Beechcraft King Air 350i rolls out improved situational awareness, navigation

Textron Aviation Inc., announced during the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) 2018 that iTAWS is now standard on the Pro Line Fusion-equipped Beechcraft King Air 350i/ER turboprop aircraft. The system provides an integrated Terrain Awareness and Warning System (iTAWS) with the Fusion’s high-resolution Synthetic Vision System (SVS) for easy operation.

iTAWS brings aural and visual warnings to the primary flight display and multi-function displays, and it eliminates the standalone TAWS line-replaceable unit along with all related wiring and complexity. 

Also newly standard for the King Air 350i is multi-scan radar with turbulence detection that automatically detects short, mid and long-range weather. This provides an optimized weather picture regardless of the aircraft altitude or the range selected. Additionally, mobile enablement is now available as an option that allows wireless chart and flight plan uploads from an iPad via the ARINCDirect app, in addition to allowing the avionics to wirelessly receive and upload v-speeds.  

“Integration of the latest technology and comfort throughout the cockpit and cabin have made the Pro Line Fusion-equipped King Air 350i a success since it achieved certification and entered service in late 2015,” said Rob Scholl, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing. “We continue to invest in the world’s best-selling business turboprop family, bringing owners/operators features that are important to them. Better navigation, more accurate storm information and increased situational awareness lower the pilot workload and boost the comfort of everyone on board.”

All new Beechcraft King Air turboprops come equipped with Pro Line Fusion flight decks. The company expects to roll out the above new features on the King Air 250 in the near future.

About Pro Line Fusion

Pro Line Fusion for the King Air brings one of the most trusted avionics architectures to the first full touch-screen flight display system. The avionics system changes how operators fly through a one-of-a-kind intuitive flight deck interface. Its three 14-inch displays are interchangeable, high-resolution and touch controlled. Other performance-enhancing capabilities include:

• Integrated touch-screen checklists
• Intuitive graphical touch-screen flight planning
• High-resolution SVS with patented airport dome graphics
• Convenient presets to reconfigure all three displays with a single touch
• Dual multi-sensor flight management system
• Available automatic flight plan uploads
• Open and scalable architecture for future upgrades and mandates

Pilot training for the Pro Line Fusion King Airs is offered at TRU Simulation + Training’s new ProFlight training center near Tampa, Florida. Additionally, TRU, also a Textron company, offers aircraft maintenance training for the new models in its newly renovated Wichita facility.

King Air leadership

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 54 years, serving roles in all branches of the U.S. military and flying both commercial and special mission roles around the world.