Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Avionics 201003
Citation preview
www.avtoday.com/av
March 2010
NextGen • A400M • EFBsNextGenNextGen A400MA400M EFBsEFBs
Surface Surveillance
01_AVS_030110_Cover_p01.indd 1 2/12/10 12:09:00 PM
Welcome to the digital edition of Avionics—A paper-free way to enjoy the same magazine you’ve come to rely on in our print edition.
Avionics Magazine online is simple, if you need help with a feature, just click on the question mark at the top right of any page.
Some quick tips:
Browse the magazine page by page using the right and left arrows in the navigation bar above and to the side of every page
Select “Contents” to skim and click on just the articles you want to read
Use the “Search” feature to access topics or keywords of interest
The digital edition also gives you convenient ways to:
Print the articles you like best
Download whole issues
Share articles with colleagues by using the Share feature to send via email or built in social networking links
Click on live hyperlinks to instantly access Web resources included in articles and advertisements
Access the magazine when you’re traveling
Enjoy the issue!
Joe Rosone, Vice President and Group PublisherAvionics
Welcome
Avionics-DDC-Boards-March.indd 1 2/5/2010 11:53:10 AM
02_AVS_030110_TOC_p02-03.indd 2 2/16/10 7:27:50 AM
Avionics Magazine holds four Royal Aeronautical Society Journalism Awards, including Journalist of the
Year, plus the American Business Media’s prestigious Jesse H. Neal Journalism Award.
insidemagazine
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 3
The editors welcome articles, engineering and technical reports, new product information, and other industry news. All editorial inquiries should be directed to Avionics Magazine, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850–4024; 301-354-1820; fax: 301-340-8741. email: [email protected]
Avionics Magazine (ISSN-1085-9284) is published monthly except twice in July by Access Intelligence, LLC, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850. Periodicals Postage Paid at Rockville, MD, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: Free to qualified individuals directly involved in the avionics industry. All other subscriptions, U.S.: one year $99; two years $188. Canada: one year $129; two years $208. Foreign: one year $149; two years $278.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Avionics Magazine, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092. Change of address two to eight weeks notice requested. Send both new and old address, including mailing label to Attn: Avionics Magazine, Customer services, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092, or call 847-559-7314. Email: [email protected] Post PM40063731. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5
©2010 by Access Intelligence, LLC Contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.
Printed in U.S.A.
March 2010 • Vol. 34, No. 3
Avionics-DDC-Boards-March.indd 1 2/5/2010 11:53:10 AM
Cover: Enhanced situational awareness of both aircraft and ground vehicles on the airport surface is another application for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, as we report this month.
Editor’s NoteADS-B Nationwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
AviationToday.comA Flock of Dodos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
DepartmentsScan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8New Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
also in this issue
Situation: Airport Surface . . .20The FAA and industry teams work to accelerate a standard for airport surface detection and alerting using ADS-B by Bill Carey
At Last, The A400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24The belated first flight of the European airlifter in December initiated a three-year, 3,700-hour test campaign by five aircraft by Jean-Michel Guhl
EFBs . . . . . . . . . 30Recent demonstrations and wider application of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast renew interest in Electronic Flight Bags by Barry Rosenberg
cover story military product focus
Boeing 747-8 Freighter makes its first flight Feb. 8 from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Boeing reports 108 orders for the aircraft.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
Boe
ing
02_AVS_030110_TOC_p02-03.indd 3 2/16/10 7:28:04 AM
4 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
editor’s noteb y B i l l C a r e y
ADS-B Nationwide
While national attention has
been focused elsewhere,
ITT and FAA have moved the
chains on a fundamental
shift in aviation.
Discover more paths to greater fuel efficiency.© 2010 Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved.
The demand today is clear. More paths to better routing, increased situational awareness and, ultimately, lower fuel costs. By upgrading your existing Rockwell Collins navigation, surveillance and flight control systems, you greatly enhance the performance of your aircraft. Contact us today to learn how Performance Solutions can enhance your fuel efficiency at +1 888.265.5467 or visit our website at www.rockwellcollins.com/performancesolutions
RC_PerfSol_Avionics Mag.indd 1 2/1/10 12:24 PM
Evidence that the ground infrastructure for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is taking shape can be found next to a conference room
at the ITT Advanced Engineering & Sciences offices in Herndon, Va.
In an adjacent room, a retractable window blind opens to reveal ITT’s Network Operations Center, where several ITT and AT&T personnel sit at computer terminals before an oversized, split-screen display. At the center of the display is a map of the United States with ADS-B imple-mentation sites represented as colored icons, concentrated in the Northeast and Florida. To the right is a ground station status window and a similar window for Automated Weather Observ-ing System (AWOS) installations; to the left is a view of FAA’s monitoring system — to compare notes with what the agency is seeing — and a win-dow for CNN television, to keep abreast of the world outside.
ITT representatives emphasize that the “NOC” was built to monitor and troubleshoot the radio-station infrastructure, not to control it. The center is staffed 24/7 by technicians who analyze event messages and resolve automated trouble tickets. “It’s connected to the network, but not on the critical path. It’s not on the ser-vice provision path,” explained David Stewart, a consultant with Capital Sciences LLC, who led a recent tour of ITT’s facilities for a contingent from Avionics Magazine.
Nevertheless, the cleverly concealed ops center is impressive as an embodiment of the progress made toward nationwide deployment of ADS-B. While national attention has been focused else-where since the ADS-B contract was awarded in August 2007 — on a change in presidencies, on the greatest economic crisis since the Depression, on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan — ITT’s industry team and FAA have moved the chains on a fundamental shift in aviation from ground radar-based air traffic control to satellite-based air traffic management.
South Florida was the first region commis-sioned for ADS-B service, in November 2008. Last December, ADS-B “critical services” — the presentation of downlinked ADS-B targets on controller displays — were activated at the Hous-ton Air Route Traffic Control Center, making surveillance available of overflying airliners as well as low-flying helicopters supporting the off-
shore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Initial operational capability of ADS-B critical services at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon) was anticipated as this issue of Avionics went to the printer.
“The milestones drive the program,” said Glen Dyer, ITT’s ADS-B program manager, describing the workmanlike pace. “They create focus and clarity.”
Piecing together the network backbone has been less publicized. As of February, ITT had stood up control centers in Ashburn, Va., Dallas and Anchorage. The control centers, co-located with AT&T data centers, receive and process aeronautical weather information from WSI Corp. for Flight Information Service-Broadcasts (FIS-B), air traffic information from FAA for Traffic Information Service-Broadcasts (TIS-B) and ADS-B targets from the ground stations, which are fused with radar data for the TIS-B ser-vice. The centers also host the Automatic Depen-dent Surveillance-Rebroadcast (ADS-R) func-tion of translating and retransmitting 1090ES messages from large aircraft to smaller aircraft equipped with 978 MHz Universal Access Trans-ceivers, and vice versa. Trade studies were being conducted to site further control centers at points on the West Coast and in the Pacific.
FAA cites its own progress in assessing and signing-off ADS-B services and facilities. In addi-tion to certifying the new system, the agency has to adapt its air-traffic control automation plat-forms — for Tracons the legacy Common ARTS and new Raytheon Standard Terminal Automa-tion System (STARS); for enroute centers the Lockheed Martin Enroute Automation Mod-ernization (ERAM) system — to accommodate ADS-B messaging.
“We’re really proud of what we’re doing. We’ve got a good team,” Vincent Capezzuto, FAA director of Surveillance and Broadcast Services, said in a recent interview. “It’s the entire FAA; this is not a singular entity doing this. It requires close coordination with our safety group, the air cert people, the flight standards people. Tech ops has to do the certification — all the dif-ferent factions within the FAA really need to pull together. We have the support of the NextGen office … right up to the administrator.”
03_AVS_030110_Ednote_p04_07.indd 4 2/16/10 8:17:32 AM
Discover more paths to greater fuel efficiency.© 2010 Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved.
The demand today is clear. More paths to better routing, increased situational awareness and, ultimately, lower fuel costs. By upgrading your existing Rockwell Collins navigation, surveillance and flight control systems, you greatly enhance the performance of your aircraft. Contact us today to learn how Performance Solutions can enhance your fuel efficiency at +1 888.265.5467 or visit our website at www.rockwellcollins.com/performancesolutions
RC_PerfSol_Avionics Mag.indd 1 2/1/10 12:24 PM
03_AVS_030110_Ednote_p04_07.indd 5 2/16/10 8:17:40 AM
6 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
APRIL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
Contact:Western U.S. and Canada: Kevin Reinhart at 972-713-6494, [email protected] U.S. and Canada: Joe Milroy at 215-598-0933 or [email protected]: James McAuley at +34 952 118018 or [email protected]
BEATING BROWNOUT: Blinding sand and dust clouds from helicopter rotors still cost the U.S. armed services lives and aircraft in ongoing conflicts. Since 2002, the Army alone has lost or damaged 27 helicopters in brownout mishaps, the latest last October when a Special Operations Chinook hit a hidden obstacle on takeoff and crashed with 10 fatalities. To combat the problem, the military and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are pursuing advanced see-through, see-and-remember and combination technologies for safe landings in desert dust.
FAA RESPONDS TO TASK FORCE: FAA has responded to recommendations of the RTCA NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force with a document outlining steps it will take for each of the task force’s top-tier operational proposals. Which of the industry consensus recommendations will be implemented, where and how soon? We analyze the FAA’s response.
PRODUCT FOCUS, LIGHTING: With the first generation of light-emitting diode lighting proving its value on the flight deck and in the cabin, manufacturers of aircraft lighting systems are developing second-generation solu-tions that throw off more light while using less power, have longer life and take full advantage of lighting technology developed for commer-cial electronics.
APRIL 2010
16632
RODUCT FOCUS, LIGHTING:With the first generation of light-emitting diode lighting proving its value on the flight deck and in the cabin, manufacturers of aircraft lighting systems are developing second-generation solu-tions that throw off more light while using less
full advantage -
consensus recommendations will be implemented, where and how soon? We analyze the
Also, contact our sales representatives for advertising opportunities in the 2010 Avionics Magazine Buyers Guide and Aerospace Acronym Guide.
03_AVS_030110_Ednote_p04_07.indd 6 2/16/10 12:01:05 PM
4 Choke Cherry Rd., 2nd Floor Rockville, MD 20850 Phone: 301/354-2000Fax: 301/340-3169
For photocopy or reuse requests: 800-772-3350 or [email protected]
EDITORIALEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Bill Carey
MANAgINg EDITOR Emily Feliz301-354-1820
ONLINE PubLIsHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR John Persinos 301-385-7211
CONTRIbuTINg EDITORs Frank Alexander, Frank Colucci, Ron Laurenzo, George Marsh, Ed McKenna, Douglas Nelms,
James W. Ramsey, Barry Rosenberg, Jean-Michel Guhl
ADVERTIsINg & busINEssVICE PREsIDENT & gROuP PubLIsHER
Joe Rosone301-354-1773
DIsTRICT MANAgER/EAsTERN us & CANADAJoe Milroy
DIsTRICT MANAgER/WEsTERN us & CANADAKevin Reinhart972-713-6494
INTERNATIONAL sALEs, EuROPE/PAC RIM/AsIA James McAuley
+34 952 118 [email protected]
DEsIgN & PRODuCTION gRAPHIC DEsIgNER Joy Park
PRODuCTION MANAgER Tony Campana 301-354-1689
AuDIENCE DEVELOPMENTAuDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Sarah Garwood
[email protected] MANAgER George Severine
[email protected] subsCRIPTION sERVICEs/bACK IssuEs 847-559-7314
LIsT sALEsstatlistics
Jen Felling (203) 778-8700
REPRINTsThe Ygs group 1-800-290-5460
avaionics@theYGSgroup
Access Intelligence, LLCCHIEF EXECuTIVE OFFICER
Don PazourEXECuTIVE VICE PREsIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Ed PinedoEXECuTIVE VICE PREsIDENT, HuMAN REsOuRCEs
& ADMINIsTRATION Macy L. Fecto
DIVIsIONAL PREsIDENT Heather Farley
VICE PREsIDENT, PRODuCTION & MANuFACTuRINgMichael Kraus
sENIOR VICE PREsIDENT, CORPORATE AuDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Sylvia Sierra
sENIOR VICE PREsIDENT & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Robert Paciorek
VICE PREsIDENT FINANCIAL PLANNINg AND INTERNAL AuDIT Steve Barber
APRIL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
Contact:Western U.S. and Canada: Kevin Reinhart at 972-713-6494, [email protected] U.S. and Canada: Joe Milroy at 215-598-0933 or [email protected]: James McAuley at +34 952 118018 or [email protected]
BEATING BROWNOUT: Blinding sand and dust clouds from helicopter rotors still cost the U.S. armed services lives and aircraft in ongoing confl icts. Since 2002, the Army alone has lost or damaged 27 helicopters in brownout mishaps, the latest last October when a Special Operations Chinook hit a hidden obstacle on takeoff and crashed with 10 fatalities. To combat the problem, the military and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are pursuing ad-vanced see-through, see-and-remember and combination technologies for safe landings in desert dust.
FAA RESPONDS TO TASK FORCE: FAA has responded to recommendations of the RTCA NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force with a document outlining steps it will take for each of the task force’s top-tier operational proposals. Which of the industry consen-sus recommendations will be implemented, where and how soon? We analyze the FAA’s response.
PRODUCT FOCUS, LIGHTING: With the fi rst generation of light-emitting diode lighting proving its value on the fl ight deck and in the cabin, manufacturers of aircraft lighting sys-tems are developing second-generation solutions that throw off more light while using less power, have longer life and take full advantage of lighting technology developed for commer-cial electronics.
APRIL 2010
16632
PRODUCT FOCUS, LIGHTING:With the fi rst generation of light-emitting diode lighting proving its value on the fl ight deck and in the cabin, manufacturers of aircraft lighting sys-tems are developing second-generation solutions that throw off more light while using less power,
sus recommendations will be implemented, where and how soon? We analyze the FAA’s
Also, contact our sales representatives for advertising opportunities in the 2010 Avionics Magazine Buyers Guide and Aerospace Acronym Guide.
00_AVS_Promo_April.indd 1 2/16/10 8:14:43 AM
www.avtoday.com/av February 2010 Avionics Magazine 7
Reach 20,000
Active Avionics Readers Place a Marketplace or Web Locater ad, Contact your account rep for details
Engineers should maintain aircraft, not batteries.
