Cessna 402B 1974

About Me

Freight Runners Express, Inc. is a Part 135 on-demand cargo airline and provides cargo charters from our base in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our fleet of 15 airplanes hauls everything from small packages to palletized freight, including hazardous materials, all over the United States, Canada and Mexico. We operate a fleet of Beechcraft 99, Beechcraft 1900, Cessna 402, and Cessna 207 cargo aircraft.

My Panel (Before and After)

Previously all company aircraft were equipped with a standard Bendix King Avionics stack and a standard pilot’s analog panel. As the aircraft and avionics aged repairs became more costly. Additionally the company began flying longer legs and the need for hazardous weather avoidance became apparent.

In January 2009 we began preparing our Beech 99 aircraft for a fleet avionics upgrade. The upgrade included an S-TEC 30 autopilot, Garmin Audio Panel, Garmin 430 WAAS GPS, Garmin Mode S Transponder, and Garmin 696 GPS with XM Weather and Jeppesen Digital Charts. The initial plan was to include the EFD1000 PFD, but due to Class III certification delays the EFD1000 installation was postponed until certification was received. We determined that it would be beneficial to upgrade the Cessna 402 avionics as well to maintain fleet commonality. The Cessna 402 aircraft were already equipped with the S-TEC 50 autopilot.

All Cessna 402 and Beechcraft 99 aircraft with the upgraded avionics are approved by the FAA for paperless cockpit operations with the Garmin 696 and Jeppesen Chart View. This is our second company aircraft and first Cessna 402 aircraft to receive the EFD1000. We are planning to upgrade 7 more Beech 99 and 2 Cessna 402 aircraft.

My Aspen Experience

We haven’t had very much experience with the Aspen EFD1000 yet, but the first impressions have been wonderful. The majority of the flights up to this point have been for the purpose of pilot training and familiarization. The initial response from all crew members who have been trained is that they love the unit and all the features as compared to the old systems.

The GPSS, auto course, altitude alerter, minimums alerter, and moving map underlay are all great features that add to improved situational awareness and reduced pilot workload.

Skycom Avionics in Waukesha, WI has been our avionics shop for over the past 10 years. They have completed all the avionics upgrades that we have done and will we will continue to utilize them in the future. Additionally we utilize Skycom for our 12 and 24 month avionics inspections and would recommend them for any avionics work big or small.

Our only complaint with the EFD1000 was the delay in Class III aircraft certification. However now that certification has been achieved we are planning a quick upgrade to our fleet of Beech 99 and Cessna 402 aircraft. Hopefully the Beech 1900 will be eligible for the EFD1000 shortly so we can upgrade that aircraft as well.