While Germany-based Air Avionics is new to the U.S. avionics market, its products have been anchored in the European market for a number of years. Moreover, the company has pretty much owned the glider space as the primary provider of equipment to glider OEMs and the retrofit market because of the product line’s space-saving design, electrical efficiency, and light weight. Still, Air products haven’t been limited to gliders and aircraft with limited panel space. The company said its products are a popular retrofit option in Europe for common GA models—everything from Pipers to Cessnas to Mooneys, plus kit aircraft.
With its budget-priced smart control head/multifunction ACD-57 (Air Control Display), the company attracted attention at AirVenture this past summer with a new relationship with Kansas-based Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics, which will serve as the primary U.S. distributor that handles product support and sales. There’s also a partnership with Aithre Aviation, providing the display interface for the company’s second-gen HealthViewII cockpit biometrics display system. Here’s a summary of the Air Control Display and how it interfaces with other devices.
ACD: Smart Control Head
The backbone of the Air product line is the FAA TSO-approved ACD-57, which the company calls the Air Control Display. With a 2.25-inch clock-mount footprint and featherweight chassis, this controller/display has a color LCD display that performed well in the sun-splashed Van’s RV-10 cockpit we tried it in. It’s not touchscreen, but it really doesn’t need to be given its small stature and a shallow user feature set that’s limited to four soft keys and dual concentric rotary/push-button function knobs. These smart keys are configurable based on the external LRUs that are connected. That makes these devices—VHF comm radio, transponder, the built-in altimeter, and other systems—accessible with a single button push.
One of the primary interfaces for the ACD right now is the Air Avionics AC-1 VHF comm transceiver that was designed for tight spaces and has useful features as standard, including a Say Again feature for replaying ATC audio, separate volume control for the standby and active frequencies, and a loadable database for position-based functions including nearest comm stations. At press time, Air Avionics was working on the AX-1 ADS-B transponder interface for connection with the ACD, and in the interim the display can connect with a variety of third-party transponders including models from Trig Avionics and also the uAvionix tailBeacon X.
The Air devices connect over a CAN bus, plus use RS-232 serial data, which gives them good potential for interfacing with other systems, including third-party EFIS systems like the Garmin G3X Touch and Dynon SkyView HDX. The ACD’s built-in altimeter is fully certified for use as the primary one. The ACD also functions as a traffic display, including ADS-B targets, plus FLARM traffic that’s common for soaring ops.
Unique Hardware
We like that the Air Control Display saves space by accommodating two stackable LRUs (the Air comm radio and future transponder) directly on its rear chassis, or they can be mounted remotely with a tray. When mounting the LRUs to the control head, you attach them with a mounting bracket and simply install the combination in the panel with four mounting screws. Connect the pitot-static port to the aircraft’s pitot-static source (or leave it unconnected if you don’t use the altimeter). The systems can be provided with prefab wiring harnesses for plugging into the D-sub connectors on the rear of the chassis.
Value Priced
The Air ACD-57 control head has a list price of $649 and a typical package with the AC-1 comm transceiver is around $2000. Air Avionics hasn’t established a U.S. dealer network yet, but Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics is handling sales and product support. Look for a video report on the Air ACD in an upcoming feature in Smart Aviator and visit Air Avionics for more.