WEPPS is a truly revolutionary emergency lighting battery system. At the touch of a button it can interrogate and report on the status of an aircraft’s entire emergency lighting system – all in under ten seconds! What’s more, the system’s battery modules need no charging and no maintenance; and because
they fit to existing battery mountings they are very cost effective to install and run. In fact, a WEPPS system can pay for itself in less than a year. So talk to us today about the substantial savings WEPPS can make for your airline. And let the engineers get on with maintaining your aircraft.
USA +1(305) 828 9811
UK +44(0)1760 723232
www.stgaerospace.com Wireless Emergency Primary Power System
Visit us at AMC Phoenix
03_AVS_030110_Ednote_p04_07.indd 7 2/16/10 8:18:01 AM
industry scan
8 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
FAA Proposes $1.1 Billion On NextGen Spending In FY2011 Budget Request
FAA has proposed spending $1.143 billion on Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) programs in its fiscal 2011 budget request, an increase of $275 million or 32 percent over the FY2010 enacted level.
FAA’s overall budget request for FY2011 is $16.5 billion, roughly 3 percent higher than the FY2010 enacted budget.
The NextGen portfolio includes $1.023 billion distributed among programs in the Facilities & Equipment (F&E) account — a 30 percent increase over FY2010 — $77.5 mil-lion for Research, Engineering & Development (RE&D) and $42.5 million for Operations.
“The FAA is moving forward with a dual-pronged approach for implementing NextGen,” the agency states in its budget summary.
“We are maximizing the use of untapped capabilities in today’s aircraft and ground infrastructure, while working aggressively to develop and deploy new systems and procedures that will form a foundation for more transformative capabilities that will be delivered in the mid-term.”
The F&E account contains $176 million for continued nationwide deployment of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations by prime contractor ITT Corp., with associated Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) and Flight Informa-tion Service-Broadcast (FIS-B) transmissions.
“Prior-year funding focused on compet-ing and awarding the service contract for the National program, to include turning on options for implementation of limited areas of ADS-B in the Gulf of Mexico, Juneau, Louisville, Phila-delphia, Ontario, and an expansion of the TIS-B and FIS-B services in the East Coast, Great Lakes, and Southern California areas,” FAA states. “Also included were activities focused on design reviews, testing and validation of the vendor designated architecture and accelera-tion of Future Applications development.
“For FY2011, activities will focus on continuing the National Airspace System wide deployment of ASD-B, the continuance of future application development and the monitoring of ADS-B equipage for compliance with the rule, scheduled to be published in the Federal Register in 2010,” FAA said.
Under the agency’s Operations account, $25 million is provided to design and imple-ment new high-altitude, performance-based routes between 10 major metropolitan areas in the next three to four years, rather than the originally planned six-to-eight years.
The funding also will be used to develop new terminal procedures in major metro-politan areas, including Chicago, Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta and Denver.
The agency’s overall RE&D proposal is
NextGen Programs ($ in Thousands)FY 2009
ActualFY 2010Enacted
FY 2011Request
Facilities and Equipment (F&E)
NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) 20,000 20,000 28,250
Data Communications for Trajectory-Based Operations 28,800 46,700 153,300
Demonstrations and Infrastructure Development 28,000 34,602 27,000
NextGen – System Development 41,400 66,100 95,000
NextGen – Trajectory-Based Operations 39,500 63,500 58,600
NextGen – Reduced Weather Impact 14,400 35,600 43,202
NextGen – High Density Arrivals/Departures 18,200 51,800 57,000
NextGen – Collaborative ATM 27,700 44,641 75,500
NextGen – Flexible Terminals and Airports 37,100 64,300 80,700
NextGen – Safety, Security and Environment 8,000 8,200 8,000
NextGen – Networked Facilities 15,000 24,000 35,000
System-Wide Information Management 43,043 56,548 92,000
ADS-B NAS Wide Implementation – Segment 1b 306,765 201,350 176,100
NAS Voice Switch 10,000 26,600 30,200
Collaborative ATM Technologies - 18,100 35,900
Activity 5 F&E PCBT – NextGen - 26,250 27,038
SubTotal F&E 637,908 788,290 1,022,790
Research, Engineering and Development (RE&D)
NextGen – Wake Turbulence 7,370 7,605 10,685
NextGen – Air Ground Integration 2,554 5,688 10,614
NextGen – Self Separation 8,025 8,247 9,971
NextGen – Weather in the Cockpit 8,049 9,570 9,312
NextGen Environmental Research – Aircraft Technologies, Fuels and Metrics 16,050 26,509 20,600
NextGen – JPDO 14,466 14,407 14,292
NextGen Alternative Fuels – General Aviation - - 2,000
SubTotal RE&D 56,514 72,026 77,474
Operations
NextGen Environmental/Noise/Congestion Studies (5 EOY/FTE) - 1,665 1,681
NextGen Staffing (ATO 75 FTE) - 5,000 12,083
NextGen – Environmental Performance (5 FTE) 704 725 747
Program, Models & Metrics (3 EOY/2 FTE) - - 3,019
Performance Based Navigation (ATO $15M; AVS $10M - 40 EOY/20 FTE) - - 25,000
SubTotal Operations 704 7,390 42,530
Total NextGen Programs 695,126 867,706 1,142,794
$500,000 lower than the prior year, but contains a 7.6 percent increase in NextGen research funding, supporting enhanced development efforts in air/ground integration, weather in the cockpit and environmental research for aircraft technologies, fuels and metrics, FAA said.
In explaining the budget Feb. 1, FAA said increased NextGen funding will begin to address recommendations of the RTCA NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force, which released
a series of recommendations Sept. 9 for achiev-ing mid-term NextGen efficiencies.
“We believe that it is important for us to respond positively to the task force, and to con-tinue the collaboration we have established this year,” FAA states. “The FY2011 budget supports recommendations from the RTCA Task Force in the areas of surface tactical flows, runway ac-cess, metroplex, cruise, NAS access, integrated ATM and data communications.”
Sou
rce:
FA
A
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 8 2/12/10 4:09:54 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 9
CommerCial
Faa responds To TF5FAA in late January responded to recom-mendations of the RTCA NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force (also known as Task Force 5) with a 28-page document outlining steps it will take for each of the task force’s top-tier opera-tional proposals.
The RTCA Task Force last September produced an industry-consensus report with recommendations for achieving “mid-term” NextGen capabilities — in the period 2015 to 2018. FAA issued its response in lieu of the 2010 NextGen Implementation Plan (NGIP) update, which was expected in January. The NGIP was postponed until March.
The task force “slate of recommenda-tions is critical to the FAA’s approach to NextGen development and deployment,” the agency states. “… In response to the RTCA report, the FAA has adjusted its planning to address the Task Force’s Tier One recommendations.”
In what has been described as an “air-port and metroplex-centric” approach, the task force produced recommendations in five operational “domains” of surface operations, runway access, metroplex, cruise and National Airspace System (NAS) access, as well as two areas consid-ered cross-cutting: data communications and integrated air traffic management.
The task force also made “overarch-ing” recommendations to incentivize equi-page, streamline operational approvals and certification, achieve existing 3- and 5-mile separation standards and continue collaborating with industry.
On the overarching recommenda-tion to incentivize equipage by airspace users, FAA says more time is needed to study the ramifications. Nevertheless, the agency in April is expected to issue a “performance-based” equipment rule mandating compliance by 2020.
“We are continuing discussions with the aviation community on what con-stitutes a ‘best-equipped, best-served’ strategy that will encourage NAS users to equip,” FAA said. “As we implement new technologies, procedures and avion-ics equipage in the NAS, the system has to accommodate aircraft with NextGen technologies as well as those that have
not begun the transition. When we suc-cessfully resolve the mixed performance/equipage challenge, additional choices and improved levels of service will be available. ‘Best-equipped, best-served’ requires analyses to determine the risks and opportunities that must be considered as controllers and operators deal with this
mixed-equipage environment.”Further guidance on FAA’s plans
to implement the recommendations is expected at the RTCA Spring Sympo-sium, co-produced by Avionics Magazine. The symposium will be held April 6-7 in Washington, D.C. For more information, see www.RTCASpringSymposium.com.
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 9 2/12/10 4:10:15 PM
industry scan
10 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
Airbus RFID Order Airbus in January placed a multi-year order to equip its A350XWB fleet with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for flyable components.
Memory chip developer Tego, Inc., of Waltham, Mass., and Paris-based firm MAINtag SAS will provide two designs of their jointly developed “FLYtag” prod-uct line, initially to tag some 1,500 parts on the new widebody.
Tego is supplying the 8 Kbyte memory chip specified by Airbus, which is designed to the Air Transport Association (ATA) Spec 2000 data standard. MAINtag pro-vides the tags, conforming to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) AS5678 aerospace standard.
The order, announced Jan. 19, was described as a pioneering effort to intro-duce RFID tracking on aircraft. Airbus reports 505 orders for three variants of the A350, potentially representing hundreds of thousands of RFID tags.
“What Airbus has done here is provide a contract vehicle and a pricing model to allow the industry to get up and running pretty seamlessly without having to use a lot of contractual activities to make the whole thing work,” said Timothy Butler, Tego president and CEO.
RFID uses radio frequency waves to transfer data between a reader and the tagged components. The tags developed for use on aircraft are “passive,” without a dedicated power supply. The A350 wide-body will be the first Airbus aircraft to use the passive RFID tags on flyable parts. Boeing has said it will use RFID tags for “maintenance-specific parts” on the 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus on Nov. 26 introduced a new maintenance, repair and overhaul strategy supporting RFID adoption for “value chain visibility,” with tracing of both fly-able and non-flyable components over their total lifecycle.
The RFID tags on flyable parts will support improved aircraft configuration management and line maintenance, repair shop optimization, warehouse logistics, payload tracking and life-limited parts monitoring, the companies said.
“Broadly speaking what they’re look-ing to do is tag both pressurized and non-pressurized flyable parts,” Butler said. “Pressurized flyable parts are inside the cabin — initially avionics equipment, audio visual equipment, seats, materials, life-limited parts like oxygen generators,
potentially life vests where there’s not as much information required but there’s a need to maintain reporting requirements.
“In non-pressurized areas, you’re talk-ing about major repair and overhaul areas [such as] jet engines, the wings, major components and subassemblies of those components,” he said. “It’s really permeat-ing throughout the whole plane.”
Butler said Tego had already started shipping memory chips to MAINtag. The tagging of components is expected to begin later this year and in 2011. The A350 is expected to enter service in 2013.
Other aerospace manufacturers and suppliers have expressed interest in RFID tagging, Butler said.
“What we’ve heard from a lot of the manufacturers and the OEMs is that once this gets implemented, [they will] begin incorporating into the designs of all their parts going forward these sorts of tags,” he said. “In our conversations with the OEMs, virtually everyone that we have talked to — and it’s over a dozen at this point — are expecting privately to begin implementing and tagging virtually their whole inventory over the course of the next couple of years.” —Bill Carey
MC-21 ActuationGoodrich Corp. was selected by Irkut and Aviapribor of Russia to provide the flight control actuation system for the new Irkut MC-21 family of single-aisle commercial aircraft, the company announced Feb. 1.
The MC-21 is being developed by Irkut as a family of short-to-medium range airliners, carrying between 150 and 210 passengers. Initial entry into service is
planned for 2016.Irkut has selected Rockwell Collins to
provide communications, navigation and surveillance equipment and pilot controls.
Goodrich will contract with Avi-apribor to design, develop and produce primary and secondary flight control actuation for all variants of the MC-21. In addition, Goodrich will provide complete actuation system integration optimized for the aircraft.
“The new MC-21 aircraft will benefit from lower weight, enhanced reliability and ease of maintenance through the lat-est Goodrich fly-by-wire flight control technology,” said Jack Carmola, Goo-drich segment president for Actuation and Landing Systems. “We look forward to developing a long and successful relation-ship with Aviapribor and Irkut.”
Aircell FundingIn-flight connectivity system provider Aircell said Jan. 21 it had secured $176 million in equity funding from new and existing investors, the proceeds of which will be used for network expansion and operating needs.
Aircell said its Gogo in-flight Internet service has been deployed on more than 700 commercial aircraft, with commit-ments from nine airlines.
“This substantial capital raise is a strong endorsement of our business achievements to date,” said Ron LeMay, Aircell president and CEO.
“Aircell is well positioned to continue its ongoing aircraft deployment and rapid acceleration in customer adoption of Gogo throughout 2010 and beyond.”
Two designs of the FLYtag radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, seen here in relation to a Euro, will be supplied to Airbus for application across the A350XWB fleet. Airbus specified an 8 Kbyte memory chip to tag thousands of aircraft parts.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
MA
INta
g
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 10 2/12/10 4:10:27 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 11
London WAM/ADS-BThales U.K. will provide a Wide-Area Multilateration (WAM) system to National Air Traffic Services (NATS) of the United Kingdom under terms of a contract announced Jan. 25.
The trial system will enable NATS to investigate the operational capabilities of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and WAM to support future en-route surveillance.
The contract also supports the Euro-control CASCADE program through the CRISTAL U.K. 3 project, Thales said.
The WAM installation will consist of a six-sensor active WAM/ADS-B system located around London and covering Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Luton and Stansted airports. The network will be used to validate multilateration against a proven radar surveillance picture.
The WAM system will use existing NATS sites and infrastructure to allow data to be collected and processed at the central processing station, which is based at the NATS Corporate Technical Center at Southampton.
A key outcome of the CRISTAL U.K.
3 project will be to validate the safety of ADS-B/WAM in meeting the current 3 nm separation standard.
“NATS is continually evaluating whether the latest technologies can sup-port or improve its air traffic operations. Therefore, we are particularly interested in determining whether ADS-B and WAM can be used for surveillance to deliver the demanding 3 nm separation standard in high-density airspace,” said Mark Watson, NATS head of CNS/ATM research.
Low-Cost SurveillanceSRA International, based in Fairfax, Va., said Jan. 13 that it had completed factory acceptance tests under FAA’s Low-Cost Ground Surveillance (LCGS) program.
The company said the tests demon-strated the operational capabilities of its system using the Terma Scanter 2001 surface movement radar and the HITT A-3000 ATC Display and Surveillance Data Fusion System.
The LCGS program is aimed at reduc-ing the number of runway incursions at small- to medium-sized airports where it is impractical to deploy expensive runway
surface detection equipment.SRA is one of four companies install-
ing LCGS systems at U.S. airports under the FAA program. SRA’s LCGS system will be installed at the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport in Califor-nia, and is scheduled to begin evaluation this month.
Other companies involved in the LCGS demonstration program include Thales, which is supplying its Surface Traffic Enhancement and Automation Support system at the Manchester Boston Regional Airport; Northrop Grumman, installing a system at the Reno, Nev., air-port; and Sensis Corp., deploying a system at the Long Beach, Calif., airport.
