Aspen Partners with Honeywell

Before I go into the details of our partnership with Honeywell, I have to offer readers of my blog an apology. I have not been a faithful blogger, but I know at least some of you can sympathize with a task that always gets moved to the bottom of the priority list. It’s not that I didn’t think about my blog; it’s not that my staff didn’t give me gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) reminders about the blog – I just didn’t do it. I have loads of stuff to write about – including working on my instrument rating and my second annual flight from Albuquerque to Sun ‘n Fun – more on that trip later. Suffice it to say I hope to improve my frequency of blog posts and I’ll start out with filling you in on what’s we’re doing with Honeywell.

You might have already heard the news that we’ll be working with Honeywell in the months ahead. For those who haven’t heard the news, Honeywell and Aspen announced at AEA – that’s the Aircraft Electronics Association, which holds an annual convention for avionics dealers and manufacturers – and Sun ‘n Fun that Aspen will be working with Honeywell to complete the development and certification of the KSN770 GPS Navigator. Concurrent with that announcement is that the KSN770 will include a touch screen interface.

Let me tell you about the KSN770: It has full touch screen capabilities with a large 5.7” screen. The button and knob interface will allow the user to do everything via touch screen or traditional knob and buttons. The unit has a full functional WAAS GPS with integrated radios and localizer performance with LPV guidance with integrated data link weather. Options include: interface to onboard weather radar, interface to EGPWS, charts and maps.

We think the price is affordable at $12,995. Just like the Aspen Evolution, there is an ease of installation – the form factor fits well in all aircraft. So when is it available? We’re counting on the end of 2011 for certification, and we’ll be announcing more at Oshkosh.

Of course, we’re delighted as a small, relatively new company to be selected by an industry giant such as Honeywell for our expertise. Actually, we’re a good match when you combine Aspen’s focus on General Aviation and Honeywell’s focus on technology. Together, we provide the General Aviation consumer a focus on their requirements and the flexibility to integrate into many different aircraft.

Integration of the KSN770 with Aspen’s Evolution system will provide both existing customers and new customers unprecedented capabilities at a price that will allow the entire market to capitalize on the safety and value that this brings to the industry. We expect that this combination will provide the consumer with choices and competition in the market that will benefit all.

I hope that you want to know more, including being able to actually see the KSN770. You’ll be able to do that this summer at Oshkosh. The KSN770 will be on display at both the Honeywell and Aspen Avionics booths as well as at Aspen’s popular North 40 tent. (As an aside, Aspen is the sponsor of the North 40 Aircraft Parking and we have a hospitality tent set up with air conditioning, water and other amenities. We also arrange for our customers to park their aircraft by our tent so show-goers can see Aspen installations in different makes and models.) In any event, come to the Aspen booth at AirVenture (Hangar B-2145) to touch and see the power and flexibility of the KSN770 and its interface with the Aspen Evolution System. I sincerely believe you’ll be impressed with its operation, screen size and the sheer capability of the system.