Astronautics Corporation of America has been awarded a contract from the Empresa Nacional de Aeronautica de Chile (ENAER) to develop a complete avionics system solution for their new Pillan II basic trainer aircraft. ENAER is under contract to deliver 33 Pillan II aircraft to the Chilean Air Force (FACh) as replacements for their current fleet of ENAER T-35 trainers.

The Pillan II avionics system includes an all-glass cockpit enabling each FACh student pilot to smoothly transition to more complex aircraft as they progress in their pilot training. The ENAER program builds on Astronautics’ decades of experience designing and integrating avionics solutions for military customers.

Astronautics’ Badger Pro+ Gen 2.0 smart 6” x 8” multifunction displays (MFDs) are at the core of the avionics system with two displays in the front cockpit and two in the aft cockpit. The displays will provide pilots with primary flight display (PFD), engine indicating and crew alerting system (EICAS), and a video page to assist the instructor in monitoring student pilot operation. Adjacent to the MFDs will be Avidyne’s top of the line IFD550 integrated FMS/GPS/NAV/COM with synthetic vision capability. Both the Badger Pro+ and the IFD550 are night vision compatible. The cockpit displays and FMS integrate information from the other subsystems creating the total system solution.

“Astronautics is pleased to bring our systems capabilities and experience to the Pillan II project by delivering a mature yet tailored avionics system solution. The Chilean Air Force will be able to train their student pilots with a modern, integrated avionics system that will guarantee a smooth and efficient transition to the next aircraft in the training curriculum and later in their operational careers,” said Eytan Saletsky, Astronautics’ director of system solutions. “We have worked closely with ENAER on the system’s conceptual design and are looking forward to continuing this collaboration throughout all phases of program execution.”

Astronautics’ system solution includes platform dynamic sensors in the form of two air data heading and reference units, GPS navigation subsystem complemented by the radio navigation subsystem including VHF navigation, distance measuring equipment, radio altimeter, and a marker beacon receiver. The surveillance subsystem includes an air traffic control transponder with ADS-B Out capability and an ADS-B In receiver. An engine data acquisition subsystem, connected directly to the piston engine sensors, provides the parameters required by the Badger MFDs for the engine indication part of the EICAS. In addition, two VHF communication radios are connected to the digital audio management subsystem. A digital video/audio/data recorder will complete the avionics system.

Astronautics will integrate, test, and verify the operation of the entire system on its Systems Integration Lab in both aircraft-on-ground and dynamic flight modes. The system will then be installed on the prototype aircraft by ENAER in Chile. Following aircraft ground integration and flight testing, Astronautics will support ENAER in its airworthiness acceptance tests of the Pillan II aircraft.

The Pillan II program includes avionics adaptation, implementation, and testing phases, including the delivery of three avionics shipsets in support of the prototype aircraft integration and ground testing scheduled for 2025 through 2026, followed by flight testing in 2027. The serial production of 30 aircraft is scheduled for 2028 through 2030.