Since the mid-1970s, all new aircraft have had them and they would be high on my list of safety improvements for retrofit. Granted, it isn t easy or cheap on some models because the attach points have to be fabricated and strengthened. This is where throttle, prop, and mixture all play together through one control something the jet folks have come to know and love. Push for go and pull for slow, and the engine adjusts itself to the environment. With a single lever the pilot can t run the engine lean or rich, and that should contribute to a more stable operating environment and reduced work load.
Less distraction is a safety advance.
Cirrus, as an interim step, offers a combined throttle and prop control in its recently certified SR20. These provide pilots with a much more detailed look at what s happening in the engine. The displays provide a diagnostic capability that is well beyond the small single-needle gauges of old. New Piper s digital engine monitoring panel on the Malibu Mirage, Seneca, and Saratoga processes engine, electrical, and fuel data and provides an audible warning if anything is outside of normal tolerance. It has eliminated pressurized fuel and oil lines from the panel in favor of electric gauging.