Upon completion of pilot site evalua-tions, one or more LCGS systems may be selected for NAS-wide deployment at up to 30 locations, according to FAA.
Pilot airport site evaluations also will explore LCGS capability to provide the infrastructure for other applications such as Runway Status Lights, Final Approach Runway Occupancy Signal and Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System, according to FAA.
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 11 2/12/10 4:10:36 PM
industry scan
12 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
MILITARY
Pentagon BudgetPresident Barack Obama on Feb. 1 sent a $549 billion budget request to Congress for the Department of Defense (DoD), representing a 3.4 percent increase over the current Pentagon budget. Another $159 billion is requested for the conflicts
in Iraq and Afghanistan.The fiscal 2011 budget request includes
$10.7 billion for continued development of the F-35 Lightning II and for the pur-chase of 43 low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot 5 aircraft, 22 of which are slated to go to the Air Force.
Production, however, will be delayed 13 months to extend the test program to November 2015, a move reflecting new
data on cost and performance, according to defense officials.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Feb. 1 said he was replacing Marine Corps. Maj. Gen. David R. Heinz as head of the F-35 program and withholding $614 million in fees to prime contrac-tor Lockheed Martin due to unexpected cost growth and performance problems. Lockheed Martin officials acknowledged the program is running about six months behind schedule.
Vice Adm. David J. Venlet, command-er of the Naval Air Systems Command, will be nominated to succeed Heinz as F-35 program executive officer.
“The reality is it’s a good airplane. It’s meeting the performance parameters,” Gates told the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 3.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, reported to the committee that DoD will get its first F-35 training squadron in 2011, followed by delivery to the Marines in 2012; the Air Force in 2013 and the Navy in 2014.
The president’s budget also calls for the elimination of the F136 alternative engine for the F-35, developed by General Elec-tric and Rolls-Royce. Gates said he would oppose any bill that includes money for the congressionally backed alternative engine. That veto threat would apply to an extension of the C-17 production line.
Obama on Feb. 1 singled out the C-17 Globemaster program as an example of government “waste.”
“I am fully aware of the political pres-sure to continue building the C-17 and to proceed with an alternative engine for the F-35,” Gates said. “Let me be clear: I will strongly recommend that the presi-dent veto any legislation that sustains the unnecessary continuation of these two programs.”
In conjunction with the president’s budget, the Pentagon released its Qua-drennial Defense Review (QDR), which identifies military priorities of prevailing in the current wars in Iraq and Afghani-stan; preventing and deterring conflicts; preparing the department for a range of contingencies; and preserving and enhancing the all-volunteer force.
The QDR also identified enablers to these priorities, including increased intelligence, surveillance and reconnais-sance (ISR) assets, more helicopters and increased emphasis on special operations forces.
SmartRunway is an easy software upgrade to Honeywell’s.Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).
For details, visit Honeywell.com/runwaysafety.
©2009 Honeywell International Inc.
Safe from the start.
A runway incursion happens every day,
somewhere in the world, costing the industry
$100 million per year. SmartRunway provides
aural alerts and visual messaging to improve
situational awareness during taxi, take-off, approach and landing.
SmartRunway is confi gurable to support both ‘heads-up’ and ‘quiet’
cockpits and complements electronic fl ight bags when installed.
Keeping you safe either on the ground or in the air.
SmartRunwayTM
B A I L E Y L A U E R M A NHoneywell Smart Runway AdHoneyw091734Pub: Avionics Magazine Color: 4-color Size: 4.5" x 7.5" (half-page island)
Honeyw091734 Smart Landing.indd 2 9/8/09 1:23:31 PM
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 12 2/16/10 8:21:30 AM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 13
Following is a breakdown of budget requests by military branch:
➤ Air Force: The Air Force’s $170.8 billion budget request for FY2011 includes more money for unmanned air-craft systems.
The service’s $15.4 billion aircraft pro-curement budget covers 149 new aircraft — 97 manned and 52 unmanned. The base budget provides for 36 MQ-9 Reaper UAVs; 22 F-35A Lightning IIs; 15 Light Mobility aircraft; eight C-27J Spartan mobility aircraft; four RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs; five CV-22As for the Air Force Special Operations Command and three HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, among others.
The budget request doubles procure-ment funds for the MQ-9 Reaper in order to increase combat air patrols from the current target of 50 to at least 65 by 2015.
The budget foresees a contract award for the KC-X tanker requirement this summer, with initial purchase in 2013. The drawn-out competition pits Boeing against the team of Northrop Grumman/EADS to design and build 179 KC-Xs to replace aging KC-135 tankers.
➤ Army: Aviation got a boost in the Army’s budget request. The budget seeks $143.3 billion for the Army and $102 billion for Overseas Contingency Opera-tions (OCO), primarily those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The request includes $1.4 billion for 72 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks, and $1.2 billion for upgrading CH-47 Chinooks from the D to the F model. The Army has requested $887 million for modernization of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The EADS-built UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter will receive $326 million.
The service seeks $459 million for the General Atomics MQ-1 Sky Warrior unmanned aircraft system. Another $505 million is set for modifications to AAI Corp.’s RQ-7 Shadow UAV.
The OCO request includes $187 mil-lion to replace OH-58 Kiowa Warrior battle losses and to make modifications. It includes $198 million for aircraft sur-vivability equipment, including infrared countermeasures.
➤ Navy: The Navy will purchase 206 aircraft in FY2011, one fewer than in FY2010, according to the service’s $160 billion baseline budget.
The $46 billion procurement budget includes 12 Boeing EA-18G Growlers; seven P-8 Multi-Mission Maritime air-
craft; 22 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets; 13 F-35B short takeoff vertical landing vari-ants; seven of the Navy carrier variant, the F-35C; 28 Bell Helicopter AH-1Z/UH-1Ys; 30 Bell-Boeing MV-22B til-trotors; 24 Lockheed Martin MH-60R and 18 MH-60S helicopters; and three Northrop Grumman Fire Scout UAVs.
The Navy’s EP-X program to replace EP-3E surveillance aircraft is terminated.
Sources including our sister publication, Defense Daily, were used for this report.
ARGUS-IS FlightsBAE Systems in Nashua, N.H., complet-ed initial flight tests of the Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveil-lance Imaging System, or ARGUS-IS, on a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The tests demonstrated the system’s multiple
SmartLanding is an easy software upgrade to Honeywell’s.Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).
For details, visit Honeywell.com/runwaysafety.
©2009 Honeywell International Inc.
Safe ‘til you stop.
Here are more statistics that are hard to ignore:
runway excursions cost the aviation industry
$900 million per year and account for 83% of
runway fatalities. Honeywell’s new SmartLanding
helps reduce the risk of runway excursions by alerting pilots during
unstable approaches and long landings. Safe from start to stop.
Together, SmartRunway and SmartLanding provide a powerful
continuum of awareness from takeoff to landing.
SmartLandingTM
B A I L E Y L A U E R M A NHoneywell Smart Landing AdHoneyw091734Pub: Avionics Magazine Color: 4-color Size: 4.5" x 7.5" (half-page island)
Honeyw091734 Smart Landing.indd 1 9/8/09 1:22:51 PM
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 13 2/16/10 8:21:49 AM
industry scan
14 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
video windows for persistent area surveil-lance and tracking capabilities for vehicles and dismounted soldiers.
BAE said the airborne processing sys-tem can simultaneously and continuously detect and track the presence and motion of thousands of small or large targets over an area covering tens of square miles. BAE Systems equipment for ARGUS-IS consists of a high-resolution, extreme wide-area, real-time video sensor; an
on-board processing system; and ground processing for interactive multi-target des-ignation, tracking and exploitation.
“The ARGUS-IS system overcomes the fundamental limitations of current airborne surveillance systems,” said Ste-ven Wein, BAE Systems director of opti-cal sensor systems. “Very high-resolution imaging systems required for vehicle and dismount tracking typically have a ‘soda-straw’ view that is too small for persistent
coverage. Existing wide-area systems have either inadequate resolution or require multiple passes or revisits to get updates.”
The Defense Advanced Research Proj-ects Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory awarded BAE Systems an initial $18.5 million contract to lead the ARGUS-IS effort in late 2007.
The system is intended for use in manned and unmanned aerial surveillance platforms.
Retrofit AESANorthrop Grumman demonstrated its Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) on an F-16 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in support of the Air Force’s F-16 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) feasibility study, the company said Jan. 25.
SABR is an AESA radar designed for retrofit in current F-16s and other legacy fighter, attack and training aircraft, according to Northrop Grumman.
“This officially marks the first time a retrofit AESA has ever flown in a legacy F-16,” said Arlene Camp, director of Advanced F-16 Radar Programs with Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector.
“This demonstration validated our goal of developing an AESA that can be easily installed on the flight line and integrated with existing power and cool-ing provisions of currently fielded F-16s. … With regard to installed performance, SABR’s air-to-air and air-to-ground detection and tracking and Synthetic Aperture Radar mapping performance met or exceeded our predictions.”
B-52H FlightBoeing’s B-52H bomber upgraded with new communications technology com-pleted its first test flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Jan. 17. The Com-bat Network Communications Technol-ogy (CONECT) upgrade allows B-52H crews to receive and send real-time digital information during their missions.
The three-hour test flight included an initial system build-up test, interphone test, communication test and power-on of each system in flight to determine that there were no adverse effects on flight-essential systems, Boeing said.
“Completion of the first test flight brings us one step closer to giving com-mand centers and troops on the ground the ability to communicate with the B-52 through the military’s digital information
“Exceptional Nav System Repairs by Design”
Inertial AerospaceServices
Sunshine Avionics
HEICO ComponentRepair Group
Service Specialties:Instruments – Engine Gauges, ADI, HSI, RMI, Fuel Quantity, Cockpit Voice and Data Recorders, Pressure Ratio Transducers, Surface Position Transmitters, Altimeters, Airspeed, Gyros, Autopilot/Flight Control Panels, Emergency Power Supplies.AAvionics – TCAS, VOR, Radars, Antennas, Transponders, INU, IRU, Wind Shear Radar, Radio Control Heads, Audio Control Amplifiers, Cabin Handsets, Air Data Computers.
Phone: 440.995.6555 Contact: N. Tony Wright Website: www.heico.com
TCASVSI IRU
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 14 2/16/10 2:43:13 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 15
network,” said Jim Kroening, Boeing B-52 Development Programs manager.
“Augmenting current voice-based communication gives B-52 crews greater situational awareness and significantly enhanced mission capabilities.”
EADS AcquisitionEADS North America Test and Ser-vices, based in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 11 announced plans to acquire Trig-Tek, Inc., of Garden Grove, Calif., a manu-facturer of precision, dynamic test and measurement instruments for the U.S. aerospace and defense markets.
EADS said the acquisition is “consis-tent with our strategy to provide our cus-tomers with the most advanced automatic test solutions. It also supports EADS North America’s goal to grow our busi-ness in the U.S. and to enhance our global test and services offering.”
Lyle Wells, who was the president and owner of Trig-Tek, will remain involved with the day-to-day operations of the company in a consulting role.
“Trig-Tek is an excellent acquisition and good fit for our engineer-to-engineer culture,” said Jim Mulato, EADS North America Test and Services president. “Its complementary product line will enable us to provide even more complete, tailored, test solutions to our military, semiconduc-tor and engine test customers.”
UNMANNED SYSTEMS
Unmanned K-MAXLockheed Martin and Kaman Aero-space in February demonstrated to the U.S. Marine Corps the capability of the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter to resup-ply troops at forward operating bases.
During a series of test flights at the Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in early February, the Unmanned K-MAX demonstrated autonomous and remote controlled flight over both line-of-sight and satellite-based beyond line-of-sight data link.
The aircraft demonstrated hovering at 12,000 feet with a 1,500-pound sling load; delivering 3,000 pounds of cargo within the six-hour required time frame to a forward operating base, involving two 150 nm round-trip flights; precision load delivery by a ground-based operator in day and night conditions; and uploading a new mission plan to the aircraft’s mission management system during flight.
“The unmanned system performed operationally representative cargo resup-ply scenarios, and each time the system delivered as promised,” said Sal Bordona-ro, Kaman Helicopters president.
“Team K-MAX” had flown the
Unmanned K-MAX nearly 400 hours in unmanned mode since 2007, the compa-nies said. The demonstration fulfilled an $860,000 Marine Corps contract awarded to K-MAX manufacturer Kaman Aero-space last August.
SIX MILES…ONE HOUR!Now test six miles(or ten wiring harnesses) —whichever comes fi rst —in one hour!
Now dramatically reduce RF cable test time while increasing measurement accuracy and repeatability with our new portable RF cable test set. • Test cables for go/no-go status, insertion loss, return loss, and distance to fault (to reduce troubleshooting time) • Test cables to pre-defi ned specifi cations with single, continuous sweep, and maximum hold modes for speed, convenience • Adapters included for virtually any cable assembly
Our new Portable Helicopter Test Set speeds and simplifi es cable testing with unprecedented convenience and accuracy
MISSILE TESTS: The U.S. Army’s new Extended Range/Multipurpose (ER/MP) unmanned aircraft system, an MQ-1C Sky Warrior, completed a series of tests with the Hellfire II UAS missile at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, Calif.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
U.S
. Arm
y R
edst
one
Ars
enal
04_AVS_030110_Scan_p08_15.indd 15 2/16/10 8:22:17 AM
16 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
peopleEsterline CMC AppointmentsEsterline CMC Electronics, based in Montreal, announced a series of execu-tive appointments and a new organiza-tional structure designed to address the market environment and leverage the company’s expertise in cockpit systems integration and avionics.
CMC Electronics named Patrick Champagne vice president of Cockpit and Systems Integration, a new business unit. Champagne was previously vice president, engineering, at the company.
Additionally, CMC Electronics named James Palmer vice president, Aviation Products, another new busi-ness division established to leverage the company’s capabilities and develop new aviation products for both commercial and military applications.
Palmer will continue to be responsible for Commercial Services and Customer Support at the company.
Also, CMC Electronics appointed Jean-Michel Comtois vice president of marketing and sales. Comtois previously held the position of vice president, Mili-tary Aviation, at the company.
Charles ChampionAirbus named Charles Champion head of engineering, effec-tive April 1. Champion replaces Patrick Gavin, who is retiring. Champion most recently was executive vice president customer services, a position he has held since 2007.
Champion joined Aérospatiale in 1980 as an engineer in aerodynamics. After that, he headed the single-aisle aircraft Final Assembly Lines from 1988 to 1992; was director of Air-bus Programs at Aérospatiale’s Paris headquarters; and served as managing director of the Future Large Aircraft military transport project, now known as the A400M.
