Re: Future of Electronics In Aviation

Le Chaud Lapin <jaibuduvin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> That very same computer could communicate flight plan to ground, store
> minute details of entire flight on hard disk and automatically move
> them to home computer for recap....

Glass panel systems are already on the market that have those capabilities

today (except the "auto move" stuff), such as Dynon products:

http://www.dynonavionics.com/

Whatever capabilities you think aren't there yet, you can rest assured
that 
avionics makers are already working on fully integrated systems.

> On Jun 20, 5:16 am, Dylan Smith <dy...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Control electronics does exist for GA, it's called an autopilot, and
>> they've been around for a long time (some more sophisticated than
>> others). Some engines are also available with FADEC.
> 
> These systems are massively expensive, and there is much redundancy.
> For example, the entire radio stack could be eliminated by a software
> radio, which controls fed through LCD monitor.

That's already being done. I think you need to review what is already 
available.

>  The software radi
> costs <$1000.  The computer would be one of same 2 computers used for
> other functions.

The software development costs for such systems run into the millions of 
dollars but the number of unit sales is, at best, under a hundred thousand

- I suspect more typically a few thousand units. Add in the hardware costs

and such equipment can rarely be sold for under a couple thousand.