From 2-21-06 Aero News:
Direct-To Avionics Issues Recall On All Crossbow 425EX AHRS
Company Bites The Bullet And Supports Customers After Supplier Solutions
Reportedly Fell Through
In a move that company officials admit may
cost them as much as a quarter of a million dollars (for a product that they do
not manufacture), Direct-To Avionics (D2A) has announced a full recall of the
Crossbow 425EX AHRS, a derivative of Crossbow's NAV420.
The recall affects over 100 aircraft.
Specifying unsuccessful long term efforts to reach a solution with supplier
Crossbow Technologies (and indeed, several months of paperwork confirms the
extended nature of this problem), D2A will pay for the replacement of all
the units in question... out of their own pocket. D2A tells ANN that are hoping
that Crossbow will eventually reimburse them for the units pulled from the
field. Unresolved problems with the Crossbow 420 Series AHRS will also preclude
Direct-To Avionics from incorporating Crossbow in future experimental Chelton
Electronic Flight Instrumentation Systems (EFIS).
"Direct-To Avionics is committed to providing the best, most reliable, and
most accurate components for our Chelton EFIS systems. Our customers want to
know that when they're flying with their families, they're flying with the
highest quality, best performing equipment available," said Kirk Hammersmith,
President of Direct-To Avionics.
"Therefore, in our ongoing commitment to bring our customers the best in
state-of-the-art EFIS systems, Direct-To Avionics will now supply the Pinpoint
Inertial Inc. GADAHRS with our experimental Chelton EFIS systems."
In side by side comparisons with certified systems by Rockwell Collins,
Litef, and others, and after exhaustive, real-world flight testing, the Pinpoint
Inertial GADAHRS (GPS/AirData/Attitude and Heading Reference System--shown
below) has proven to exceed all performance and reliability parameters
established by D2A.
In an exclusive note to ANN, Hammersmith added that, "Attitude is everything
when it comes to an EFIS, and customer safety is paramount as far as we’re
concerned. We refuse to support a product that can give a pilot erroneous
attitude information, and we’ve experienced 100% failure of the Crossbow 425’s
that have been put out in the field. Crossbow was given ample time to resolve
the issues and after many delays, we made the decision to bite the bullet and
replace these plagued units. We can’t expect our customers to endlessly
wait for a potential 'fix,' especially when they’ve waited so patiently, and
we’re fortunate to be able to now offer a replacement unit (Pinpoint Inertial)
which exceeds our AHRS requirements and performance expectations."
Based on technology currently used in
certified commercial and military applications, the Pinpoint Inertial unit is
the first and only GADAHRS optimized for reliability while working within the
dynamics of high-performance experimental aircraft.
The shift to the Pinpoint Inertial system has been precipitated by
performance and reliability problems plaguing the Crossbow 425EX (shown right).
Direct-To Avionics requests that all Crossbow units be removed or henceforth
limited to Day/VFR flight conditions until a control group has logged 100 hours
each without any performance problems.
Direct-to-Avionics is the exclusive distributor of Chelton's experimental
EFIS line. D2A also participates in the development and evaluation of future
Chelton systems for both certified and experimental aircraft.
Officials at Crossbow Technologies were contacted for this report but have
yet to respond... we'll keep you up to date.