In 1998, Champion joined Airbus Industrie (now Airbus) as vice president sales for Eastern and Southern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. From 1999 until 2001, he was product executive for Airbus’ Single Aisle program, before being appointed head of the A380 program in 2001.
Gulfstream AppointmentsGulfstream Aerospace, of Savannah, Ga., appointed Dan O’Malley director of operations, New Product Develop-ment. O’Malley had been general man-ager of the Gulfstream facility in Mexi-cali, Mexico, since July 2001.
After joining Gulfstream in 1999, O’Malley served as senior manager of the Composite Manufacturing business unit in Savannah. Previously, he worked
Conference and Exhibition24th–25th March 2010Passenger Terminal (City Centre) Amsterdam, The Netherlandswww.avionics-event.com
Learn and discover more at the leading conference and exhibition for global avionics and defence electronicsInternational competition has intensified during a challenging economic atmosphere as companies and governments look to keep pace with next-generation avionics, air traffic management capabilities and defence electronics developments.
PLEASE USE THIS PROMOTIONAL CODE WHEN REGISTERING: AVI-0210
Exhibition Times
Wednesday 24th March: 10:00am – 6:00pmThursday 25th March: 10:00am – 4:30pm
Opening Keynote
Open and FREE of charge to allWednesday 24th March: 9:00am – 10:00am
Networking Reception
Wednesday 24th March: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Exhibitor PresentationsOpen and FREE of charge to all throughout the exhibition opening hours
For full conference programme or to register online visit www.avionics-event.com
Avionics conference track includes: Defence Electronics conference track includes:
Flagship Media Sponsors:
Supporting Organisation:
Sponsors:Co-located with: Owned & Produced by:
Patrick Champagne
Dan O’Malley
James Palmer
Jean-Michel Comtois
05_AVS_030110_People_16_17.indd 16 2/12/10 12:12:42 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 17
for Lucas Aerospace in Macon, Ga., as a business unit manager for the Boeing 737 empennage program. O’Malley also spent 13 years with Hughes Electronics in a variety of roles.
Gulfstream also named Dick John-son to the position of vice president and chief scientist. He most recently was vice president, engineering.
Johnson joined Gulfstream in 1981 as a structures technical specialist and par-ticipated in the design and certification of the Gulfstream GIII, GIV and GV aircraft. He held leadership positions in the Structural Design, Sustainability and Project Engineering departments. In 1991, Johnson was appointed project manager, engineering, for the GV devel-opment program.
Tim Farley was named vice president, engineering. From 1999 until recently, Farley was the com-pany’s director of project engineering. He also served as project engineer during the G550 and G450 development stages. In 1993, Farley became project engineer for the Gulfstream GV powerplant development program. He moved on to become systems project engineer for service engineering in 1997 and was named project engineer for service engineering in 1998. Farley began his career at Gulfstream as a design engineer in 1992.
Sensis Corp. Appointments Sensis Corp., based in Syracuse, N.Y., promoted Mike Gerry to vice president of Air Traffic Systems Products and Programs.
Most recently, Gerry was director of domestic business development for Air Traffic Systems, which is responsible for product development and execution of programs supporting air navigation ser-vice providers, airports and airline custom-ers. Over the last 12 years, he has served in a number of engineering, research and development and technical leadership positions at Sensis. Previously, he was an application engineer at a diversified manufacturing company.
The company also promoted Ken Kaminski to vice president of Advanced Development. He has led several research and development and product development initiatives since joining Sensis in 2003.
Kaminski leads the Advanced Development business area, which is focused on advanced technology and product concept developments related to the air traffic management and defense technology divisions of Sensis. Prior to joining Sensis, he held various engineering and management positions at a global defense and information technology company.
Ken Kaminski
Mike GerryDick Johnson
Tim Farley
05_AVS_030110_People_16_17.indd 17 2/12/10 12:12:57 PM
18 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
calendar
Aviation Today is your Internet-hub for market intelligence and business resources. Our editorial staff makes your job easier by providing expert analysis of the issues which affect your business every day, including:
Aircraft valuation Airports/ground services Avionics Cargo/freight forwarding
Finance International coverage of major, regional, and start-up airlines
Navigation Rotorcraft Safety
Aviation Today Publications Include: Air Safety Week
Aircraft Value News
Aviation Today’s Daily Brief
Avionics magazine
Rotor & Wing magazine
Plus, with Aviation Today, you’ll receive these great resources right at your fingertips:
Aviation Today’s E-letter
Calendar of Industry Events
Industry Links
Job Board
Podcasts
Visit www.aviationtoday.com today!
For more information call +1 (888) 707-5812 or email [email protected].
Social Networking
Videos
Webinars
White Papers
16551
16551 AT ad for AM_full.indd 1 10/01/2009 2:24:46 PM
March
8-12 PMA-209 Air Combat 2010, Silver Legacy Resort, Reno, Nev. Visit www.navair.navy.mil.
9-10 FAA Aviation Forecast Conference, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Contact FAA, phone 202-267-7924.
9-11 ATC Global Exhibition, Amsterdam RAI Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Visit www.atcevents.com.
18 Airport Surface Management, an Avionics Magazine webinar, noon to 1 p.m. EST. To register, visit www.aviationtoday.com/webinars.
29-April 1 AMC/AEEC Joint Meetings, Hyatt Regency, Phoenix. Contact ARINC Industry Activities, phone 410-266-2008 or visit www.aviation-ia.com.
April
6-7 RTCA Spring Symposium, “Bringing NextGen Into Focus,” Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C. For information, visit www.aviationtoday.com/symposium.
14-17 Quad A Annual Convention, Fort Worth, Texas. For information, phone 203-268-2450 or visit www.quad-a.org.
26-29 Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley, McEnery Conven-tion Center, San Jose, Calif. For information, phone 866-535-8993 or visit http://esc-sv09.techinsightsevents.com.
May
3-5 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Md. Visit www.seaairspace.org.
4-6 European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE),
Geneva PALEXPO and Geneva International Airport, Geneva, Switzerland. Visit www.ebace.aero.
12 ADS-B: Progress and Implementation, an Avionics Magazine webinar, noon to 1 p.m. EST. To register, visit www.aviationtoday.com/webinars or contact [email protected].
18-20 Aircraft Interiors Expo, Hamburg Messe, Hamburg, Germany. For infor-mation, phone +44 (0)208 271 2174 or visit www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com.
June
8-13 Berlin Air Show, Berlin-Schoenfeld Airport, Berlin, Germany. Visit www.ila-berlin.de.
July
14-17 Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) Annual Convention, Tucson, Ariz. Contact ALEA, phone 301-631-2406 or visit www.alea.org.
19-25 Farnborough International Airshow, Farnborough Airport, England. Visit www.farnborough.com.
26-Aug. 1 EAA AirVenture, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis. Visit www.airventure.org.
August
24-27 Association of Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems North America 2010, Colorado Convention Center, Denver. Visit www.auvsi.org.
September
13-16 Autotestcon 2010, Marriott Orlando World Center Resort & Conven-tion Center, Orlando, Fla. Visit http://autotestcon.com.
06_AVS_030110_Calendar_p18_19.indd 18 2/12/10 12:14:17 PM
Aviation Today is your Internet-hub for market intelligence and business resources. Our editorial staff makes your job easier by providing expert analysis of the issues which affect your business every day, including:
Aircraft valuation Airports/ground services Avionics Cargo/freight forwarding
Finance International coverage of major, regional, and start-up airlines
Navigation Rotorcraft Safety
Aviation Today Publications Include: Air Safety Week
Aircraft Value News
Aviation Today’s Daily Brief
Avionics magazine
Rotor & Wing magazine
Plus, with Aviation Today, you’ll receive these great resources right at your fingertips:
Aviation Today’s E-letter
Calendar of Industry Events
Industry Links
Job Board
Podcasts
Visit www.aviationtoday.com today!
For more information call +1 (888) 707-5812 or email [email protected].
Social Networking
Videos
Webinars
White Papers
16551
16551 AT ad for AM_full.indd 1 10/01/2009 2:24:46 PM06_AVS_030110_Calendar_p18_19.indd 19 2/12/10 12:14:41 PM
military avionics
20 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
cover story
By Bill Carey
FAA and industry are developing a standard for displaying airport surface traffic in the cockpit, coupled with alerting of poten-tial runway conflicts, using Auto-
matic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) position reports.
Two industry teams in recent months completed evaluations of surface detec-tion and alerting systems under FAA’s Surface Indications and Alerts (SURF IA) program, funded in 2008 with a con-gressional “plus-up” of $9.3 million. The intent of the evaluations, each of which culminated in an operational demon-stration, is to validate requirements and
accelerate a standard for the ADS-B “In” surface application.
Results of the SURF IA program will be run through the RTCA committee pro-cess to produce industry consensus Mini-mum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for the application. The technical guidance of the MOPS will serve as the basis of a FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO), expected by 2011. Manufacturers can build equipment to the TSO require-ments.
The development of an indicating/alerting application using ADS-B In is happening outside the ADS-B rulemaking by FAA, which was on track for release in April. The rule will mandate that aircraft
be capable of ADS-B Out, the broadcast of their GPS-derived position to other equipped aircraft and air-traffic control-lers, by 2020. A mandate on ADS-B In, the ability to receive and display other aircraft and ground transmissions in the cockpit, was deferred.
“Surface indicating and alerting was the chosen application to accelerate the development of the standards,” said Vin-cent Capezzuto, FAA Air Traffic Organi-zation director of Surveillance and Broad-cast Services. “We’re using the acquisition process to coincide, in parallel, with the RTCA process. … We’re trying to put a little bit more confidence in the material that represents this application. Essen-
Situation: Airport Surface
FAA and industry teams work to accelerate development of standard for airport surface detection, alerting using ADS-B
US Airways 737 taxis at Philadelphia International Airport. The airport in November and December was the site of demonstrations under the Surface Indications and Alerts program, involving US Airways A330s equipped for ADS-B Out and In, with airport moving map displays.
Photo courtesy Rick McMullin/Philadelphia International Airport
07_AVS_030110_AirportSurface_p20_23.indd 20 2/16/10 11:43:20 AM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 21
Screenshot of developmental SafeRoute application used in SURF IA demo shows own-ship (above) as cyan icon stopped on runway. Another aircraft is “position and hold” on the other end of the same runway. In this case, crew gets a runway status indication highlighting the runway in blue, preceding a caution or warning.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
AC
SS
Own-ship is “position and hold” on run-way 9L at PHL. In this scenario, crew would get a visual alert on the display (yellow) and an aural alert that USA1234 is on short final for the same runway. If equipped with SafeRoute, USA1234 would be alerted that an aircraft is in position on its assigned runway.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
AC
SS
Own-ship is “position and hold” on runway 9L at Philadelphia. USA1234 is turning final for the runway and has become a potential conflict, giving own-ship’s display a blue aircraft icon with dot traffic indication (TI) for USA1234. If traffic continues on the approach, own-ship will receive cautions or warnings.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
AC
SS
tially, we’re buying down the risk, trying to make it easier for the manufacturers to mass produce.”
Applications exist for surface situ-ational awareness based on ADS-B In. One, called Final Approach and Runway Occupancy Awareness (FAROA), pro-vides pilots with information on runway occupancy on approach, and requires a moving map display and either ADS-B In or Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) capability. TIS-B, an advisory-only service, broadcasts air traf-fic information derived from secondary surveillance radar (SSR) returns from the ground to airborne systems. Non-ADS-B aircraft must be equipped with a conven-tional Mode S transponder to be visible to the TIS-B system and by extension to ADS-B equipped aircraft.
Another ADS-B In application, Airport Surface Situational Awareness (ASSA), displays aircraft position and the positions of other aircraft and ground vehicles in reference to an airport map.
ASSA equates to the “front end” of the application tested under the SURF IA program, Capezzuto said. The addition of an alerting function with aural and visual cues — beyond providing just situational awareness — requires a higher level of software design assurance and amplifies questions over where the cockpit display should be located, whether in the forward
field of view or a side-mounted electronic flight bag (EFB).
“When you get into indications and alerting, the assurance level has to be higher because you’re now giving (the pilot) an alert,” he said. “On the approach, if they get a warning, the rami-fications of using it are going to be ‘you do the go-around’ as opposed to challeng-ing and questioning” the system.
Michael Grove, marketing director for safety and information management-sur-veillance systems with Honeywell Aero-space, one of the SURF IA contractors, said a TSO for airport surface detection and alerting is “a possibility” by 2011.
Timing Issue“This is surface alerting. You have to draw a distinction between that and sur-face awareness,” Grove said. “Of course, being able to have the system have visibil-ity of all the other aircraft requires that those aircraft either retransmit on TIS-B or be ADS-B transmitters themselves. That’s not going to be comprehensive for some time to come, depending on FAA rulemaking.” He added, “We believe it’s inevitable that this application and other ADS-B applications are going to happen. It’s just a matter of timing and how quickly regulation moves and how quickly equipage happens.” FAA in October 2008 awarded two
contracts to demonstrate surface conflict detection and alerting using ADS-B. The partnership of avionics manufacturer ACSS and US Airways was awarded $6.3 million to conduct a demonstration at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and to equip 20 Airbus A330s for ADS-B capability. Honeywell was awarded $3 million to demonstrate surface detection and alerting at Seattle-Tacoma and Paine Field airports in Washington state. The company was assisted by Alaska Airlines and JetBlue line pilots, who advised on the concept development and evaluated display symbology in a simulator.
Capezzuto said the proposal by ACSS, the joint venture of L-3 Communications and Thales, to outfit US Airways A330s with ADS-B hardware appealed to FAA.
“This was of great interest to us, that we would be maturing a sub-fleet with this capability,” he said. “This was a very attractive proposal to us, and they got selected.”
Cyro Stone, ACSS director of ADS-B products, described a two-part effort involving three test runs at Philadelphia airport in November and December and the ongoing equipping of A330s.
Three aircraft — two A330s and one ACSS Beechcraft King Air — were equipped for the demonstrations, which took place mainly at night when the air-liners were out of service. One A330 was
07_AVS_030110_AirportSurface_p20_23.indd 21 2/16/10 11:44:15 AM
22 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
used for taxiing maneuvers; the other was equipped on a standby basis. The King Air served for airborne testing.
The purpose, according to ACSS, was to perform flight maneuvers against RTCA-developed Safety and Performance Requirements (SPR) and to validate MOPS requirements, with a limited human factors evaluation.
