Avidyne Celebrates 25 Years of Avionics Innovation and Leadership

EAA AirVenture: 3130A – Hangar C

CEO and founder Dan Schwinn reflects on the company’s 25th anniversary

Oshkosh, WI – Tuesday, July 24, 2018 – 

Avidyne Corporation, a leading provider of integrated avionics systems, displays and safety systems for general aviation aircraft, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, a milestone that solidifies the company’s long-standing role as an established brand and industry innovator in the world of avionics.

Dan Schwinn, Avidyne’s CEO and founder remarked that, “At some point, you say to yourself, ‘I’m not the new guy on the block anymore,’ and at 25 years I’m at that point. We’re an established name – we’re not the biggest but we’re really well known – and the people that know about us tend to really love what we do.”

When asked about the dramatic changes the industry has undergone and how Avidyne has survived in these turbulent times, Schwinn continued, “The industry has changed tremendously since the time we started, and we’ve played a significant role in that.  It’s certainly been exciting to be a part of the change and the growth. We established ourselves quickly with our early MFD products, and then set the course for Integrated Flight Decks as standard equipment on virtually all GA aircraft. Now, we have our industry-leading IFD-Series FMS/GPS products along with ADS-B, which are really driving the business. These are exciting products that clearly reflect our core values; namely ease of use with visually-engaging aesthetics, and that is what people like about Avidyne and why they keep coming back.”

These core values of ease of use, product aesthetics, and innovation have made Avidyne an unarguable leader in avionics innovation, boasting a history of industry firsts including being first with a standalone 5”MFD (FSD) in 1997, the first to certify Big Glass Integrated Flight Deck for light GA in 2003, the first color tactical lightning sensor for GA (the TWX670) in 2007, the first digital retrofit autopilot with Env Protection and Straight/Level (the DFC90) in 2010, the first to certify integrated WiFi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity (IFD540) and the first plug-and-play GPS/NAV/COM/FMS (IFD series) in 2014, and the first certified panel-mount GPS with integrated Synthetic Vision (IFD series) in 2017.

Schwinn noted, “Most of the time, you’re in a benign flying environment. Where it really is important for ease of use is when you’re in a highly stressful situation that you rarely encounter. It’s the unfamiliarity of the situation and dealing with the challenge at hand, from high winds to tricky air fields. That’s when ease of use becomes super important and becomes a huge advantage.”

But regardless of the innovative solutions that go into industry-leading technology, Schwinn says that the company’s pilot-centric approach is what sets it apart. “Over our entire existence as a company, we’ve said we want to provide the leading-edge technology that lets pilots do whatever they want to do – but we also want to do it in such a way that it’s usable for just about everybody. We want to design products that have all the latest and greatest technologies – like touch screen displays – but also have the features like knobs and buttons that let people use them without having to study them.  We thank our customers for the first 25 years and look forward to serving them thru innovation for the next 25.”

Avidyne is exhibiting its products – and administering the “Avidyne Challenge” – in Hangar C at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI, from July 23 through 29, 2018.