first time any manufacturer has received such an approval for the complete primary flight instrumentation suite on a Part 23 Certified aircraft panel.
Garmin’s G3X Touch system, already a favourite with kitplane builders, will be fitted to the certified Cubcrafters XCub, pictured top.
CubCrafters’ panel includes the Garmin G3X Touch flight display, GTR 200R comm radio and GTX 335R transponder. The GTX 335 includes an integrated WAAS/GPS position source enabling ADS-B Out. Garmin’s dual-axis autopilot, including the GMC 307 control head, is available as an option.
For a while, the new panel will include Sandia’s SAI 340 Quattro multi-function indicator at no additional charge. The self-powered four-in-one backup EFIS provides Airspeed, Attitude, Altitude, and Slip indications.
