GE showcasing open avionics flight deck concept at Farnborough

FARNBOROUGH, England -- GE Aviation is using the Farnborough International Airshow to demonstrate how open, interconnected avionics systems can benefit the aviation sector.

The company hopes to demonstrate this philosophy via a fully functional flight deck at its pavilion, outfitted with hardware, tools and infrastructure designed to support a wide range of connected software applications.

"Open systems are unlocking innovation and reducing costs for the aviation industry as we move into the next generation of connected, autonomous and optimized aircraft," said Alan Caslavak, president of Avionics at GE Aviation. "Its' a pedigree built from core computing, IO and networking solutions. GE Aviation is now harnessing open systems approaches in its latest flight management and flight deck solutions."

GE's position builds on its open systems experiences with Boeing 787s and Gulfstream's G500 and G600 families, with consumers citing the inflexibility and high costs of change associated with some avionics systems as frustrations.

"We aim to give our customers the tools to control the configuration of their own systems, avoiding vendor lock and creating a lower cost route to innovation," Caslavka said.

GE is addressing these problems through software and hardware platforms that would, alongside an enabling toolchain, give users the ability to customize the look and feel of their own flight decks.

"Customers have highlighted cautions and warnings, system synoptics, checklists and military mission applications as those in need of frequent customization," Caslavka said. "And we have OEMs today using our beta tools to validate their effectiveness and the value they can unlock."

GE's open systems flight deck is located at Pavillion P2.