Thomas Global’s latest TFD-7000 series cockpit liquid crystal display upgrade certification approval from the FAA includes the Boeing 737 Classic model aircraft family. Photo: Thomas Global Systems
Thomas Global Systems received what the Australian manufacturer describes as a first of its kind liquid crystal display (LCD) cockpit upgrade for cathode ray tube (CRT)-equipped Boeing 737 Classics.
Under a new supplemental type certification (STC) approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the TFD-7000 Series plug-and-play LCD displays are eligible for retrofit installations on “Boeing 737-3/4/500 aircraft,” according to Thomas Global. The STC was achieved through collaboration with an unnamed “North American VIP customer,” the company said.
Deliveries to the VIP operator are to begin in November. Thomas Global estimates that there are currently more than 750 Boeing 737 Classic aircraft in service that are eligible for the upgrade, a representative for the company told Avionics International.
“Introducing a plug-and-play LCD solution for the 737 Classic provides operators with a high-performance, cost-effective solution to the obsolescence and maintenance issues associated with CRTs,” said Thomas Global CEO Angus Hutchinson.
A Boeing 737 Classic cockpit. Photo: LPDAL
Thomas Global designed the TFD series LCD displays to be fully interchangeable and intermixable with the EDU series, as the Australian company’s displays are fully compatible with the EFIP-701 and EAP-701/3 Boeing symbol generators.
FAA approval for the TFD series displays on the Boeing 737 Classic models comes following another STC earned by Thomas on the same displays for Boeing 757s and 767s. Delta Air Lines is in the process of upgrading its fleet of Boeing 757s and 767s with the TFDs following Thomas Global’s STC and TSO achievements on the display in July 2016.
The TFD displays require no changes to cockpit panels or wiring, and no new training for pilots or maintenance technicians, according to Thomas Global. This ease of upgradability is achieved by the company’s display architecture, which reuse the existing symbol generators and wiring that already enables graphical depictions on the existing CRT displays.
With Boeing 757, 767 and 737 STC approvals achieved, Thomas Global is now proceeding with validation of “the FAA approvals with multiple foreign regulators,” the company said.