business backgrounder | industry
Employees at Spectralux Avionics have worked hard to transform the company from a maker of display panels to complex avionics.
“One of the ways we work with our customers is through our
design-build programs … allowing us to develop products for
customers that optimize quality, performance and cost.”
different parts in its catalogue — with the ability
to ship them anywhere around the world. Over
the years, Spectralux Avionics has expanded its
product line beyond the simple light plate display
to include other cockpit components such as data
— Woody Hertzog, CEO, Spectralux Avionics
entry keyboards and electronic modules.
“We produce a very high-quality product that
automation and integrated avionics were playing in the
many manufacturers and airline customers really value,” said
aerospace industry.
Woody Hertzog, Spectralux Avionics CEO. “For example,
Increased automation led to many avionic functions being
one of the ways we work with our customers is through our
integrated with each other. For example, a flat-screen monitor
design-build programs. These programs allow us to develop
can take the place of tens of dials, buttons and indicators on the
products for customers that optimize the product’s quality,
instrument panel. This means that instrument panels are visuperformance and cost.”
ally and operationally less complex. However, this also means
The company reached a milestone in 1992 when it implethe need for lighted panels and data entry keyboards decreased.
mented the wide-scale use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
“We looked at the industry and realized that we had to make
in Boeing’s “new” airliner at that time, the 777. Spectralux
some changes,” said Michael Burke, president of Spectralux
became the sole supplier of illuminated panels for the 777.
Avionics. “After looking at the market, we found opportunities
linking air to ground
to retrofit modern avionics into the cockpits of existing aircraft.
Since the 1980s, control systems for aircraft have changed
We started work on developing a modular air-to-ground data
dramatically. Boeing’s 757 and 767 families of airplanes were
communications system.”
some of the first commercial airliners that were designed
In 2004, Spectralux received certification for Dlink+, the
from the ground up to be operated by two crew members
industry’s first all-in-one data link system. This product began
(pilot and co-pilot) instead of three (pilot, co-pilot and engiSpectralux’s evolution into a developer and manufacturer of
neer). This was due to the increasing role that computer
advanced data communication avionics.
winter 2012 43