Business & GA

Broadband System on Dassult Falcon 2000

By Tish Drake | May 18, 2007
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ARINC said Pentastar Aviation of Waterford, Mich., contracted to install the SKYLinkSM broadband communications system on a customer’s Dassault Falcon 2000 business aircraft. It will be the first SKYLink installation on a Dassault aircraft, ARINC said. SKYLink developed a new, slimmed-down avionics package designed to fit a range of mid-size and larger business jets. The company expects to obtain a supplemental type certification (STC) for the Falcon 2000 and complete the first SKYLink installation in September. “We see SKYLink as a growing business opportunity, since the broadband service is significantly faster and more affordable than other communications offerings for business jets,” said Mike Baker, vice president of maintenance and avionics, Pentastar Aviation. SKYLink’s slim avionics package is designed to fit radome dimensions of the Dassault Falcon 50 series, 900 series and 2000 series, as well as the Bombardier BD100, Challenger series, and Global series. The main physical change is a narrower antenna mount, and performance of the SKYLink Ku-band avionics is unchanged. ARINC has started DO-160E testing of the new SKYLink antenna hardware and expects to finish by June.

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