Nighthawk Guardian Glass: Can This Thing Survive?

Not far from the Garmin metropolis at AirVenture this past summer was Nighthawk Flight Systems, a California-based avionics manufacturer that set up shop in a small exhibit to show off the Guardian integrated glass suite. Somehow I missed the announcement a couple of years ago when Nighthawk acquired what was remaining of Sandel Avionics. You’ve seen the Sandel gear, and maybe even own a Sandel SN3308 EHSI—one of the first retrofit EHSI systems. It was standard in some early Cirrus models, and shops put a ton of these things in during the late 1990s and early 2000s. They were glad to see it go—the short-life projector lamp and finicky interface connectors were a real hassle on the shop floor and what angry customers were made of.

Anyway, Sandel’s later-model 4500-series retrofit flight displays were much better and were popular for TAWS-B terrain alerting and even as primary small-screen glass for helicopter and some turbine applications. Nighthawk has continued production and support for these decent displays, but at the same time, it has been quietly developing the Guardian system—a modern multi-touch large display and sensor system aimed at a big chunk of the retrofit market. Paul Martin, Nighthawk’s convincing CEO and a longtime aerospace engineering veteran who worked on some impressive military and civilian projects over the years, made it clear that the company didn’t want to announce the Guardian until it had prime-time-ready software and hardware, plus the confidence to bring the thing over the certification finish line. When I talked with Martin at AirVenture 2025, he told me Nighthawk planned to ship the first version of the system in October of 2025 for experimental installs and then a certified version in late Q4 of 2025. By AirVenture 2026, he said the system will have evolved even further with more sensors and more screen configurations for the higher end of the market. The initial FAA STC will be for Part 23 Class I/II aircraft.

3D Graphics Worth Bragging About

During my static demo at the show, the Nighthawk folks were excited to show off the Guardian’s topographical data and 3D graphics, and while I thought the onscreen presentation was impressive, it’s really the kind of quality buyers expect in a clean-sheet integrated system. Plus, I’m just jaded—I’ve seen my share of gee-whiz flight displays. Still, from a tech and piloting standpoint, what Nighthawk is doing with the Guardian deserves a tip of the hat. Martin calls it real-world synthetic vision, displaying high-level 3D detail of the flight environment in multiple layers, with the company creating a “digital twin” of the earth and layering other pertinent pieces of data on top of the twin. The result, says Martin, is the most realistic picture of the situation the pilot is currently in. This is terrain, traffic, obstacles, wires, navigational aids, cities, roads, weather and route planning. 

This data isn’t streamed, but instead built into the system’s graphic engine. Each display has multi-touch control and dual tactical knobs, plus a joystick for moving along the map display. Tablet computer integration (a must, in my view) will be offered in the future. Based on my demo, the processors seemed to work fast, the display quality was impressive, and the user interface seemed intuitive and free of a complicated menu structure.

Currently, the Guardian displays consist of 12- and 7-inch touch displays, but other sizes are expected. These displays can be configured on the fly for split-screen functionality. An engine data interface is planned but doesn’t exist in the first version of the system. That’s a real drawback, in my view. These days, onscreen engine and fuel display is one big reason to make the investment in a big-screen glass upgrade. Garmin, Dynon and others have this interface, of course, but there’s no reason to doubt Nighthawk can’t eventually get it certified. I understand keeping things simple when lobbying for an STC.

Bigger News: Bold, Smart Hardware

This got my attention. With installation effort (and field serviceability) a big consideration in any avionics upgrade, the Guardian system hints at being the most straightforward I’ve seen yet. The panel displays are connected to LRUs (line replaceable units) that Nighthawk calls the NEST, which is a centralized hub containing all the functions required for a full suite of flight instruments and other onscreen and supporting data. These are ADAHRS units, system processing and smart IO units for connecting with existing aircraft systems and converting analog to digital signals. Each unit has a USB-B port for system programming and updating software, and remarkably, the LRUs in the NEST connect with the display via one single cable/connector.

The system I saw during a demo had three LRUs in the NEST, but the company said future LRUs would be added for radio functionality including GPS, ILS and eventually CPDLC datalink. This NEST where the LRUs are racked is said to be 50% lighter than other integrated systems (with three LRUs it weighs under 5 pounds), plus it can be mounted anywhere the airframe that’s practical and within 25 feet of the connected display.

The included MCU (microcontroller unit) will support two displays, and an additional MCU in the NEST would support up to four displays of any size. The NEST design really does promise an easier installation, and the theory of connecting the sensors to the display with a single cable is appealing. The LRU blades are linked together in the NEST with plastic jumpers (blade links) for system interconnect. 

Facing the Elephant

It’s no secret that Nighthawk will have challenges convincing buyers to invest in the Guardian, which is expected to be priced slightly under $40,000 for the most basic system and a bit over $100,000 for the full-featured, multi-screen version that’s expected next year. When I look at a system like this, my thoughts immediately turn to its ability to work perfectly with a wide variety of third-party autopilots—everything from rate-based S-TEC systems to attitude-based Cessna/Sperry and Century/Piper systems. Martin told me Garmin autopilots will not be on that interface list, but the others are, and the current version has all the smarts to work.

Martin said the Guardian will be sold and installed through the Nighthawk dealer network, which partially consists of existing leftover Sandel dealer shops. There’s a lot riding on that because I’d say the majority of these shops also sell Garmin—lots of it. On the other hand, buyers like new options, and if shops make the case that the Guardian is an easier install, there’s no reason why they couldn’t make some sales with it. The graphics alone are enough to attract attention. But there’s also price. In its basic form, the $40,000-ish (plus installation) price category is a crowded one.

You know, I can’t help but think of Sandel’s Avilon integrated flight deck that never made it to the market. When I reported on it while at the NBAA national convention a few years ago, the system was hyped to dominate the turboprop retrofit avionics market, with King Air applications coming first. Sandel actually racked up plenty of Avilon flight test hours in a King Air but couldn’t bring it over the finish line, and the company ultimately didn’t make it, either.

But I want to see the new Nighthawk succeed with this latest system. Its leadership, engineering and marketing team seems realistic about the market, is customer and support focused, and it seems to understand what buyers will want in a modern retrofit suite. We’ve bellyached for years about there not being enough competition in the avionics retrofit market and we finally have plenty of brands and systems to choose from. I’ll be watching this one closely and reporting back here on its progress at Smart Aviator magazine.

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