Nine conflict alerting scenarios were tested: four under normal operating con-ditions and five under alerting conditions. Examples of the latter conditions include: “own-ship departs and conflict traffic enters the runway ahead of own-ship” and “own-ship is on approach to a runway with conflict traffic on that runway so that a go-around is required.”
The demonstration aircraft were out-fitted with an ACSS Mode S transponder for ADS-B Out functionality and an ADS-B In receiver, located in the compa-ny’s TCAS 3000SP surveillance processor, supporting both airborne traffic alert and collision avoidance (TCAS) and ADS-B. The surveillance processor hosts ACSS’s SafeRoute suite of ADS-B applications, a platform-independent software certified to DO-178B Level C design assurance against “major” failure.
The first release of SafeRoute’s surface situational awareness application provided own-ship position and other traffic on a moving map display. For the alerting func-tion, ACSS developed an algorithm based on the NASA Runway Incursion Preven-tion System (RIPS) and incorporating an algorithm developed by MITRE Corp. It also incorporates TIS-B transmissions for non ADS-B equipped aircraft.
ADS-B data is displayed on a side-mounted Goodrich Class 3 EFB and a Gables Engineering ADS-B Guidance Display (AGD) in the primary field of view. The EFB runs Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) software developed by ACSS in partnership with Astronautics Corp. of America — the same software run in the Boeing/Astro-nautics EFB installed on UPS aircraft using SafeRoute applications (Avionics, June 2007, page 32).
Results from the demonstrations were to be correlated with the airport’s surface radar-based Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS), multi-source Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) system and ADS-B ground station. Stone said no false alerts were experienced during the test runs.
“There was one scenario that may not have given an alert when we expected it,” he said. “Other than that, there were no false alerts.”
The aircraft indicating/alerting system “met the expectations,” Stone said. “There were comments from the observers that this is really good technology.”
Under the program, US Airways A330s will be equipped for ADS-B In/Out, including the Gables display, EFB and CDTI software, during regular main-tenance through 2011.
Honeywell’s contract was three-phased, calling for development of an operational safety assessment; an opera-tional performance assessment; and a concept for alerting and displaying tar-gets on and around an airport, said Bob Champion, SURF IA program manager.
The company developed software hosted in its TPA-100 TCAS unit, which receives ADS-B signals and serves as a traffic computer. The TCAS unit was installed in a Cessna Citation Sovereign business jet equipped with Honeywell’s Primus Epic integrated avionics suite, and in a Beech C90 King Air with federated avionics.
The airport surface map on the Sov-
Upcoming Avionics Magazine Webinars
“Airport Surface Management” Noon to 1 p.m. EST
March 18
“Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)” Noon to 1 p.m. EST
May 12
Cyro StoneDirector, SafeRoute ADS-B Products, ACSS
Michael GerryVP, Air Traffic Systems Products and Programs, Sensis Corp.
Hear from these speakers:
Vincent CapezzutoFAA ATO Director, Surveillance & Broadcast Services
Michael GroveDirector of Marketing Product Management, Surveillance Products, Honeywell Aerospace
Bill CareyEditor in ChiefAvionics Magazine
For information, visit www.aviation today.com/webinars
07_AVS_030110_AirportSurface_p20_23.indd 22 2/16/10 11:44:33 AM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 23
ereign was provided by the Integrated Navigation (INAV) display of the Primus Epic suite; on the King Air, a dedicated airport surface display was installed in the co-pilot’s seat.
The software was demonstrated to RTCA Special Committee 186, which is developing ADS-B performance stan-dards, in December, and was to be demon-strated to FAA in late January.
Champion said the majority of alert-ing scenarios were conducted at Paine
Field in Everett, Wash., which has con-verging runways as opposed to the three parallel runways at Sea-Tac. The presence of a TIS-B transmitter at Sea-Tac provid-ed for both ADS-B and TIS-B reception.
Champion was asked about the chal-lenges faced in developing airport surface alerting.
“Certainly the ability to put moving maps within the system that accurately depict the airport, the hold short lines, the infrastructure, to provide adequate
surface situational awareness was a chal-lenge,” he said. “The alerting algorithms themselves, just to have the proper width around the runways to ensure ourselves that we’re not giving false or nuisance or misleading cautions or alerts has been a challenge.
“We’ve done very well in eliminating those,” he added. “I’m very happy with the system that we’re going to demon-strate and I think the government will be happy with it also.”
Con�guring switches, generat-ing part numbers and requesting quotes just got a lot faster.
Our optimized, web-based con�guration tool allows you to con�gure VIVISUN switches to your exact speci�cations – enclosures, circuits, cap styles and legends – with a visual representation for each step. Want a quote using existing art-work? Simply enter the part number and instantly generate an identical switch. It’s faster, more intuitive and easier than ever to specify the LED pushbutton switch that meets your exact needs.
Ride the wave; see for yourself why VIVISUN is the recognized leader in switch technology and customer service. Visit www.vivisun.com to con�gure your VIVISUN switch today.
© 2009 Aerospace Optics, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas USA AS9100 and ISO 9001 Certi�ed Quality Management System
SURF WITH A PURPOSE.
888-848-4786
AER-022.indd 1 7/28/09 2:09:10 PM
Upcoming Avionics Magazine Webinars
Surface Data-Sharing
The airport surface is one of the several operational “domains” identifi ed for improvement by the RTCA NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force.
Runway Access, with enhanced sur-veillance methods, is another.
Last September, after seven months of intensive meetings, the industry-government task force produced a set of recommendations for achieving NextGen operational effi ciencies by the “midterm” of 2015 to 2018. FAA responded in Janu-ary with a document listing action items for each of the domains.
The Task Force called for improved surface traffi c management to reduce delays and enhance safety, effi ciency and situational awareness, involving “capture and dissemination of surface opera-tions data to pilots, controllers, ramp towers and user operations centers.” It recommended “one consolidated point of responsibility, authority and accountabil-ity” within FAA to manage the data.
In its response, FAA says it will create a more effi cient airport surface environ-ment “by sharing authoritative aircraft movement source data to foster common situational awareness among the FAA, fl ight operations centers and the airport. … Further collaboration is required on some issues, such as who will be respon-sible for surveillance in non-movement areas. We will need to address the ownership and protection of spectrum supporting this recommendation.”
FAA agrees with the Task Force on the need to establish a single point of re-sponsibility for data-sharing, “a goal the agency intends to achieve during 2010.”
Among specifi c action items, FAA says it will install data distribution units at airports equipped with the Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) airport surface management system, as well as ASDE-3/multilateration locations between 2010 and 2013. –Bill Carey
07_AVS_030110_AirportSurface_p20_23.indd 23 2/16/10 12:10:17 PM
military avionics
24 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
military
At Last, The A400
The long-awaited first flight of the European airlifter in December
initiated a three-year, 3,700-hour test campaign by five aircraft
By Jean-Michel Guhl
It was 10:07 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2009, when Airbus Military’s new A400M MSN 001 aircraft lifted off sprightly from Seville airport in Spain for its maiden flight, its nose headed mightily
in the direction of the glowing morning sun. Dozens of newsmen, lined up near the runway to shoot photographs, were dumbstruck by the agility of the large aircraft, its appearance reminiscent of the “Roman nose” C-130A Hercules of the late 1950s.
The long-awaited day — the first flight
of the four-engine turboprop — was of particular importance due to the circum-stances surrounding and leading up to the event; the billions of dollars in cost overruns and lengthy program delays the A400M program has endured.
At take-off, the prototype aircraft displayed an all out weight of 127 tonnes, including 15 tonnes of flight-test equip-ment and two tonnes of water ballast. Performance data was monitored in real time by teams of engineers based both in Seville and in distant Toulouse, France, using air-ground telemetry.
Providing airspeed and camera record-ing of the main phases of the maiden flight was a vintage SN 601 Corvette busi-ness jet used as a chase plane.
The A400M test crew used this first flight to explore the aircraft’s basic han-dling characteristics in the various flap configurations, check the powerplant operation and make initial evaluations of the aircraft’s systems, all the while providing live information on screen to hundreds of journalists gathered in one of the Airbus Military hangars used for A400M series production.
Pho
to b
y Je
an-M
iche
l Guh
l
Airbus A400M turboprop lands after four-hour first flight Dec. 11 in Seville, Spain. Despite the milestone, the program faced an uncertain future as representatives of seven nations that first ordered the aircraft negotiated budget overrun.
08_AVS_030110_A400_p24_29.indd 24 2/16/10 11:11:35 AM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 25
The Europrop International (EPI) TP400D-6 engines of the A400M are the most powerful series turboprop engines fitted to a Western-made aircraft. Before the maiden flight, the engines had been run at full power, the electrical systems and on-board data network exhaustively tested, and numerous taxiing runs at pro-gressively higher speeds performed, culmi-nating in a rejected take-off test at a speed of 123 knots on Dec. 8.
During the maiden flight three days later, the four engines ran smoothly, each producing 11,000 shp (8,200kW).
The first flight lasted some four hours (instead of the planned three hours) and ended with a landing at Seville in front of more than 2,000 media, VIPs and Airbus Military staff united for a standing ovation.
At the controls of the hundred-ton behemoth was British Chief Test Pilot Military, Edward Strongman, 60, with Spanish Experimental Test Pilot Ignacio “Nacho” Lombo, 43, in the right-hand seat.
Four engineers also were on board: French Senior Flight Test Engineer Jean-Philippe Cottet, 43, who has responsibility for the powerplants; French Senior Flight Test Engineer Eric Isorce, 52, with respon-sibility for systems and performance; French Senior Flight Test Engineer Didier Ronceray, 54, with responsibility for the handling qualities of the aircraft; and former French Air Force Test Flight Engi-neer Gérard Leskerpit, 50.
“We have had a very successful first flight — the take-off performance was impressive. We explored a lot of the operational flight envelope, and it was a delight to operate in such a well-designed cockpit with its easy interface to all the normal and military systems. I’m sure our customer pilots are really going to like it — we certainly did,” Strongman said.
The six men in orange flight suits were greeted by the crowd as they disembarked, with King of Spain Juan Carlos Primero and Spanish Minister of Defense Carmen Chacon leading the converging throng of applauding VIPs.
Airbus and Airbus Military have drawn on their decades of technical knowledge in building civil airliners to produce the A400M, which is now con-sidered one of the world’s most modern airlifters. It is an aircraft capable of both strategic and tactical operations that fits a new slot between the smaller C-130J and the larger, jet-powered C-17.
Despite being a true tactical aircraft
that can land on soft, rough and short runways to deliver equipment close to the troops, the A400M cruises at the same altitudes as jets and at comparable speeds. It also was designed from the outset as an aerial refueling platform that can offload kerosene to both fighters and helicopters at their preferred speeds and altitudes.
A380 Inspired The A400M features the same fly-by-wire controls technology and sidestick control-lers of Airbus’ civil airliner family and an advanced Thales cockpit evolved from that of the Airbus A380 superjumbo (Avi-onics, July 2008, page 10).
Avionic systems are based on an inte-grated modular avionics (IMA) architec-ture with networked computing modules — the first such application on a military aircraft.
According to Thales, the IMA plat-form of the A400M has been adapted to meet military requirements for resistance to higher vibration levels, higher elec-tromagnetic compatibility and a critical lightning protection system.
Another first: the aircraft’s Thales Control Display System (CDS) is the first application of interactive, re-configurable screens on a military transport.
The CDS features eight 6-by-8-inch LCD screens that are night-vision goggle (NVG) compatible. There are two key-board and cursor control units and two
glareshield control panels (GCP). An optional third crewmember station has one LCD screen and three additional con-trol panels.
A400M pilots will use head-up displays as primary flight instruments, enhanced by the look-down multifunction displays and, on some models, by an Enhanced Vision System. While HUD computers for the A380 and A400M are identical, the mechanical and optical elements on the A400M HUD are customized for compat-ibility with NVGs and helmets.
Among other Thales equipment on the A400M are the flight management system computer; dual multi-mode receivers for ILS, GPS, differential GPS and Micro-wave Landing System (MLS) navigation; and a centralized Crypto Management System that rationalizes the process of loading and erasing cryptographic keys for radios, the IFF, GPS and other equip-ment. Since the program was launched in 2005, Thales said, an average of 300 employees per year have worked on devel-oping A400M systems.
A total of 184 A400Ms had been ordered by Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. South Africa cancelled its order for eight aircraft one month before the A400M’s first flight.
Other nations are interested, but all were waiting until Airbus Military comes up with a firm price tag for the airlifter —
Pho
to b
y Je
an-M
iche
l Guh
l
A400M MSN 001 aircraft takes off Dec. 11. The flight initiated a three-year test effort in which five aircraft are to fly 3,700 hours before planned entry into service in 2013.
08_AVS_030110_A400_p24_29.indd 25 2/16/10 11:11:49 AM
26 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
Airbus A400M: Major Avionics, Systems Suppliers
The following is a list of some of the avionics and systems suppliers on the A400M compiled from various Internet sources, including airframer.com, and supplier company information.
➤ Aerolec (Thales/Goodrich): 400kVA electrical power generation system
➤ AMETEK Aerospace & Defense: Hydraulic system sensor package➤ Astronautics Corp. of America: Network server system➤ Astro-Med Inc.: Cockpit printers➤ Cobham: Passenger address system; communications anten-
nas; refueling hose and drogue system➤ Diehl Aerospace: Integrated Modular Avionics (with Thales); Doors
and control and monitoring system➤ EADS Defence & Security: Digital map generator system, mission
management computer, Multi-color Infrared Alerting Sensors (with
Thales), Directed Infra Red Counter-Measures equipment (with Thales, Sagem, Diehl Aerospace)
➤ Esterline Technologies: Temperature and pressure sensors; fluid and motion control components
➤ GE Aviation: Concentrator/multiplexer video unit; cockpit video displays
➤ Goodrich Corp.: SmartProbe air data computers➤ Hispano Suiza: Electrical wiring harnesses for TP400-D6 engine➤ Honeywell: IntuVue weather radar➤ HR Smith: Communications antennas ➤ Indra Sistemas: Radar Receivers: radar warning receiver.➤ Labinal: Nose fuselage and cockpit electrical harnesses, engine
wiring; avionics racks and relay boxes➤ Latecoere: Wire harnesses➤ Latelec: Avionics racks and bays.➤ Rhode & Schwarz: Radio communications equipment➤ Rockwell Collins: Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX),
avionics communications router, direction finder.➤ Sagem Defense: Aircraft condition monitoring system, Air Data
Inertial Reference Unit.➤ Sirio Panel: Integrated control panel system, lighting management
units; aircraft interior lighting systems. ➤ Thales: Flight management system, control and display system,
Integrated Modular Avionics (with Diehl Aerospace), Enhanced Vision System, TACAN
➤ Turkish Aerospace Industries: Aircraft interior lighting systems➤ Weston Aerospace: TP400M sensor suite
A400M: In flight but facing conflict over budget overruns
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
Airb
us M
ilitar
y
08_AVS_030110_A400_p24_29.indd 26 2/16/10 11:12:03 AM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 27
somewhere around €150 million (about $210.3 million). Sharing of the program’s extra costs was being negotiated by the manufacturer and the European partner nations. At stake was how to split evenly between all, including Airbus, the added €7 billion (about $9.5 billion) coming on top of a program, about a third more than was initially agreed for a 180-aircraft, €20
billion (roughly $28 billion) procurement.At this writing, Airbus and countries
that have ordered the A400M were near-ing an arrangement to cover the billions in budget shortfalls (see page 29).
