Astronautics will supply Boeing 787s with the first electronic flight bag (EFB) update since the type entered service five years ago.
The schedule for cutting the block point five (BP5) EPB upgrade into the 787 production line is still begin set with Boeing, says Brian Keery, a product strategy manager for the Milwaukee-based company.
Once the upgrade is delivered, 787 pilots will have access to a device with 10 times the processing power and twice the storage capacity of the existing device, Keery says.
The 787’s Class III EFB replace paper-based maps, charts, manuals, onboard maintenance functions, a performance tool, and a document browser.
So far, the BP5 upgrade retains the same displays of the existing 787 EFB, Keery adds.
Boeing has yet to announce a retrofit plan with the BP5 EFB for the existing 787 fleet.
The BP4 EFB standard is also offered as an option on other Boeing models, including the 777, 747-8 and the 737 Boeing Business Jet. A BP5 upgrade for those models has not yet been announced, but Astronautics “hopes to continue that”, Keery says, adding that “Boeing makes the ultimate decision”.
With the six-month product refresh cycle in commercial electronics outpacing the five-year upgrade cycle in commercial aviation for EFBs, Astronautics is looking at ways to accelerate the next block point upgrade.
Some of the features built into the BP5 system were intended to allow for a future upgrade without a hardware upgrade, Keery says.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
