Rockwell Collins Returns to Oshkosh
Innovation is the common thread
ROCKWELL COLLINS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST
and most technologically advanced
avionics makers in the world. Because of its
size, scope, and sophistication, some were
surprised to see a big new exhibit building
and sponsorship of EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh by Rockwell Collins at this year’s
show. But the fact is Rockwell Collins,
EAA, and AirVenture are a perfect fit.
The true spirit of EAA is aviation
innovation at all levels, and innovation is
what Rockwell Collins is all about.
The company was founded in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, by Arthur Collins in 1933.
Collins was a genius at working with radio
equipment and developed a way to make
single-sideband (SSB) HF radios practical
with special filters. SSB equipment
concentrates the radio energy in an HF
transmission so effectively that reception
range can be literally around the world.
Collins came to national attention
when Adm. Richard Byrd’s expedition
to the South Pole in 1933 used its
equipment to keep the world up to date
on its progress. Collins maintained
its leadership in long-distance
communication capability so solidly that
every voice ever transmitted from the
moon arrived on earth through Collins
equipment. That’s a pretty spectacular
record of innovation when you can span
the communications requirements of a
South Pole discovery mission all the way
to man’s trips to the moon.
Long ago Collins applied its technical
innovation to aviation and was first to
design a comm radio for airplanes that
had selectable tuning. Before that, pilots
had to dial the receiver to find the proper
frequency the same way drivers were
spinning the dials on the AM radios in
their cars.
Collins invented the horizontal
situation indicator—originally called
the pictorial navigation indicator—that
combined a compass rose with the desired
course. Suddenly, by looking at a single
instrument, pilots could see their heading,
course intercept angle, track angle error,
and drift angle all in a glance. The HSI
remains the fundamental course guidance
instrument today for all pilots, even though
it is now presented on a flat glass display
instead of a mechanical instrument.
The V-bar flight director was another
Collins invention that changed the way
pilots fly instrument approaches. The
V-shaped command bars on the attitude
indicator of Collins’ famous FD- 108 made
it easy for a pilot to see exactly how to bank
and pitch the airplane to maintain perfect
alignment on the ILS approach. The flight
director was the first major improvement
in instrument flying—and how low pilots
can go on an instrument approach—since
the ILS was invented. And V-bar flight
directors are in almost every IFR-equipped
airplane today because it remains the most
logical way to provide flight guidance.
Collins had many other firsts, including
the first electronic flight instruments that
were used in the Boeing 767/757. Today, the
company’s new Pro Line Fusion flight deck
is the first to have touch-screen control on
the primary flight display. And Rockwell
Collins is the first to provide synthetic
vision on a head-up display, significantly
increasing pilot situational awareness and
safety while shrinking the related size and
cost of the advanced displays so they can be
available to a wider range of airplanes.