The first flight marked the beginning of a three-year test campaign that will see some 3,700 hours of flying logged by five aircraft (MSN 001 to 006, with
Airbus Military CEO Domingo Ureña-Raso, a former CASA engineer appointed to the job in February 2009, celebrates the first flight of the A400M Dec. 11 in Seville, Spain.
Pho
to b
y Je
an-M
iche
l Guh
l
MSN 005 cancelled) between now and the type’s entry-into-service, scheduled for the spring of 2013.
Aircraft MSN 007 will be the first A400M for the French air force. The aircraft was expected to receive both civil certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and military certi-fication and qualification.
Despite being more than three years late, according to the initial program schedule, the A400M has now become a reality — a symbol of what European countries can achieve when they gather around a common aim.
Often maligned or reviled during these past years on account of its tardiness and repeated rescheduling, not to mention ever rising costs, the program appears to be back on track, as all systems monitored during the first test flights worked as expected. By early January, the A400M had completed its first 10 flight-test hours.
The third flight was a two-hour, 25-minute sortie from Seville on Jan. 7, during which the test crew concentrated on exploring flight in different aircraft configurations.
Meanwhile, French test pilot Michel Gagneux became the third pilot to fly the
Antennas &Static
DischargersDayton-Granger manufactures a
complete line of top qualityaircraft antennas and static
dischargers for military,airline, business and general
aviation aircraft.
When you want top performance and long,trouble free service life, rely on theindustry leader, DAYTON-GRANGER.
Tel: (954) 463-3451Fax: (954) 761-3172
Antennas &Static
Dischargers
A STACK Certified Supplier
For more information about Holt’s ARINC 429or MIL-STD-1553 products, contact a Holt
representative at:
HOLTINTEGRATED CIRCUITS
INC. Tel: (949) 859-8800
E-mail: [email protected]: www.holtic.comISO 9001:2008 Registered
MIL-STD-1553Component Solutions
9mm x 9mm x 1mmWorld’s Smallest RT Solution
Protocol ICs, transceivers and transformers
MIL STD 1553 ad 2.125"x4.75":Layout 1 2/1/10 10:31 AM Page 1
08_AVS_030110_A400_p24_29.indd 27 2/16/10 12:18:02 PM
28 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
aircraft, supporting Lombo, the acting co-pilot. Airbus Spanish head of flight operations Fernando Alonso also flew on the aircraft for the first time.
Overall, the first prototype aircraft is expected to fly for some 1,200 hours during the test program, which hopefully will lead to first delivery of the type in late 2012.
Airbus Military was about to double its efforts in 2010 by adding two more aircraft to the trial run. Aircraft MSN 002 was due to fly in March with MSN 003,
at this writing in final assembly stage, to follow by mid-year, said Domingo Ureña-Raso, Airbus Military CEO.
Civil CertificationThe decision to add a civil certification to the A400M at the request of the OC-CAR multinational European Common Defence Procurement Agency in 2005 cre-ated another hurdle for the program. Of the 3,700-hour flight test campaign, 2,300 hours will be devoted to the civil ticket.
“As the aircraft type certification will be both civil and military, the double cer-tification adds a thick layer of complexity and much red tape to the flight test pro-gram,” said Ureña-Raso, addressing the press in Seville. This “explains why three full years shall be necessary at least to reach the delivery target of the first series A400M [MSN 007 for the French air force] at the turn of 2012.”
Initial operating clearance for the A400M is expected to take place at the end of 2011 after 2,800 flight test hours, but air trials will continue until a total of 3,700 hours is logged by the five-proto-type fleet.
The final testing target is set for the end of 2012, just about the time of the formal handover of the first true series A400M is made in December 2012 or January 2013.
The flight-test allocation per aircraft is set as follows:
➤ MSN 001 will be dedicated to flight envelope clearance, loads, flight controls, handling qualities, development of the braking system and general aircraft sys-tems development. (Airbus Military said Jan. 20 that the aircraft would spend three to four weeks in the hangar undergoing modifications “in light of the test data and experience so far,” with return to flight in the second half of February.);
➤ MSN 002 will concentrate on the TP400D-6 powerplants and propeller development, defensive aids and military systems development;
➤ MSN 003 will be dedicated to auto-flight and related systems development as well as route proving;
➤ MSN 004 will be used mainly for cargo hold systems development and full military systems testing and development;
➤ MSN 006, finally, will focus on EMI compatibility testing, cargo development, operational demonstrations and environ-mental trials. This fifth aircraft is thought to be the one due to test and tune the add-on removable air-to-air 900 series Cob-ham refueling package and wing pods, the same as used on the Airbus A330-200 MRTT.
The current test program is fully shared between the French and the Span-ish divisions of Airbus Military. Aircraft MSN 001, 003 and 006 are earmarked for testing in Toulouse, while aircraft MSN 002 and 004 shall remain in Spain.
The French are responsible for 2,400 hours of flight testing and the Spanish 1,970, which constitutes an aggregate of 4,370 hours of air trials considered neces-
08_AVS_030110_A400_p24_29.indd 28 2/16/10 11:13:15 AM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 29
sary to complete the A400M. Responsibility for testing the in-flight
refueling system will be vested in the French controlled MSN 001 and 006 pro-totypes. All aircraft have or were due to have the long, unicorn-like rigid receiver refueling probe fitted over the cockpit, offset to the left.
However, only aircraft MSN 001 and 006 alternatively will be equipped with the Cobham refueling transfer hose and drogue system, with specific removable
kerosene tanks in the cargo hold. Due to its long experience in flight
refueling operations using the C-160 Transall and the C-135FR Stratotanker, the French Air Force was judged appro-priate to give the Airbus Toulouse test crew full authority over this part of the program.
Britain, France and Malaysia thus far are the only A400M customer nations known to have required the A400M as a tactical tanker aircraft.
Tel.+49 761 45 22 90
Tel.+44 1494 446844
Tel. 1-866-AIM-1553
AIM GmbH
AIM UK
AIM USARight on Target
ww
w.a
im-o
nlin
e.co
m
6740E USB Advert Art.indd 1 6/10/09 12:33:50
Joint Funding Proposal
Seven European nations behind the A400M at this writing had submitted a joint funding proposal to Airbus parent company European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. to help keep the program afloat.
Junior ministers of Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey submitted the proposal Feb. 15, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, citing a German defense ministry spokes-man. “The state secretaries … worked to adopt a joint position on funding the project,” the spokesman stated. The “countries confirm their binding intention to continue to support the project.”
An EADS spokesman said the company had received the offer sent to CEO Louis Gallois and would answer “in due time,” according to press reports.
Facing pressure from auditors and credit rating agencies to close its 2009 financial results, EADS threatened to abandon the A400M unless buyer nations upped their contribution to an estimated €7 billion ($9.5 billion) cost overrun.
EADS had offered to absorb €3.2 billion of the overrun. Press reports describing the joint funding proposal said customer nations offered to cover €2 billion with another €1.5 billion in credit guarantees.
The program to deliver 180 aircraft is more than three years behind schedule. Some 10,000 jobs were at stake.
Defense ministers from the seven nations convened to discuss the program Feb. 4 in Istanbul, according to our cor-respondent Jean-Michel Guhl.
“In highly diplomatic terms, they unani-mously confirmed their will to support the A400M project, seen as the cornerstone of the European Safety and Defense Policy and a key aircraft for providing Europe with an independent strategic airlift ca-pacity,” Guhl reported. “The ministers paid tribute to the prototype’s successful first flight of Dec. 11. They assessed noticeable progress achieved during the discussions with EADS, all the while stressing the overriding efforts made by the partner nations vis-à-vis the prime contractor in agreeing with further delivery delays and shifting calendar planning.
“The ministers also acknowledged the significant work made by EADS, albeit emphasizing that the manufacturer must assume its responsibilities in this program and meet its earlier commitments in view of the latest financial conditions made by the seven partner nations. The ministers also called for a rapid termination of all discussions, hoping that a final settlement would be made soon enough.”
08_AVS_030110_A400_p24_29.indd 29 2/16/10 11:13:25 AM
product focus
30 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
EFBsBy Barry Rosenberg
Manufacturers of electronic flight bags (EFB) are see-ing demand beginning to grow again for their hard-ware solutions, as the FAA
and a number of airlines and other opera-tors participate in various demonstrations designed to further the introduction of NextGen capabilities.
At the same time, application software providers are developing rich content to provide enhanced situational awareness on the ground and access to documenta-tion on the flight deck.
FAA’s participation in two demon-strations in particular — the funding of seven airlines to install Class 2 EFBs with airport moving map (AMM) displays and runway alerting, and support of the airport Surface Indications and Alerts (SURFIA) program involving US Air-ways, ACSS, Goodrich and Honeywell — signal to the industry that the killer app it has been waiting for is on the horizon. (For more on SURFIA and surface man-agement, see page 20.)
“The Jeppesen technical standard order for an airport moving map on Class 2 devices (in 2008) showed a willingness to embrace the technology, and it was that embrace that led to the FAA blessing the Capstone (demonstration) initiative,” said Ken Crowhurst, executive vice presi-dent with navAero Inc., of Chicago. “The fact that the FAA is anteing up money to us is a tremendous forward step for the technology.”
In addition, FAA’s involvement in these EFB projects leaves open the pos-sibility that one day the agency might approve the use of enroute Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) information on Class 2 hard-ware. That capability is presently limited to Class 3 devices.
“Since the FAA has authorized AMM on Class 2 technology, we’re hoping they
Demonstrations involving electronic flight bags (EFB) and the potential
of wider ADS-B application in the cockpit are renewing interest in EFBs
SmartDisplay Class 3 EFB system from Goodrich Corp. is shown displaying the ACSS SafeRoute Surface Area Movement Management application, which presents aircraft targets based on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) reporting.
will embrace some forward thinking about the use of enroute ADS-B data on a Class 2 platform,” said Crowhurst.
Goodrich Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., is thinking along the same lines, and envisions an important role for EFBs in NextGen, the Next Generation Air Transportation System.
“Where do you put that ADS-B data?” asked Jim Schmitz, EFB business devel-
opment manager with Goodrich. “To upgrade primary flight displays is very expensive. EFBs can play a role in getting that information in the cockpit.”
Boeing’s recent entrée into the world of Class 2 EFBs is considered an impor-tant step forward in bringing additional functionality to the systems.
“Boeing is calling it Class 3 ‘light’ because it is a permanent installation like
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
Goo
dric
h C
orp.
09_AVS_030110_productfocus_p30_35.indd 30 2/12/10 12:23:22 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 31
Class 3 EFBs would be,” said Loring MacKenzie, senior product marketing manager with Esterline CMC Electronics, which is providing its 10.4-inch, CMA-1410 Class 2 EFB to Boeing for all 737NG aircraft.
CMC Electronics, based in Montreal, expects the first proof of concept installations on new production aircraft will begin in June. The company also is working on a supplemental type certificate for retrofit applications, which should be ready in the fall, MacKenzie said.
Such thinking likely was part of the side discussions held at two recent EFB User Group meetings sponsored by ARINC, one on Dec. 8, the other Jan. 11. The meetings were co-chaired by Southwest Airlines and Lufthansa.
The purpose of the meetings was to bring together airlines, EFB manufacturers and software application providers to dis-cuss lessons learned and share data related to the business case and return on investment of the technology.
According to the agenda, Airbus had five issues it wanted to discuss: (1) EFBs and communication via ACARS; (2) security/safety issues and solutions for EFBs; (3) use of LogBook on EFBs and an understanding on data workflow; (4) other EFB applications such as cockpit door surveillance; and (5) EFB ground segment expectations.
Thales wanted to know which processes drive the purchase of EFBs for airlines, how ROI is calculated, what is the right level of integration with the airline IT system and who is going to do it, and the most critical components in terms of integra-tion — board, communication, IT, hardware or software.
Air France’s top three areas of interest were connectivity and onboard/ground synchronization; EFB policies, procedures and training processes; and the use case/business case for Class 2 EFBs.
The EFB Users Forum was scheduled to meet again April 11.Last year was the year that own-ship position on an airport
moving map, displayed on a Class 2 EFB, became a reality, with Continental Airlines installing the navAero t·Bag C2² EFB load-ed with Jeppesen’s AMM application. As of this writing, about 50 of the airline’s Boeing 757s had received the installation, with 767s and 737s scheduled next.
Anecdotally, the system is performing well, according to Scott Powell, Jeppesen manager of cockpit solutions. Powell mentioned one incident, for example, where a Continental plane was trailing a truck on a snow-covered airport surface when it appeared that the truck drove past a turn the AMM indicated should have been taken.
“The flight crew stopped the airplane and called ground con-trol,” said Powell. “Turns out that the truck missed the turn, and if they had followed the truck they would have gone into a dead end and needed to be towed back. The AMM prompted them to stop, ask questions and evaluate before proceeding.”
Jeppesen this month will introduce new iterations of its AMM — the Flitedeck-Pro and Flitedeck-Military. Rick Eller-brock, a strategist with Jeppesen, said the second-generation AMM software was three years in development.
The two products are virtually the same, except for some
Class 3 EFB system from Teledyne Controls consists of two 12.1-inch XVGA color displays and central processing unit
Jeppesen is introducing Flitedeck-Pro moving map application to depict airport surface and taxi clearance visuals on EFBs
NavAero tBag C22 EFB, mounted here in an Airbus A320, received EASA STC for the Airbus A318/319/320/321 line
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
Tele
dyne
Con
trol
sP
hoto
cou
rtes
y Je
ppes
enP
hoto
cou
rtes
y na
vAer
o
'If ever airlines wanted to improve their efficiencies, that’s where EFBs come in.'
