Aspen Connected Pilot gets certified

Aspen’s Connected Panel concept includes mobile devices, apps, panel avionics and cloud storage.

One year after announcing an ambitious plan to connect iPads to panel avionics, Aspen Avionics has received STC approval for Connected Pilot, the first in their planned line of Connected Panel products. The product is a complete two-way solution, including both hardware and software, and allows pilots to load flight plans into their panel-mount GPS from their iPad, in addition to other planned features.

The hardware part is the CG100 Connected Gateway, which provides a secure wireless link between certified panel avionics and iPads. This blind-mounted box is permanently installed, and creates a WiFi network for easy connections. It works in concert with Aspen’s popular Evolution Flight Displays to give pilots the ability to monitor data transfer and confirm actions.

The software part includes Aspen’s Flight Connect app, available free in the iTunes App Store. In addition, a variety of companies have lined up to created Connected Panel Enabled products, including: AvConnect, Avidyne, Coradine Aviation Systems, Fltplan.com, ForeFlight, Hilton Software, Jeppesen and more. ForeFlight already has some Connected Panel features built-in, including flight plan transfer.

Connected Pilot is available on over 900 makes and models of airplanes, and retails for $2,499. In addition to the CG100 and the app, Connected Pilot requires a Garmin GNS 400W/500W series navigator.

Aspen has released a video explaining how Connected Panel works: