First Flight of Collins-Equipped S-92
The final production configuration of the Sikorsky S-92 utility helicopter, which includes the Rockwell Collins glass cockpit, made its first flight Oct. 5. Aircraft No. 4 in the S-92 development program flew one hour and 54 minutes at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.’s facilities in Stratford, Conn.
The heart of the Collins S-92 package is the Avionics Management System (AMS). The AMS’ four 6-by-8-inch color, active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) present S-92 pilots with flight data, navigation information, flight management data, a digital map, weather radar, terrain information and engine instrument caution and advisory. (A fifth AMLCD is optional on the S-92.) In addition to the multifunction displays, the S-92 AMS includes data concentrator units which provide the interface between the aircraft systems and displays and a maintenance data computer. The S-92 program gave Collins its first chance to apply its Flight2 open systems architecture to a rotary-wing aircraft. Visit http://www.rockwellcollins.com and http://www.sikorsky.com.
Qantas Modernizes
Australia’s Qantas Airways has reported success with its trial use of a wireless ground link that transmits flight data information as soon as an aircraft touches down at virtually any of the airline’s destination airports. The trial, conducted since July 16, uses Teledyne Controls’ Wireless GroundLink on board a Boeing 747-400. By early September, Qantas’ Sydney headquarters had received more than 40 flight legs of data downloads using the Sprint PCS telecommunications network.
Wireless GroundLink automates a process that otherwise would require airline personnel to first access data by removing optical disks, tapes or PC cards and then to ship the media to the airline’s operations center. The Teledyne Controls system transmits the data, eliminating delays and the risk of damage from shipping.
GroundLink currently downlinks data; however, Teledyne Controls plans to add an uplink capability by mid 2002.
Noting that Qantas has gathered data for a Flight Operations Quality Assurance program for 12 years, Greg Gibbens, the airline’s manager-flight safety systems, reports "a significant data loss problem remains" from the transfer of tapes, disks and PC cards. According to a Teledyne Controls spokesman, Qantas plans to make a decision regarding Wireless GroundLink once the trials are completed, before year’s end.
In other news, Qantas has selected CMC Electronics antennas for the satellite communications systems on board its six new B747-438ERs and 13 Airbus A330-200/300s. Deliveries of the CMA-2102 high-gain satcom antennas will run from early 2002 to 2003. Visit http://www.cmcelectronics.ca and http://www.teledyne.com.
TAS Approved
Ryan International Corp., Columbus, Ohio, has gained Federal Aviation Administration approval for its 9900BX traffic alerting system (TAS), which complies with the TSO-C147 traffic advisory system, minimum operational performance standard.
Featuring audible position alerting, the 9900BX senses an intruding aircraft and warns the pilot by providing not only a traffic alert, but also the intruder’s clock position and distance relative to the aircraft’s nose. An alert may say, for example: "Traffic! 12 o’clock high! Two miles." The TAS will track up to 50 aircraft and provide up to 30 seconds warning at a 1,200-knot closure rate. It has a 10-nautical mile horizontal range and is programmable, so aircrews can select airspace coverage. Visit http://www.ryan-tcad.com.
RVSM for Bizjets
Two aircraft services providers have made strides to advance reduced vertical separation minina (RVSM) capabilities on business aircraft.
Garrett Aviation, a Tempe, Ariz.-based subsidiary of General Electric Co., is preparing to have an RVSM package certified in a Gulfstream IIB by January 2002. The Garrett/Honeywell package already has been approved in the Gulfstream II. Garrett offers RVSM-compliant installations on the Cessna Citation 500 series, the Falcon 10/100 and the Falcon 20 and 50, as well as the G-II/IIB.
Meanwhile, Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb., recently gained a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for an RVSM package in the Lockheed JetStar II. Duncan already has STCs on RVSM packages for the Gulfstream II and IIB, as well as for the Bombardier Challenger 600, the G-100 (also known as the Astra), and JetStar 31.
For more information, visit these Web sites: http://www.duncanaviation.com and http://www.garrettaviation.com.
CNS/ATM in Russia
As part of a countrywide modernization effort, Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee has commissioned a Future Air Navigation System (FANS) ground station in Magadan, on the country’s east coast. As the first communication, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) ground station in Russia, Magadan can now contribute "to new air routes in far east Russia, as well as the opening of the cross-polar routes," says John Belcher, president and chief operating officer of ARINC Inc., which installed workstations at the facility.
Operated by North East Air Navigation (fomerly the Magadan air traffic control center), the ground station covers the Magadan Flight Information Region. It can handle aircraft that use both conventional voice communications and digital data transmissions that accommodate such techniques as Automatic Dependent Surveillance and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications.
Magadan isn’t the only site of modernization in Russia. Airports at Moscow and St. Petersburg, and across Siberia in Krasnoyarsk, Irkustsk and Novosibirsk, have begun renovation and expansion programs. ARINC is part of a consortium of aerospace, telecommunication and airport construction companies established to support Russia’s modernization efforts. Called the Northern Bridge project, the consortium also includes Switzerland’s ASG Group SA, Russia’s Rosaviacosmos, and Tams Consultants and Murphy/Jahn, both in Chicago. Visit http://www.arinc.com.
Philadelphia’s PRM
Philadelphia International Airport has been equipped with Raytheon Co.’s Precision Runway Monitor (PRM), an electronically scanned, monopulse secondary surveillance radar that allows simultaneous landings on parallel runways. The PRM, which provides one-second updates of aircraft locations, was commissioned on Sept. 29.
Philadelphia has parallel runways 3,000 feet (915 m) apart. Using the PRM, air traffic controllers will direct the slower moving aircraft to the recently completed north runway and the faster jets to the south parallel runway. The airport expects a 15 to 20 percent capacity gain with its PRM.
New York’s Kennedy International Airport and San Francisco International Airport also have PRMs. Visit http://www.raytheon.com
New In-Cabin LANS
Pentar Avionics, Bothell, Wash., recently allied itself with two companies to provide airborne local area network (LAN) servers based on its JetLAN system.
As part of its effort to provide a LAN with onboard file sharing and printing capabilities, Baker Electronics Inc. recently announced it is working with Pentar to develop a new network server. It would use JetLAN technology as the base for Baker’s planned CabinLAN network server. Sarasota, Fla.-based Baker Electronics also plans to use the JetLAN hardware to add its CabinLink features: connectivity to e-mail, the Internet and corporate intranets.
In addition, Pentar now makes available a new satellite-based, high-speed airborne cabin network, following an agreement with the Satcom Division of EMS Technologies Inc. Called JetLAN SatLINK, the service would deliver satellite communications at data speeds from 64 to 128 kilobits/sec. JetLAN SatLINK combines the JetLAN or JetLAN XP network server and EMS’s data satcom system.Visit http://www.pentar.com, http://www.be-inc.com and http://www.ems-t.com.
Omissions
In our "Product Focus" section in November (page 49), we inadvertently omitted Goodrich/JcAIR Test Systems and RTX Systems from the list of companies providing data bus test equipment. For more on these companies, visit http://www.jcair.com and http://www.RTXsystems.com.
Qantas Modernizes
Australia’s Qantas Airways has reported success with its trial use of a wireless ground link that transmits flight data information as soon as an aircraft touches down at virtually any of the airline’s destination airports. The trial, conducted since July 16, uses Teledyne Controls’ Wireless GroundLink on board a Boeing 747-400. By early September, Qantas’ Sydney headquarters had received more than 40 flight legs of data downloads using the Sprint PCS telecommunications network.
Wireless GroundLink automates a process that otherwise would require airline personnel to first access data by removing optical disks, tapes or PC cards and then to ship the media to the airline’s operations center. The Teledyne Controls system transmits the data, eliminating delays and the risk of damage from shipping.
GroundLink currently downlinks data; however, Teledyne Controls plans to add an uplink capability by mid 2002.
Noting that Qantas has gathered data for a Flight Operations Quality Assurance program for 12 years, Greg Gibbens, the airline’s manager-flight safety systems, reports "a significant data loss problem remains" from the transfer of tapes, disks and PC cards. According to a Teledyne Controls spokesman, Qantas plans to make a decision regarding Wireless GroundLink once the trials are completed, before year’s end.
In other news, Qantas has selected CMC Electronics antennas for the satellite communications systems on board its six new B747-438ERs and 13 Airbus A330-200/300s. Deliveries of the CMA-2102 high-gain satcom antennas will run from early 2002 to 2003. Visit http://www.cmcelectronics.ca and http://www.teledyne.com.
TAS Approved
Ryan International Corp., Columbus, Ohio, has gained Federal Aviation Administration approval for its 9900BX traffic alerting system (TAS), which complies with the TSO-C147 traffic advisory system, minimum operational performance standard.
Featuring audible position alerting, the 9900BX senses an intruding aircraft and warns the pilot by providing not only a traffic alert, but also the intruder’s clock position and distance relative to the aircraft’s nose. An alert may say, for example: "Traffic! 12 o’clock high! Two miles." The TAS will track up to 50 aircraft and provide up to 30 seconds warning at a 1,200-knot closure rate. It has a 10-nautical mile horizontal range and is programmable, so aircrews can select airspace coverage. Visit http://www.ryan-tcad.com.
RVSM for Bizjets
Two aircraft services providers have made strides to advance reduced vertical separation minina (RVSM) capabilities on business aircraft.
Garrett Aviation, a Tempe, Ariz.-based subsidiary of General Electric Co., is preparing to have an RVSM package certified in a Gulfstream IIB by January 2002. The Garrett/Honeywell package already has been approved in the Gulfstream II. Garrett offers RVSM-compliant installations on the Cessna Citation 500 series, the Falcon 10/100 and the Falcon 20 and 50, as well as the G-II/IIB.
Meanwhile, Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb., recently gained a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for an RVSM package in the Lockheed JetStar II. Duncan already has STCs on RVSM packages for the Gulfstream II and IIB, as well as for the Bombardier Challenger 600, the G-100 (also known as the Astra), and JetStar 31.
For more information, visit these Web sites: http://www.duncanaviation.com and http://www.garrettaviation.com.
CNS/ATM in Russia
As part of a countrywide modernization effort, Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee has commissioned a Future Air Navigation System (FANS) ground station in Magadan, on the country’s east coast. As the first communication, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) ground station in Russia, Magadan can now contribute "to new air routes in far east Russia, as well as the opening of the cross-polar routes," says John Belcher, president and chief operating officer of ARINC Inc., which installed workstations at the facility.
Operated by North East Air Navigation (fomerly the Magadan air traffic control center), the ground station covers the Magadan Flight Information Region. It can handle aircraft that use both conventional voice communications and digital data transmissions that accommodate such techniques as Automatic Dependent Surveillance and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications.
Magadan isn’t the only site of modernization in Russia. Airports at Moscow and St. Petersburg, and across Siberia in Krasnoyarsk, Irkustsk and Novosibirsk, have begun renovation and expansion programs. ARINC is part of a consortium of aerospace, telecommunication and airport construction companies established to support Russia’s modernization efforts. Called the Northern Bridge project, the consortium also includes Switzerland’s ASG Group SA, Russia’s Rosaviacosmos, and Tams Consultants and Murphy/Jahn, both in Chicago. Visit http://www.arinc.com.
Philadelphia’s PRM
Philadelphia International Airport has been equipped with Raytheon Co.’s Precision Runway Monitor (PRM), an electronically scanned, monopulse secondary surveillance radar that allows simultaneous landings on parallel runways. The PRM, which provides one-second updates of aircraft locations, was commissioned on Sept. 29.
