IFD540 Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM

Evolution of Advanced Technology

Avidyne’s leadership in easy-to-use avionics takes the next step forward with the introduction of the IFD540 GPS/NAV/COM. As the newest member of Avidyne’s integrated flight display family, the IFD540 provides the same powerful navigation, communication, and multi-function display capability as found in our award-winning Entegra Release 9 systems in a touch screen, panel-mounted avionics form-factor. Plug & Play Replacement for your Old 530.

IFD540 replace Garmin 530

The IFD540 is designed as a plug & play replacement for the popular GNS530 & 530W navigators, but with bigger glass, a much larger screen area, 400% more pixels, and a much easier to use, touch-screen interface. And because it’s the same physical size, uses the same tray & antennas, and can be installed with no wiring changes, it makes it an incredibly easy and affordable retrofit for general aviation aircraft.

The Easy Choice

Over the years, pilots have chosen Avidyne for our MFDs, PFDs, and safety sensors because we design great avionics products that make flying safer and more fun. It’s no secret that ‘Ease of Use’ is truly the hallmark of all Avidyne products, and now with the IFD540, Avidyne is setting a new standard in easy user interface for GPS/NAV/COMs.

Advancements in touch screen technology have enabled the design team at Avidyne—virtually all of whom are pilots— to optimize our user interface for the new IFD540. These powerful new touch screen controls are available in addition to the familiar knob and button controls, providing pilots the choice when interacting with such functions as FMS, Map and frequency management.

Leveraging the highly-intuitive Page & Tab user interface of our Entegra Release 9 system, the IFD540 provides plainly-labeled tabs, bi-directional keys, on-screen touch-sensitive labels, and a flat menu structure that make it much easier to access the information you want when you want it.

The IFD540 represents the next generation in GPS/NAV/COM systems, and is capable of providing precision position information to support ADS-B as part of the NextGen airspace initiative.

When it comes to panel-mounted avionics, you now have a choice and the choice is easy. Avidyne.

Making Flying Simpler

Featuring a super bright high-resolution LED-backlit 5.7-inch diagonal color liquid crystal touch-screen display, the IFD540 provides a simple user interface for full SBAS/LPV approach guidance capability, FMS Vectors™, advanced radio management including automated NAV frequency tuning and COM frequency nomination, automatic frequency identification, easy-to-modify graphical flight planning, and Avidyne’s exclusive GeoFill™ waypoint nomination.

Touch is your Choice

In addition to the dedicated knobs and buttons that many pilots prefer for frequent pilot actions, the IFD540 also provides the ability to perform virtually all of those same functions via the touch-screen interface, as well as providing additional touch-screen functionality like map panning and graphical flight plan editing.

Just as you can use the Page & Tab rocker switches to move between tabs, touching any of the tabs along the bottom of the screen allows you to jump directly to any of the available tabs in a single action, making operation even simpler.

Easy Direct-To Navigation

For many flights, Direct-To provides the easiest and most efficient way to navigate to your destination or to a given waypoint. The IFD540 provides Direct-To operation that will be familiar to anyone flying with previous generation GPS navigators, except now you also have the option of touch screen data entry.

Flight Planning Made Simple

In addition to basic Direct-To navigation, entering an IFR flight plan is easier than ever with the IFD540. Extensive testing and customer experience have proven that the IFD540 user interface reduces button pushes and knob twists required with previous navigators by 50%-75% or more. Drop-down menus are logically placed to provide touch-to-select data entry of airways, exit waypoints, destinations, and approach procedures.

A pop-up QWERTY-style keyboard automatically appears when an alpha-numeric data field is highlighted, making data entry as familiar to you as your computer or smart phone. With GeoFill, the IFD540 will virtually always guess accurately your next waypoint after only entering one or two letters.

Graphical Flight Plan Editing

With the IFD540’s graphical flight planning capability, you can easily edit your flight plan with the touch of the screen. Simply touch any VOR, airport, intersection, or other navaid object on the map to add it to your flight plan. In addition, the IFD540’s ‘rubber banding,’ feature allows you to stretch any leg in the flight plan to make a deviation for weather or to accommodate an amendment from ATC.

FMS Preview™

Avidyne’s exclusive FMS Preview is a powerful flight planning feature that makes it even more intuitive to load flight plans by showing you a real-time graphical depiction of each proposed modification in cyan prior to selection. FMS Preview makes it easy to visualize before selecting a desired waypoint, airway, hold or hold geometry, Direct-To, approach, approach transition and any other terminal procedures.

Easy Loading of Approaches

The dedicated PROC (Procedure) button allows you to quickly load approaches at your destination airport by selecting from the pop-up list. FMS Preview allows you to view each of the available approaches graphically prior to selection. Unlike previous-generation navigators, the IFD540 allows you to quickly load any destination airports and multiple approaches into your flight plan.

FMSVectors™ - Fly the Magenta Line

The unique Nav Source knob in the upper right corner allows you to select between GPS, VLOC (i.e. VHF NAV), or HDG as the output signal source from the IFD540 to the moving map and to some autopilots. It is also used to slew and sync the course or heading.

GPS is the standard operating mode, providing roll steering commands to the autopilot, and VLOC is used when flying a VOR or ILS/Localizer. Heading mode (HDG), also known as FMS Vectors, is Avidyne’s powerful new guidance tool for GPS/FMS navigation.

In legacy navigators the Vectors-to-Final approach transition was a separate procedure that the pilot performed by suspending the flight plan sequencing. With the IFD540, the pilot remains flying the FMS while getting ATC vectors for the final. This is achieved by adjusting the Nav Source Heading with the autopilot remaining coupled to the FMS the whole time. The FMS uses this pilot-set heading and presents a dashed magenta line on the map that is the projected ground track compensated for winds. With this vectors line and the FMS, you can clearly visualize the final approach course and how the aircraft is going to intercept it. This line is drawn as a curved intercept to final if you are "Armed" to intercept and it is only a single button press to Disarm or Arm Intercept according to whether ATC has given approval to "intercept final" or not.

The easily-modified FMS Vectors line gives the pilot GPS/FMS guidance for the entire route of flight, from 200 AGL at departure to 200 AGL at arrival, without the need to suspend or interrupt guidance to the autopilot, enhancing safety and eliminating “modes’ confusion.

The pilot simply “flies the magenta line” all the time.