Airhart Aeronautics unveils context-aware avionics platform for general aviation

Airhart Aeronautics showed off its new avionics platform at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, calling it the first context-aware system built specifically for general aviation cockpits. The company, which got its start in Long Beach, California, said the aim is to make small aircraft easier and safer to fly while lowering barriers to entry for pilots.

Company president Nate Thuli, a former U.S. Air Force program manager, said the platform takes a different approach to cockpit design than typical retrofit avionics. Instead of adding a display that connects to third-party hardware, Airhart said it built and owns every layer of the system itself.

That includes the display and user interface, dual flight computers with embedded software-defined radios mounted behind the instrument panel, and autopilot servos that move the flight controls. According to Thuli, each hardware unit has its own embedded microcontroller, and all components communicate over a single network connection.

The hardware shown at the event was a 31-inch housing containing two 14-inch displays. Thuli said the vertically integrated design is meant to improve both usability and affordability, which he described as longstanding challenges in general aviation.

Airhart has spent roughly four years and gone through two hardware generations developing the platform, according to the company. The material presented at the event did not include pricing, a certification timeline, or availability details.