uAvionix has purchased startup electronic-instrument manufacturer AeroVonics. Best known in general aviation circles for its tailBeacon and skyBeacon all-in-one ADS-B Out solutions, uAvionix says the acquisition is “a milestone event in the growth of our company.” Manufacturing will move “immediately” to the uAvionix facility in Columbia Falls, Montana.
“I just can’t tell you how ecstatic we are to bring the expertly executed AeroVonics technology into this new era of uAvionix. These products are truly best in class, and as standalone products they are exciting.” says CEO Paul Beard. “Paired with uAvionix capabilities, we create a product roadmap that is a home run. This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to the GA marketplace and proves we are here to stay. The AV-20S and AV-30’s minimal installation requirements are also perfect for our network of over 700 Qualified Installers.”
“This is a very exciting opportunity to bring innovative GA display products to a much wider market far more quickly than we could have achieved on our own,” says AeroVonics founder Jeff Bethel. “We believe the streamlined, easy-installation nature of our flight instrument suite is a perfect fit with the similarly designed uAvionix product line.”
In a lengthy blog post, uAvionix claims there are many reasons for the acquisition, but not because the company is moving away from its core product line in ADS-B and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
According to the company, “So far, every product we produce for GA is a remote mount unit (echoUAT) or installs on the outside of the aircraft (skyBeacon and tailBeacon). We’ve wanted to be front and center in your cockpit for a while, but we wanted to do it right. We all fly aircraft that can benefit from safety and reliability updates, but these updates need to be performed affordably and with minimal disruption.” The company also cites the fact that both the AV-20S and the AV-30 are, in their own ways, certifiable products, with the full-featured AV-30 “in the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) process as we speak.”
For its part, uAvionix says there are plans to add “autopilot integration, transponder control, and a Cockpit Display Traffic Indicator (CDTI) to give you visual and aural ADS-B traffic alerts” to the AV-30. And where this intersects with the UAV part of the business is here: “… the AV-30 without the display screen is fully self-contained and to-be-certified Air Data Attitude and Heading Reference System (ADAHRS). THAT is something we think is going to be a key component of large and medium to high altitude UAS and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) systems in the future, not to mention the displays on the Ground Control Stations (GCS) for such systems.”
