Beechcraft King Air turboprop aircraft with Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck earns EASA certification

WICHITA, Kan., 17 March 2016. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) officials in Germany have certified the Beechcraft King Air 350i/ER – twin-turboprop aircraft by Beechcraft Corp. a subsidiary of Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, in Wichita, Kansas – equipped with Pro Line Fusion integrated flight deck from Rockwell Collins. EASA certification paves the way for deliveries of Pro Line Fusion-equipped King Air 350i/ER aircraft throughout Europe.

“The King Air’s reliability, versatility, and operating efficiencies continue to make the entire family of turboprops a popular choice in the European market,” says Kriya Shortt, senior vice president, sales and marketing. “We’re looking forward to getting the upgraded King Air 350i/ER and 250 into the European marketplace, where owners/operators have responded enthusiastically to the investments we’ve made in bringing the latest technology, safety, and comfort to the cockpit and cabin.”

The Fusion-equipped King Air 250 earned Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in July 2015 and the 350i/ER earned the certification in November 2015.

Pro Line Fusion for the King Air is a full touchscreen flight display system from Rockwell Collins. The new avionics system is designed to change how operators fly through a one-of-a-kind intuitive flight deck interface, officials say. Its three 14-inch displays are interchangeable, high-resolution, and touch-controlled.

Other performance-enhancing capabilities include:

• Integrated touchscreen checklists
• Intuitive graphical touchscreen flight planning
• High-resolution Synthetic Vision System (SVS) with patented airport dome graphics
• Convenient presets to reconfigure all three displays with a single touch
• Full multi-sensor flight management system
• Available automatic wireless database and chart uploads
• Open and scalable architecture for future upgrades and mandates

Pilot training for the Pro Line Fusion King Airs will be offered at TRU Simulation + Training’s new ProFlight training center near Tampa, Florida. Additionally, TRU will offer aircraft maintenance training for the new models in its newly renovated Wichita, Kansas facility.

Check out the Beechcraft King Air aircraft cockpit with Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion integrated flight deck:

Rockwell Collins integrated flight deck selected for forward-fit and retrofit turboprop aircraft cockpit upgrades

In addition to new Pro Line Fusion avionics, the cabin now offers an enhanced passenger experience. With Wi-Fi capability standard on the King Air 350i/ER and King Air 250 aircraft, the personal device-centric cabin environment allows customers to stay connected and productive throughout their flight experience. Also standard are electronically dimmable window shades, offering a simple interface that provides more effective shading and faster dimming at the touch of a button.

More than 7,300 Beechcraft King Air turboprops have been delivered to customers around the world since 1964, making it the best-selling business turboprop family in the world. The worldwide fleet has surpassed 60 million flight hours in its first 52 years, serving roles in all branches of the U.S. military, and flying commercial missions ranging from traditional passenger and cargo transport to electronic and imagery surveillance, air ambulance, airway calibration, photographic mapping, training, and weather modification.

Textron Aviation Inc. is a general aviation authority and home to the Beechcraft, Cessna, and Hawker brands, which account for more than half of all general aviation aircraft flying, officials say. The Textron Aviation companies include Cessna Aircraft Company and Beechcraft Corporation, bringing together decades of unmatched experience in designing, building and supporting airplanes. It provides the most versatile and comprehensive general aviation product portfolio in the world through five principal lines of business: business jets, general aviation and special mission turboprop aircraft, high performance piston aircraft, military trainer and defense aircraft, and a complete global customer service organization. Its broad range of products include such best-selling aircraft as Citation and Hawker business jets, King Air, and Caravan turboprops and T-6 military trainer aircraft, all of which are backed by the industry’s largest global service network.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training.