Honeywell and BendixKing: Creating the Future of General Aviation

Tom Neumann missed rubbing shoulders with fellow general aviation enthusiasts at fly-ins and trade shows this year.  “We get feedback from customers in lots of different ways,” said Neumann, Vice President of Operations and Product Support for BendixKing. “But there’s nothing like talking with pilots who are passionate about airplanes and rely on our avionics every time they fly.”

The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused industry events to be cancelled or go virtual in 2020, but it certainly hasn’t dampened the spirit of general aviation shared by millions of people the world over. The team at BendixKing and Honeywell totally understand because they feel that same passion for flying and many are pilots themselves.

“Nothing else matches the fun and excitement of flying a piston aircraft,” said Roger Dykmann, Director of Offering Management for BendixKing. “We get a lot of satisfaction from providing pilots with leading-edge innovations that make flying safer, easier, more intuitive and more affordable.”

BendixKing is a division of Honeywell Aerospace and that makes all the difference, according to Mike Ingram, Honeywell’s Vice President and General Manager for Avionics. “Honeywell is absolutely committed to meeting the needs of general aviation aircraft owners and pilots with our signature BendixKing brand,” Ingram said.

“Honeywell develops and produces avionics for all kinds of aircraft,” Ingram said. “So we can push the envelope when it comes to integrated cockpits and displays, autopilots, communications and navigation, connectivity and other avionics for piston aircraft by leveraging our R&D investments and scaling our offerings so they make sense pricewise for the general aviation market.”

While there are significant differences between the Honeywell avionics that fly in commercial airliners and the BendixKing systems found in small, private aircraft, Ingram notes that they share some of the same DNA. “For example, we’ve been able to apply what we have learned about user interfaces in air transport and business aircraft cockpits to make our BendixKing systems more capable and user-friendly. Airline pilots who fly small aircraft for fun on the weekends feel right at home with our BendixKing avionics.”

BendixKing and Honeywell engineers apply an approach called the Honeywell User Experience to better understand what customers want and how they interact with company technologies. Products like the AeroCruze 230 Advanced Autopilot, the first touchscreen autopilot in general aviation, and the AeroVue Touch cockpit display were built from the ground up with the pilot in mind.

Affordable inflight connectivity for piston aircraft is another priority for BendixKing, which already offers the highly capable AeroWave 100 satellite communications system, which is designed to meet the specific needs of smaller aircraft.

Honeywell and BendixKing are all about creating a great flying experience for pilots and passengers alike, but that’s nothing new, Ingram emphasized. “Honeywell has been a major innovator in avionics for more than a century,” he said.

“We’re proud of our legacy, but Honeywell and BendixKing employees are focused on future,” he added. “We have some exciting things in the near-term pipeline and longer term we’re looking to introduce incredible new offerings that will revolutionize the safety, efficiency and overall flight experience of all kinds of aircraft.”

To view featured options for your aircraft, visit our General Aviation Platform Page today.