146 Glass Retrofit
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Eagerly looking forward to the release of the RJ in the coming days, I understand that some of the improvements made are likely to be ported to the 146 in the coming months. My question is what are the chances of seeing some of the glass instruments appear in the 146 as well down the line? I know several freight operators who had these installed within their fleet whilst retaining the original FCU.
any reply is appreciated, will still keep flying both regardless!
Kind regards
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There are no plans at the moment to retrofit the RJ's EFIS/PED into the 146, but this is something that we have had requests for a number of times and it is logged on our internal feature request tracker as something to consider in the future.
We like the idea of keeping a contrast between the 146 as a classic steam gauge airliner, and the RJ as a modern glass cockpit airliner, but you do raise an interesting take regarding the 146s cargo variants.
Mark - Just Flight
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The 146 Electronic Engine Display (two fitted side by side) are the same as that of the RJ. The Pilot Flight Display (PFD) and the Navigation Display(ND) fitted to many 146-300 and late 146-200 types/variants as standard are not the same as those fitted to the RJ. The 146 aircraft retain the standard Altimeter and ASI\Mach meter fit and standby horizon.
The PFDs and NDs require Signal Generators (SGs) and various failure warning lights/switches as well as additional selector panels for each pilot. They work well and are integrated with the normal GNS-XL/XLS/XLS Enhanced, as well as radar display, wind shear. wind arm information, and some TCAS information, and provided pilots with a nice plan view of the route etc.
There is, or was, a modification available that replaced the electromechanical HSI type display and the electromechanical FD with flat screens. These were called FPIs. The manufacturer sold these under the pretext that it would lower maintenance costs for aircraft operators. With this fit was a requirement for switch panels, warning lights etc, etc.
Hope that helps.