—Marc Szepan, Lufthansa Systems
09_AVS_030110_productfocus_p30_35.indd 31 2/12/10 12:23:50 PM
32 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
specific military functionality, such as air refueling or tactical situational awareness in the theater of operation.
One of the key functions of the new software is the ability for pilots to use a finger to highlight certain sections, then electronically transfer the displayed image between the pilot’s and co-pilot’s EFBs.
“The crew member doing the high-lighting uses his finger right on the map,” explained Ellerbrock. “You can erase things that didn’t work, zoom in or out,
and the highlighting stays on the display when you send it to the other crewmem-ber. We see that as something completely novel and intuitive for cockpit use.”
With Flitedeck-Pro and -Military, 75 percent of all the data needed by the flight crew can be accessed with one click, according to Jeppesen. No more than two clicks will be necessary to access all Jeppesen data on the EFB, Powell said.
EFB hardware manufacturers regu-larly make the point that their systems are
application agnostic, and that they will be able to run applications from a variety of providers like Jeppesen and Dublin, Ireland-based Aircraft Management Technologies (AMT).
“We’re talking to no less than 60 appli-cation providers in various fields of focus. There is a far wider range and choice of applications out now,” said CMC Elec-tronic’s MacKenzie.
Just as the thousands of apps available for the Apple iPhone helped to make that device viable from a business standpoint, EFB hardware manufacturers expect that applications will help to make the busi-ness case for their products.
The ease of uploading those appli-cations to the EFB will also play an important role in the future success of the technology. The key there is having the ability to leverage available network infra-structure to transmit data and updates directly to aircraft, rather than using more expensive aviation infrastructure like the ACARS system. That will go a long way toward making the business case for EFBs within the circle of airline chief financial officers, according to AMT CEO Joe McGoldrick.
“What we’ve had until now has been the sending and receiving of discrete mes-sages,” McGoldrick said. “Getting data onto the aircraft with ACARS is restrict-ed because it doesn’t handle graphics and rich binary content, compression is inef-ficient and it is expensive to get data on and off the aircraft.
“We’re beginning to leverage 3G and cellular networks operating on GSM or CDMA to provide data connectivity to the aircraft, and to make sure what’s on the aircraft is up to date. Having the com-munications infrastructure is the driver for that. The customers we deal with have that communications infrastructure, but only a minority of EFBs has that con-nectivity built in. The bottleneck is in transferring the data and in supporting different communications networks, not in the displaying of data,” he said.
There also is concern that EFB hard-ware operating systems won’t be able to keep up with all the applications being developed for them.
“Operators want to have assurance that if we put ADS-B capabilities on the hardware that it will run without issues,” said navAero's Crowhurst. “As we layer software on top of the hardware we want to be able to process the data without crashing (the system).”
Continued on page 34
Economic Benefits Renew Focus on EFBs
The operational and financial benefits of electronic flight bags are attracting the attention of smaller carriers, according to Lufthansa Systems of Kelsterbach, Germany, a provider of software and data products for all classes of EFB systems.
In recent months, the Lufthansa Group subsidiary has announced agreements for its Lido/FlightBag EFB system with several smaller airlines. Applications for the system include data management, document viewer, navigation charts, take-off data and flight operations manu-als. In late January, Singapore Airlines calculated the route of a flight from Los Angeles to Singapore via Tokyo under the Asia Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) using the FreeFlight route-optimization application of Lido.
Among the new contracts, German carrier Condor will use Lido/Route Manual charts; and TUI Travel airlines Arkefly, Jet4you and Jetairfly will use Lido/RouteManual and Flight Manage-ment System data. Danish airline Cimber Sterling selected Lido/RouteManual and Lido/TakeOff for take-off performance analysis; and Croatia Airlines will use Lido/Flight Bag.
“If you look at the size of Croatia Airlines fleet — they’re operating 12 aircraft — [it] is an erroneous impression that EFBs are something for the big players in the industry. That is pretty much proven wrong,” declared Marc Szepan, Lufthansa Systems senior vice president of Airline Operations Solutions. “Even an airline the size of Croatia Airlines can see a lot of value, a lot of cost savings derived from an EFB.”
Lufthansa Systems estimates fleetwide installation of an EFB system can save a major inter-national network carrier about $4.3 million per year. The company said various components of its system are flying on about 500 aircraft worldwide.
“What we’re seeing now as economic and financial pressures in industry are continuing [is that] airlines have already exhausted the obvious, short-term savings potential. So if ever airlines wanted to further improve their cost structure, and wanted to improve their efficiencies, you’ve got to focus on the intelligent use of technology to increase productivity. That’s where EFBs come in,” Szepan said.
Overall, he said, airlines big and small are opting for Class 2 or modified Class 2 devices in order to gain the benefits of an EFB without the implementation and total lifecycle costs that come with a Class 3 system integrated with the cockpit avionics. — Emily Feliz
Lufthansa Systems Lido/eRouteManual electronic navigation charts display approach, takeoff, terminal and route charts information on all EFB classes.
Pho
to c
ourt
esy
Lufth
ansa
Sys
tem
s
09_AVS_030110_productfocus_p30_35.indd 32 2/12/10 12:24:01 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 33
Following are recent developments announced by manufacturers of electronic flight bag hardware and software products.
➤ Esterline CMC Electronics made sev-eral announcements in 2009 related to its Class 2 PilotView EFB. On Nov. 2, CMC said Boeing had selected its 10.4-inch EFB for Next-Generation 737s.
In October, CMC said PilotView was
certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for ATR regional turboprops. ATR selected PilotView as a stan-dard option for new aircraft and retrofit of in-service ATR-42s and ATR-72s. Also, EASA certified PilotView for the Dassault Falcon 7X. PilotView is a standard option for the Falcon 7X, 2000DX, 2000LX, 900DX, 900EX and 900LX series. ➤ ASG Inc., based in Miami, is in the final stages of the patent approval process for its Constant Friction Mount Class 2 EFB mounting system. ASG said the system’s 360° rotation and low profile make it an ideal mount for air transport operators. Armand Wong, ASG president, told Avionics he expects the patent process to be completed in 2010.
ASG owns supplemental type certificates for installation of EFB mounts on various aircraft, including Airbus 319/320/321, DC-10, MD-11, Boeing 727, 737, 747, 757 and 767, and from various EFB hardware manufacturers, including navAero and DAC International. Wong said the company is working on amending STCs for the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 to include Astronautics Corporation of America’s EFB. About 250 of the company’s EFB shipsets are installed in aircraft.
“We have quite a few STCs,” Wong noted. “We probably hold the most STCs on the air transport side of any engineering house. I think we’re going to continue to build on that” in 2010. ➤ Aircraft Management Technologies (AMT) in December announced a contract with cargo carrier Atlas Air to deploy AMT’s Flightman suite of EFB applications on its fleet of Boeing 747-400 freighters. The system will be integrated with Jeppesen's Airport Moving Map application and incorporate eJourney log, large content manager and eForms applications.➤ NavAero, based in Chicago, in January said its tBag C22 EFB received an EASA supplemental type certificate for the Airbus A318/319/320/321 narrowbody line. The system consists of cross-connected dual tBag C22 EFBs, tPad series displays and UMTS/HSDPA 3G cellular modem for on-ground data transfer, WiFi, and ARINC 429 connectivity.
NavAero in November 2009 signed an agreement with Latin American airline GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. to install its tBag C22 EFB on the airline’s fleet of B737NGs. NavAero will deploy its EFB hardware in conjunction with an ACARS-though-Iridium communications system being pro-vided by Avionica, of Miami. ➤ Astronautics Corporation of America, of Milwaukee, and ACSS in October received FAA technical standard order authorization for a new release of their Universal Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) software. The software is designed for operation in Astronautics’ EFB as well as in
the EFBs of other suppli-ers. The U-CDTI enables the display of a moving map of the airport surface with own-ship position on a Class 2 EFB. When coupled with ACSS’s SafeRoute Surface Area Movement Management application, the U-CDTI will also display the position of other traffic operating on the airport grounds, the compa-nies said. Astronautics started part-nering with ACSS to develop
CDTI software for cargo carrier UPS in 2006. ➤ Boeing on Dec. 9 said China Cargo Airlines will incorporate its Class 3 EFB system in the airline’s 777 freighters. The Boe-ing EFB, supplied by Astronautics Corp. of America, incorpo-rates Onboard Performance Tool (OPT) and Electronic Docu-ment Browser (EDB) applications. OPT provides pilots with ideal speeds and engine settings in any weather, on any runway, with any payload, Boeing said. The EDB module allows instant access to the latest information, replacing paper documents and minimizing the need for manual updating and revision.➤ Navtech, based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 4 announced an agreement with Norwegian Air Shuttle for its Class 1 and 2 EFB software on the airline’s Boeing 737s. Navtech will supply its Aircraft Performance and Mass & Bal-ance products, eCharts, Seamless Electronic Navigation Chart
and FMS Navigation Data products. ➤ Greenwich Aero-Group, of Connecti-cut, in June acquired the assets of Banner Aerospace Holding and its aviation sub-sidiaries from The
Fairchild Corp. DAC International, of Austin, Texas, is a sub-sidiary of Banner Aerospace. Greenwich AeroGroup provides general aviation services including maintenance and avionics; FBOs; aircraft sales, charter and management; interior refur-bishment; engineering; and parts distribution.
In May 2009, Shuttle America selected DAC International’s GEN-X Class 3 EFB system for its fleet of EMB170s and EMB175s. DAC said the system is PMA’d as a Class 3 EFB, but installations can be accomplished under the operator’s choice of either a Class 2 or Class 3 STC. ➤ Arconics, based in Dublin, said Irish carrier Aer Lingus has deployed its AirPortal Web portal, which enables communica-tions and delivers manuals to flight, cabin and ground opera-tions personnel. Arconics said the system will provide a single point of access for Aer Lingus staff to the range of information required to support operations.➤ The IMS Company, based in Brea, Calif., in April 2009 acquired Flight Deck Resources. Flight Deck is now known as IMS Flight Deck and has joined IMS Entertainment and IMS Engineering as a division within The IMS Company.
Market Moves
CMC Electronics PilotView EFBPhoto courtesy CMC Electronics
Photo courtesy DAC International
DAC Class 3 GEN-X EFB
U-CDTI on Astronautics EFB
Photo courtesy Astronautics
09_AVS_030110_productfocus_p30_35.indd 33 2/12/10 12:24:15 PM
34 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
We’re on it.™
right attitude/right approach/right alongsidewww.goodrich.com
Start with the EFB...include a high-resolution aerospace-grade display and a high-speed processor...have it ready to support both current and future technologies…support it with full 24/7/365 technicalservices...and what have you got?
The Goodrich Cockpit Data Management Solutions™—a turn-key,integrated EFB package of hardware, software, and support servicesthat allows flight crews and flight ops to perform critical ground and in-flight data management tasks faster and more efficiently.
• SmartDisplay™ EFB, configured as Class 2 or 3 platform
• Seamless wireless network and software compatibility
• Upgradable for future technologies, such as the FAA’s NextGen air transportation system, including ADS-B
Contact us at [email protected] for more information.
NEED A DIRECT FLIGHT TO A PAPERLESS COCKPIT?WE’RE RIGHT ALONGSIDE.
©20
09
Goo
dric
hC
orpo
ratio
n.A
llri
ghts
rese
rved
.Cha
rtis
copy
righ
tJe
ppes
enSa
nder
son,
Inc.
Itis
show
nfo
rill
ustr
atio
npu
rpos
eson
lyan
dno
tto
beus
edfo
rna
viga
tion.
09-7667 CDMS_ad02_avionics.qxd 6/26/09 11:36 AM Page 1
Companies
Air Gator ........................................................ www.airgator.com
Airbus ............................................................. www.airbus.com
Aircraft Management Technologies (AMT) ......www.flightman.com
Arconics Aviation .............................. www.arconicsaviation.com
ARINC ...............................................................www.arinc.com
ASG Inc. .......................................................... www.asginc.net
Astronautics Corp. of America .................www.astronautics.com
Boeing ...........................................................www.boeing.com
DAC International .............................................www.dacint.com
Carlisle Interconnect/ECS ............................ www.ecsdirect.com
Emteq .............................................................www.emteq.com
Esterline CMC Electronics ..................... www.cmcelectronics.us
Evoke Systems .................................. www.evoke-systems.com
Exalit Ltd. .............................................................www.exalit.ch
Global Airworks ........................................ www.airworksinc.com
Goodrich .....................................................www.goodrich.com
Honeywell ................................................. www.honeywell.com
IMS Flight Deck ..........................................www.flightdeck.aero
Innovative Solutions & Support ...............www.innovative-ss.com
Jeppesen ................................................... www.jeppesen.com
L-3 Communications ......................................www.l-3com.com
Lufthansa Systems .................................... www.lhsystems.com
navAero ....................................................... www.navaero.com
Navtech ....................................................... www.navtech.aero
On-Board Data Systems ................................... www.obds.com
Ramco ................................................http://ramcoaviation.com
Rockwell Collins ...................................www.rockwellcollins.com
SAT-WAY SA .................................................www.sat-way.com
Skyjob ...........................................................www.skyjob.co.uk
Teledyne Controls ........................... www.teledyne-controls.com
Universal Avionics Systems Corp. .......................www.uasc.com
Another limiting factor for EFB tech-nology is the use of lithium ion batteries for backup power on the devices, which is something FAA is concerned about because of the risk of fire or explosion.
“The FAA has some ambitious plans, which have been idled because of regula-tory issues related to lithium ion batter-ies,” said Crowhurst.
“I’m sure the airlines and EFB manu-facturers are frustrated because there is no clear definition from the FAA on this issue.”
Crowhurst added that the problem could be overcome by using nickel-metal hydride batteries instead. He said navAero already has eliminated Li-ion batteries in favor of NiMH, and it is
expected other hardware manufacturers will do the same over time.
Avionics Magazine’s Product Focus is a monthly feature that examines some of the latest trends in different market segments of the avionics industry. It does not repre-sent a comprehensive survey of all compa-nies and products in these markets.
ADVERTISING SALES REPS
Kevin Reinhart
Western U.S. & CanadaT: 972-713-6494F: 972-767-3762Cell: 972-342-7861E-mail: [email protected]
Joe Milroy
Eastern U.S. & Canada T: 215-598-0933F: 215-598-8048Cell: 215-439-0394E-mail: [email protected]
James McAuley
International T: +34 952 118018F: +34 952 118018Cell: +44 7973 679719E-mail: [email protected]
09_AVS_030110_productfocus_p30_35.indd 34 2/12/10 12:24:32 PM
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 35
We’re on it.™
right attitude/right approach/right alongsidewww.goodrich.com
Start with the EFB...include a high-resolution aerospace-grade display and a high-speed processor...have it ready to support both current and future technologies…support it with full 24/7/365 technicalservices...and what have you got?
