Aviation's Panel Mount Avionics Installation Leader

Vertical Power 400/400DUO

 
The VP-400 finds the best airport to land then flies your airplane to the runway threshold.

Know instantly what your options are.

The Vertical Power VP-400 is a next-generation backup EFIS that complements today’s primary EFIS products and incorporates its own independent solid-state gyros, and GPS receiver, as well as the electronic circuit breaker system with the VP-400.
 
VP-400 in 30 Seconds Video
 
 
VP-400 Overview

The Vertical Power VP-400 is a back-up EFIS that flies your aircraft safely to the best runway in an emergency. The best airport is the one with the longest and widest runway that is pointed most directly into the wind that you can still safely glide to without impacting terrain or obstacles. THAT is the airport you want to glide to in an emergency! Your existing GPS nearest function understands none of these things.

The VP-400 integrates several leading-edge technologies that together enable a new level of safety and peace-of-mind for pilots. The enabling technologies are:

 
  • Runway Seeker™ technology that calculates, in real time, the glide path to every runway within gliding range. It takes into account terrain, obstacles, winds aloft, surface winds (with optional ADS-B transceiver), runway length, facilities at the airport, and a variety of other factors to determine the best runway to land. The nearest airport is not necessarily the best airport.

  • WAAS GPS receiver. Through a series of pilot interviews and focus groups, Vertical Power determined that because the VP-400 is a backup instrument, it is likely that the pilot will not keep the baro altitude set accurately, or be unable to update it reliably to the local altimeter setting at the time of an emergency. Therefore, the best way to provide accurate altitude information under these conditions is with the built-in WAAS GPS receiver.

  • (VP-400 only) Integrated Electronic Circuit Breaker (ECB) system with trim and flap control. The VP-400 can control the flaps to manage aircraft energy during an emergency descent. By using a combination of pitch and roll control via the autopilot and deploying the flaps automatically via the electronic circuit breaker system, the Runway Seeker can ensure the aircraft arrives at the runway on heading, airspeed and altitude. The use of ECBs increases the reliability of the electrical system, reduces weight, and simplifies wiring.


  •  
The VP-400 was developed in partnership with Laminar Research, makers of the X-Plane engineering flight simulator. By combining Vertical Power’s expertise in avionics with Laminar Research’s expertise in advanced flight modeling and synthetic vision imagery, new capabilities are available to make flying safer and easier.

VP-400 is complementary to the primary EFIS
 
Simple To Use!

When there is an emergency, simply pull the throttle to idle and press the Runway Seeker button on your instrument panel.


VP-400

The system automatically engages the autopilot to fly the glide path to the runway, leaving you free to focus on emergency procedures and talk to controllers. It sets the correct airspeed and even controls your flaps to manage energy during the descent so you arrive at the runway threshold on-speed, on-heading, on-altitude, and ready to land. Descent paths are calculated to be clear of known terrain and obstacles. When over the threshold, manually disconnect the Runway Seeker and land the airplane. The Runway Seeker is for emergency use only, and should not be used in place of normal published instrument approaches or VFR traffic pattern procedures.


The Runway Seeker is for emergency use only, and should not be used in place of normal published instrument approaches or VFR traffic pattern procedures.

The diagram below outlines how the VP-400 works once the Runway Seeker is engaged.

 
Display Optimized for Emergency Glide Descent

The VP-400 display is intentionally uncluttered to show the information you need to make a safe emergency descent and landing. The VP-400 display shows:
 
  • 2D and 3D highway-in-the sky path to the best landing runway

  • High-resolution synthetic vision display

  • Airspeed, GPS altitude, magnetic heading, winds

  • Calculated glide path to selected airport

  • The probability of a successful landing is predicted based on terrain, obstacles, winds aloft, surface winds (with optional ADS-B receiver), runway length and width, facilities at the airport, and a variety of other factors. Each airport icon is colored to show the likelihood of a successful power-off landing at that airport. A green airport icon means a successful power-off landing is likely, and a red airport icon means it is unlikely that you can glide-to-land there. Airport icons are shown in shades of color between red and green

  • Aircraft energy meter shows your ability to glide to the airport, based on current conditions

  • Quick-reference airport data for the selected airport (touch to expand)

  • Surface winds at the selected airport (with optional ADS-B integration)

  • Automatic zooming to glide range or to the selected airport. Manual zooming using the rotary knob.

  • Prop feathered and prop flat glide ranges. Terrain outside of the glide range is blacked out, as it is not relevant to a glide-only solution.

  • Terrain shading, runways and obstacles


  •  
Additionally, on the VP-400, you can select pages to show:
 
  • Electrical system diagram

  • A list of electrical devices, including individual current draw and on/off status
 
System Components
 
Display

The display mounts in your instrument panel and displays the synthetic vision view, map view, electrical system view, and a list of electrical device including device status and individual current draw. Using the touch screen, you can turn devices on and off including flaps and trim (in addition to normal switches). User-configured annunciators for things like canopy or door alarms are also shown. The screen is a high-resolution display (600×1024 pixels) with a bright 1000-nit LED backlight. The built-in back-up battery provides 30+ minutes of power to the display in case of an electrical system failure.
 
GADAHRS

The system includes an independent self-contained GPS, air data, attitude, heading reference system (GADAHRS). The solid state gyro and software is licensed from Cloud Cap Technology (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Goodrich Corporation) that uses it in certified instruments as part of both aircraft and unmanned vehicles. The GPS is a highly-accurate WAAS GPS receiver that provides exceptional vertical accuracy.
 
PDU (VP-400 only)

The Power Distribution Unit houses solid-state electronic circuit breakers and trim/flap controllers for protection and management of the electrical system on your aircraft. It turns electrical devices on and off, runs the trim and flap motors, handles short circuits, and watches for overvoltage and under-voltage conditions. Vertical Power’s DualBuss™ Technology provides two independent power banks (from a single power source) in a single enclosure, delivering unprecedented levels of redundancy and safety. Builders can now easily divide avionics and other electrical loads between two power busses, and should one bus controller fail the other bus will continue to operate independently and be able to provide power to the starter contactor. Each bus controller is powered by an independent power supply and microprocessor.
 
VP-400 System

The VP-400 system includes a display and GADAHRS (GPS, air data, attitude, heading reference system), and one power distribution unit (PDU).

 
VP-400 Duo System

The VP-400 Duo system includes a display and GADAHRS (GPS, air data, attitude, heading reference system), and two power distribution unit (PDU).  The Duo is recommended for true dual-independent bus electrical architecture (two batteries, two master contactors, two independent alternators, and a cross tie contactor) or a single bus architecture that needs more circuits than a single PDU can provide.

 
Specifications
 
Power 6-32 volts DC; Dual diaode-isolated power inputs
Battery Backup Built in, user replaceable. 30+ minutes power for display and GADAHRS only
Weight Display 2.6 lbs; PDU 2.1 lbs (VP-400 only); GADAHRS 0.7 lbs
Mounting Display - mounts from front of panel with four 6-32 screws
PDU - mounts with included bracket or optional mounting try (VP-400 only)

GADAHRS - mounts with four 10-32 non-ferrous screws/nuts
Connectors Display - two 25 pin d-sub connectors, two 50 pin d-sub connectors
PDU - three power connectors, two 25 pin d-sub connectors
(VP-400 only)
GADAHRS - one 9 pin d-sub connector
Operating Temperature -40 to +85 deg C
Certification The VP-400 is for use with experimental and light sport aircraft only
 
Detailed dimension drawing here