A New Black Box Flight Recorder Concept for Light Aircraft

The whole proposition and conundrum of what might have happened in a general aviation accident might soon be reversed from: "no idea, they don't carry voice recorders or flight data recorders" to "let's pull the iPOD and see what happened".

US light aircraft manufacturer LoPresti SpeedMerchants have decided to introduce the device in the cockpit of its Fury piston aircraft," It's based upon Apple Computer's popular iPod music player. A full integration of the iPod into the Fury's avionics systems is planned. The company's 22 Feb statement didn't spell out exactly which parameters would be recorded, however in a digitalised cockpit there is actually no limit to the extent to which such a recorder can tap into the data-bus and voice traffic. The iPod FDR would work with the patented iPod Dock Connector port on the bottom of the iPod, for which there is a large software developer community. Hardening the iPOD for post-crash revelations would not be difficult.

An additional spin-off benefit would be a hard-copy record of engine and avionics parameters that would enable any engine deterioration or avionics intermittency to be detected early and investigated.

"Vero Beach, Florida-based LoPresti said, 'The iPod becomes the first truly portable, personal flight recorder with a huge recording capacity. This is a watershed technology for aviation,' says LoPresti vice president of operations, RJ Siegel, 'and we are delighted to be the first to bring it to market.'