The Goodrich Cockpit Data Management Solutions™—a turn-key,integrated EFB package of hardware, software, and support servicesthat allows flight crews and flight ops to perform critical ground and in-flight data management tasks faster and more efficiently.
• SmartDisplay™ EFB, configured as Class 2 or 3 platform
• Seamless wireless network and software compatibility
• Upgradable for future technologies, such as the FAA’s NextGen air transportation system, including ADS-B
Contact us at [email protected] for more information.
NEED A DIRECT FLIGHT TO A PAPERLESS COCKPIT?WE’RE RIGHT ALONGSIDE.
©20
09
Goo
dric
hC
orpo
ratio
n.A
llri
ghts
rese
rved
.Cha
rtis
copy
righ
tJe
ppes
enSa
nder
son,
Inc.
Itis
show
nfo
rill
ustr
atio
npu
rpos
eson
lyan
dno
tto
beus
edfo
rna
viga
tion.
09-7667 CDMS_ad02_avionics.qxd 6/26/09 11:36 AM Page 1
Western U.S. & CanadaT: 972-713-6494F: 972-767-3762Cell: 972-342-7861E-mail: [email protected]
09_AVS_030110_productfocus_p30_35.indd 35 2/12/10 12:24:40 PM
new products
36 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
SAS controllers as well as with any of the embedded SATA ports. Its internal independent disks doubles the medial transfer rate normally available from rug-ged disks, the company said.
Visit www.emsformation.com.
High-Speed InternetAircell introduced the ATG 5000 High Speed Internet unit for business aviation.
The High Speed Internet package includes an ATG 5000 High Speed Inter-net line replaceable unit (11 pounds); two belly-mounted blade antennas (1.25 pounds each); and an optional cabin tele-communications router (4 pounds).
Visit www.aircell.com.
Helicopter AutopilotHeliSAS, a two-axis helicopter stability augmentation and autopilot system from Cobham, received FAA supplemental type certification for the Robinson R44. Cobham, of Mineral Wells, Texas, said it is working on other STCs for the Bell 206, Bell 407, Eurocopter AS350 and U.S. Navy TH-57 helicopters.
The HeliSAS is a two-axis attitude hold, attitude command, flight control system. It has two basic functions — a stability augmentation system to aid with aircraft stability and autopilot outer loop control modes for altitude hold, heading select and navigation sensor coupling.
Visit www.cobham.com.
Cockpit UpgradeMarinvent Corp., of Saint-Bruno, Que-bec, upgraded its Piper Super Cheyenne with dual EFI-890R flat-panel displays, Vision-1 Synthetic Vision System and Terrain Awareness and Warning System from Universal Avionics. The upgrade included an Attitude Heading Reference System, air data system, weather radar and traffic collision avoidance system. The integration was completed by Kitch-ener Aero Avionics, of Breslau, Ontario.
Visit www.uasc.com.
Transponder TSOBecker Avionics received FAA technical standard order (TSO) authorization of its BXP6403 Mode S Transponder Class I and II series.
The BXP6403, a single block Mode S transponder, is compatible with existing Mode A/C systems with the addition of a datalink. It is equipped with extended
Mode S TransponderTrig Avionics, of Edinburgh, Scotland, added a Mode S transponder to its line of products.
The new TT22 is based on the TT21 Mode S transponder, with the addition of a higher transmitted output power. The TT22 qualifies as a Class 1 tran-
sponder to be used on high performance aircraft — those cruising faster than 175 knots and operating above 15,000 feet. The TT22 has EASA ETSO and FAA TSO approval for IFR and VFR flight. It weighs about a pound, and consists of a front panel controller with a separate transponder block. An altitude encoder
is built into the controller.
Visit www.trig-avionics.com.
Hard DiskEMS Formation released a new ver-sion of its Tough-Disk 3500 SATA (TD3500 SATA) Rugged Hard Disk, expanding the storage capacity from 640 GB to 1 TB and improving performance. The device is targeted for applications in in-flight Internet, in-flight video on demand and mili-tary surveillance, the company said.
The TD3500 can be used as a drop-in COTS replacement of conventional 3.5-inch low-profile drives. It can be used with high-end
new products
North Atlantic Industries (NAI), of Bohemia, N.Y., introduced a Multi-function PCI card. The 76CS3 is suited for automatic test equipment used in the aerospace, defense, industrial and automotive industries, NAI said.
The 76CS3 is a single slot card that can be configured for six separate D/S channels at 1.5/2.2 VA, three separate D/S channels at 3.0 VA, or D/S in com-bination with A/D, D/A, Discrete I/O, TTL I/O, RTD, LVDT/RVDT, S/D or
R/D. In addition, it is available with operating temperature ranges of 0°C to +70°C and -40°C to +85°C. For more information on this product, visit www.naii.com.
Multifunction PCI Card
� True avionics quality equipment
� Comprehensive suite of applications to streamline processes
� Intuitive for easy use
� Network integration connectivity
+1 310 765 3600 www.teledynecontrols.com
Maximize Flight Deck Efficiency with Teledyne’s Electronic Flight Bag Solutions
& EFB APPLICATIONSEFB III
10_AVS_030110_NewProd_p36_37.indd 36 2/12/10 2:19:19 PM
squitter and SI code functions and pro-vides an interface to the central aircraft data system. The transponder provides for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) via extended squitter.
Visit www.beckerUSA.com.
CANbus Interface
AIM-USA introduced the AMC825, a CANbus Interface Product designed for ARINC 825 applications.
The AMC825, which supports up to 4 CANbus ports, can work as either a CAN node for testing and simulation or in “listening only” mode for the monitor-ing and recording of avionics CANbus applications, the company said.
The four concurrently running CAN-bus ports are electrically isolated. The AMC825 also includes an IRIG-B time decoder that allows users to synchronize single or multiple modules to a common time source.
Visit www.aimusa-online.com.
TCAS AML-STCGarmin, of Olathe, Kan., was granted FAA an approved model list supplemental type certificate (AML-STC) for its traffic alerting system (TAS) and TCAS I traffic systems — the GTS 800, GTS 820 and GTS 850. The initial AML-STC includes about 580 different aircraft makes and models, according to Garmin.
The GTS 800 series combines active and passive surveillance data to identify traffic threats. It correlates Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast with radar targets to provide an accurate pic-ture of the sky.
The GTS 800 offers 40 watts of trans-mit power and a range of up to 12 nauti-cal miles. The GTS 820 delivers 250 watts of transmit power and up to 40 nautical miles of interrogation range.
The GTS 850 satisfies TCAS I collision avoidance criteria for turboprops and jets.
Visit www.garmin.com.
Phased-Array AntennaKing Aerospace, of Addison, Texas, has developed an advanced phased array antenna for airborne applications. The company said it developed, certi-fied and installed the new antenna on a U.S. Air Force E-9A twin turboprop sur-veillance and telemetry data relay aircraft.
Using digital beam forming telemetry technology, the antenna can double the number of targets it can acquire and
track up to 10 spatially separated targets travelling at high speed.
Visit www.kingaerospace.com.
Databus Package
National Hybrid Inc. (NHI), Ronkonko-ma, N.Y. , and Pulse Engineering of San Diego, jointly developed the Bus+ (pronounced Bus Plus), a Mil-Std-1553 data bus that combines a transceiver and transformer into a single package.
Bus+ is designed for avionics and defense applications requiring compo-nents that are high density and highly reliable, yet compact and low power, the companies said.
Bus+ operates with a +5 VDD or +3.3 VDD power supply, +/-5 percent. It mea-sures 0.4-inch by 0.4-inch by 0.185-inch, and is available with an industrial oper-ating temperature range from -40°C to +85°C or a military operating tempera-ture range of -55°C to +125°C.
Visit www.nationalhybrid.com.
www.cmcelectronics.ca
PilotView® Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag Family
Chart © Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. 2008. Chart is for illustration purposes and not to be used for navigation.
8.4” Display
10.4” Display
Much More Than Just a Display for Charts
www.avtoday.com/av March 2010 Avionics Magazine 37
10_AVS_030110_NewProd_p36_37.indd 37 2/16/10 12:25:50 PM
b y J o h n P e r s i n o s
aviationtoday.com
38 Avionics Magazine March 2010 www.avtoday.com/av
A Flock of Dodos
Today’s new air traffic control mandates are exerting a domino effect throughout the aviation industry. This revolution in the cockpit extends beyond pilots, pas-
sengers and operational procedures to exert a powerful influence on aircraft values. As many OEMs and carriers sadly learn, improvements in avionics capabilities can render older aircraft as dead as the dodo.
If you’re trying to divine the direction of aircraft values, there’s no better oracle to consult than Paul Leighton, editor-in-chief of Aircraft Value News, a sister publication of Avionics Mag-azine. I recently spoke with Paul and asked him a gamut of questions, many of them pertaining to trends in avionics and the global airspace.
Paul’s newsletter is among the family of pub-lications that are produced under the Aviation Today umbrella. To subscribe to Aircraft Value News, click the “Subscribe” link in the left-hand navigation bar on the home page of AviationTo-day.com; call 888-707-5812; or e-mail [email protected].
In the meantime, you can benefit from Paul’s insights by reading this excerpt of my discussion with him.
Persinos: Equipping for Automatic Depen-dent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) in Euro-pean airspace will be mandatory starting in 2015 — five years earlier than in the United States — under the European Commission’s Surveillance Performance and Interoperability Implementing Rule. The final rule is expected in late 2010. How does this mandate affect aircraft values?
Leighton: One of the major concerns sur-rounding values of older equipment is the introduction of these new air-traffic control requirements. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are mandating the carriage and opera-tion of Enhanced Mode S equipment. Switzer-land and the Eurocontrol region of Maastricht, encompassing Benelux, are also pursuing a simi-lar mandate.
Enhanced Mode S provides for the transmis-sion of aircraft parameters know as Downlink Airborne Parameters (DAP). DAPs provide air traffic control with information on not only the identity and altitude of aircraft but also their
heading, speed and selected flight level. Aircraft currently in production and those featuring digital avionics are able to achieve compliance. However, those aircraft featuring analog systems will be more difficult to equip and the outlook is far from certain.
Older aircraft will not be permitted to travel within an area encompassing most of France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom unless the avionics are upgraded to digital. Only a few companies are able to offer the upgrade, which is likely to be a costly affair.
This requirement may effectively eliminate a number of aircraft types from flying into North-western Europe either en route or as a final des-tination point. The implementation of Enhanced Mode S is likely to affect a wider area of Europe as the years go by. Because not all of the U.K. and France are affected by the requirements, it may be possible for some airports to remain open to noncompliant aircraft.
Persinos: When it comes to aircraft values and overall demand for aircraft, how important is the issue of replacing older aircraft?
Leighton: The replacement issue is crucial. There will be this emphasis on newer aircraft because the airlines have really gotten rid of all their excess, surplus and costs over the last 10 years or so. They’ve really got nothing else to target, except for lower fuel consumption and operational efficiency.
There will be pressure on some of the early aircraft types and we’re more likely to see that with the likes of the early A320s, where they don’t have the avionics capable of meeting demands going forward.
Consequently, OEMs will be looking at multi-million dollar avionics upgrades, and that won’t be practical for some aircraft that are already 20 years of age. It definitely will be a replace-ment issue, especially for those aircraft that are decades old. Those are the aircraft types that will be particularly vulnerable to this replacement cycle.
John Persinos is publisher and editorial director of AviationToday.com. He can be reached at [email protected] or 301-385-7211.
As many OEMs and carriers sadly learn,
improvements in avionics
capabilities can render older
aircraft as dead as the dodo.
Premiere Partner
In January, the FAA released the 2010 version of its NextGen Implementation Plan (NGIP), setting forth the agency’s air transportation system modernization plans for the next decade. The 2010 update of the NGIP will show to what degree FAA has incorporated the recommendations of RTCA’s NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force. The RTCA Spring Symposium will take the �rst in-depth look at the FAA’s NextGen Implementation Plan.
At the RTCA Spring Symposium, you’ll experience sessions focused on:
The RTCA Spring Symposium takes place during Washington D.C.’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival. You’ll experience the nation’s capital during one of its most beautiful seasons with the trees in full bloom!
Bringing NextGen into FocusApril 6-7, 2010Grand Hyatt WashingtonWashington, DC
17048
REGISTER TODAY at www.RTCASpringSymposium.com with Discount Code: AVIONICS to qualify for discounts on the RTCA Spring Symposium Pass.
11_AVS_030110_AviationToday_p38_40.indd 38 2/12/10 12:26:11 PM
www.avtoday.com/av February 2010 Avionics Magazine 39
Premiere Partner
In January, the FAA released the 2010 version of its NextGen Implementation Plan (NGIP), setting forth the agency’s air transportation system modernization plans for the next decade. The 2010 update of the NGIP will show to what degree FAA has incorporated the recommendations of RTCA’s NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force. The RTCA Spring Symposium will take the �rst in-depth look at the FAA’s NextGen Implementation Plan.
At the RTCA Spring Symposium, you’ll experience sessions focused on:
The RTCA Spring Symposium takes place during Washington D.C.’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival. You’ll experience the nation’s capital during one of its most beautiful seasons with the trees in full bloom!
Bringing NextGen into FocusApril 6-7, 2010Grand Hyatt WashingtonWashington, DC
Bringing NextGen into Focus
Grand Hyatt Washington
17048
REGISTER TODAY at www.RTCASpringSymposium.com with Discount Code: AVIONICS to qualify for discounts on the RTCA Spring Symposium Pass.
11_AVS_030110_AviationToday_p38_40.indd 39 2/12/10 12:26:23 PM
PortabilityVersatilityLongevity
One small tool does it all – databus test, analysis, and simulation. Use it around the lab or in the field. Simply connect it to any avail-able PC – it’s fully powered by the USB port. You’ll want it for all your interface applications. Add Ballard’s CoPilot® interactive software for extra versatility and ease-of-use. Discover the long-lasting benefits of Ballard’s new USB interfaces for MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC 429 and 717.
Call us today at 425.339.0281.
Put a new tool in your pocket.
USB-Powered Avionics Databus Interfaces
The Avionics Databus Innovators
MIL-STD-1553ARINC 429ARINC 717
www.ballardtech.com
USB09_Avionics_ad110609.indd 1 11/10/09 12:32:07 PM
11_AVS_030110_AviationToday_p38_40.indd 40 2/12/10 12:26:42 PM
