Page 32 - Volume 16 Number 12

EN ROUTELuma Receives PMA Approval for King Air 200, 300/350 & 350iLuma Technologies has obtained FAA Parts Manu- facturer Approval (PMA) for their LumatechTM line of LED Caution/Warning Panels installed on King Air model aircraft. Luma is authorized to manufacture and sell the full line of LumatechTM panels via a licensing agreement with sister company Advanced Quality Certifications Group (AQCG) who holds the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for installing LumatechTM two-panel suites on all King Air 200, 300, 350, 350i and 1900D aircraft. This approval allows for the immediate sale and installation of Luma’s high- performance lighting system on all approved models around the world. The C90 platform will round out the series and is targeted for completion in April of next year.“We are very excited” said Luma’s President Bruce Maxwell. “A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this and the day has finally come!” The data package submitted for the STC and PMA covers multiple installations, regardless of age and/ or display system installed on the aircraft. This includes Hawker Beechcraft’s Classic and Proline21 configurations, as well as others tailored to be compatible Garmin’s wildly popular G1000 package. Maxwell says they based the LumatechTM design on a common platform that iseasily tailored to whatever legend and schematical configuration the aircraft requires. Most can be configured and shipped in a week or less.With an estimated installed cost between sixteen and twenty thousand dollars, depending on model (excluding 1900D), Maxwelltouts it as a great value. He supports this claim by pointing out the system installs on a same-day basis and pays immediate dividends to all sides of the ROI equation. These include ease of Installation, quantifiable gains in Safety, Reliability, and Lighting Performance, plus an undeniable bump to the attractiveness and value of the aircraft. For those who prefer to focus on the bottom line, he says “think of it as cash in, cash out; and you get all the other benefits in the bargain. It’s money well spent no matter how you look at it”.One of the key benefits of the LumatechTM LED Caution Warning Panels over the aircraft’s existing annunciators is the use of LED technology in lieu of incandescent lamps. LED’s add the benefit of low-temperature operation and dramatically increased reliability and panel life.The majority of existing aircraft are currently fitted with banks of “press to relamp” incandescent annunciators, ganged together to make up the King Air’s glareshield mounted Warning Panel and lower Caution-Advisory Panel just forward of the throttle quadrant. The LumatechTM line includes six separate panel sizes which are installed as a drop-in replaceable two panel suite for the modelin question. T&T •30 • TWIN & TURBINEDECEMBER 2012