Philadelphia has parallel runways 3,000 feet (915 m) apart. Using the PRM, air traffic controllers will direct the slower moving aircraft to the recently completed north runway and the faster jets to the south parallel runway. The airport expects a 15 to 20 percent capacity gain with its PRM.
New York’s Kennedy International Airport and San Francisco International Airport also have PRMs. Visit http://www.raytheon.com
New In-Cabin LANS
Pentar Avionics, Bothell, Wash., recently allied itself with two companies to provide airborne local area network (LAN) servers based on its JetLAN system.
As part of its effort to provide a LAN with onboard file sharing and printing capabilities, Baker Electronics Inc. recently announced it is working with Pentar to develop a new network server. It would use JetLAN technology as the base for Baker’s planned CabinLAN network server. Sarasota, Fla.-based Baker Electronics also plans to use the JetLAN hardware to add its CabinLink features: connectivity to e-mail, the Internet and corporate intranets.
In addition, Pentar now makes available a new satellite-based, high-speed airborne cabin network, following an agreement with the Satcom Division of EMS Technologies Inc. Called JetLAN SatLINK, the service would deliver satellite communications at data speeds from 64 to 128 kilobits/sec. JetLAN SatLINK combines the JetLAN or JetLAN XP network server and EMS’s data satcom system.Visit http://www.pentar.com, http://www.be-inc.com and http://www.ems-t.com.
COTS Software for the JSF
The $200-billion Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program will use a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) operating system and tools to develop avionics software and run onboard systems. The Integrity real-time operating system (RTOS) of Green Hills Software Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., will control PowerPC processors in some onboard systems, says John Carbone, vice president of marketing.
Prime contractor Lockheed Martin plans to use Integrity on JSF’s multifunction displays, instrumentation and navigation systems, Carbone says. Lockheed is considering the software’s use on the aircraft’s flight control system, as well, to reduce the proliferation of operating systems, he adds. Green Hills provides a certification kit and an RTOS subset certifiable to the highest criticality level of DO-178B, the aviation industry’s toughest software development guideline. Visit http://www.ghs.com.
Converters for the E-2C
DRS Technologies Inc. awarded Primagraphics Ltd., Amherst, Mass., a $1-million contract to supply radar scan converters for the radar display subsystem that is part of a U.S. Navy E-2C upgrade program. DRS will provide the subsystem, which includes Primagraphics’ Vantage single-board VME-based converters. Visit http://www.primagraphics.net.
New Gear for C-130s
Raytheon Co. has won a $19.7-million sole source contract to provide two of its Enhanced High Band Subsystems to upgrade a pair of EC-130H Compass Call aircraft. This U.S. Air Force offensive, standoff jamming platform blocks enemy defense systems with wide-area countermeasures. The enhanced version expands frequency coverage and the ability to process information.
Meanwhile, Boeing has selected Rockwell Collins to provide avionics for the Air Force C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP). The about $400-million contract will outfit some 500 C-130s with head-up guidance systems, 6-by-8-inch multifunction displays, an AN/ARC-210 multimode (voice and data) integrated communications system, satcom radios, multimode nav receivers, automatic direction finders, and high-frequency data link upgrades. Visit http://www.rockwellcollins.com and http://www.raytheon.com.
New Display for the F-22
Kaiser Electronics, a Rockwell Collins company, has delivered its first Projection Primary Multi Function Display (P PMFD) to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. for possible inclusion in an F-22 product improvement program. The P PMFD is, say Kaiser officials, the first projection display to be delivered "on any program for lab integration and evaluation."
Why use a projection display? To make a liquid crystal display in the required 8-by-8-inch format would be cost-prohibitive, says a Collins spokesman, because it would be produced in a small quantity.
The P PMFD uses reflective micro liquid crystal devices, similar to the technology found in corporate video projection systems. Visit http://www.rockwellcollins.com.