Garmin Chosen for the Mustang

Cessna Aircraft Co. has chosen Garmin International’s new G1000 integrated glass cockpit for its new Citation Mustang business jet. The aircraft’s panel will have a 15-inch multifunction display flanked by two 10-inch primary flight displays. The G1000 system has a modular design and open systems architecture.

Information such as aircraft attitude, air data, engine instrumentation, uplinked real-time weather, traffic and terrain are integrated and digitally displayed on the sunlight-readable primary flight displays (PFDs) and multifunction display (MFD), which have XGA (extended graphics array) resolution (1024 X 768) with wide viewing angles. The G1000 in the Mustang will include the following:

Dual digital audio control panels;
Dual integrated radio modules that provide wide area augmentation system- (WAAS) capable IFR (instrument flight rules), oceanic-approved GPS; VHF navigation with ILS; and VHF communication with 16-watt transceivers and 8.33-KHz channel spacing;
Dual Mode S transponders;
Dual solid state attitude and heading reference systems;
Dual reduced vertical separation minimum- (RVSM) compliant digital air data computers;
Three-axis digital automatic flight control system;
Four-color digital weather radar; and
Integrated Class-B terrain awareness and warning system with worldwide terrain and obstacle database.

Introduced in September 2002 and designed to provide turboprop aircraft owners a jet-powered alternative, the Mustang will be certified to FAR Part 23. Cessna expects type certification for the Mustang in mid-2006, followed by initial deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2006. Visit www.garmin.com and www.cessna.com.

JAL 767s Decked Out

Japan Airlines has selected Rockwell Collins avionics for the five Boeing 767-300ER aircraft it has ordered for delivery this year and in 2004. The avionics package is designed to support the digital communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) environment, including airborne communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS), future air navigation system (FANS), controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC), VHF data link Mode 2, and Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN).

Accommodating Ethernet and PCMCIA interfaces, the Collins package consists of the CMU-900 communications management system, VHF-920 transceiver, APM-900 aircraft personality module, IDC-900 integrated data link controller with multifunction control display unit, and the GLU multimode receiver, which provides the aircraft’s primary position, velocity and time reference, and enables precision landings. With the CMU-900 and VHF-920, JAL’s B767 pilots can send and receive high-speed data, updated flight plans, and messages to and from air traffic controllers.

The B767-300ERs also are to be fitted with large-format, active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) that can show graphical weather and video. Visit www.rockwellcollins.com.

Capstone Milestone

On March 31, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Capstone Program in Alaska marked another milestone with the first commercial flight of an aircraft using Chelton Flight Systems’ electronic flight instrument system (EFIS). The flight, made with a LAB Flying Service Piper Seneca in southeast Alaska, was conducted on an "optimized" area navigation (RNAV) route that would have been inaccessible with conventional avionics.

The Seneca pilot used the first certified TSO-146a GPS/WAAS (wide area augmentation system) receivers, which can be employed in Alaska as a sole means of navigation. Free Flight Systems supplied the receivers.

Chelton’s three-dimensional, synthetic vision, primary flight display features NASA’s "highway in the sky" imagery and provides aircraft attitude and heading data from a solid state, three-axis gyro.

Visit www.alaska.faa.gov/capstone and www.sierraflightsystems.com.

Challenger EVS Approved

Total Aircraft Services (TAS) has obtained Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) supplemental type certificate (STC) approval for the installation of the Max-Viz EVS-1000 enhanced vision system in Bombardier’s Challenger CL-601 aircraft. The system’s uncooled infrared sensor provides real-time video on a cockpit display, helping pilots to pick out ground vehicles, equipment, obstacles and other aircraft on ramps, taxiways and runways in darkness or poor visibility. The tail-mounted EVS-1000 system is priced at $129,000, which includes installation, parts, wiring, STC paperwork and labor in the continental U.S. Visit www.tasaircraft.com.

UAVs in Civil Airspace

Recognizing the potential of using unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) in scientific and commercial applications, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., in cooperation with Scaled Composites LLC, Mojave, Calif., has been conducting flight demonstrations of collision avoidance systems to achieve flight safety with UAVs that is equivalent to that with piloted aircraft. The dispersion of UAVs in national civil airspace is a concern to the aviation community, which sees a potential threat to piloted aircraft from unmanned vehicles.

In early April NASA-Dryden conducted three days of flight demonstrations using a high-frequency, 35-GHz radar system installed on a Scaled Composites Proteus UAV. The demonstrations, planned and coordinated by Modern Technology Solutions Inc., included 22 simulated conflict scenarios.

Developed by Amphitech International, Laval Des Rapides, Quebec, the OASys Ka-band radar was intended for use on low-flying helicopters, to detect power lines, but was modified to detect aircraft. The NASA system was designed so that radar data from the Proteus is relayed to a ground station via either a line-of-sight telemetry link or an over-the-horizon satellite link, using an Inmarsat-3 satellite. Receiving the data, the ground pilot then changes the Proteus’ course to avoid a conflict.

The flights in Mojave followed flight demonstrations conducted in 2002 near Las Cruces, N.M., using a different system–an adapted version of Goodrich’s SkyWatch HP traffic detection system. The SkyWatch HP and the OASys both have strengths and weaknesses for use on UAVs, says Alan Brown, public affairs official at NASA-Dryden. But he quickly adds that both systems "are off-the-shelf and were not developed for the UAV traffic avoidance role.

"The radar, for example, is highly accurate, but would have to be miniaturized," he explains. And SkyWatch can track 35 aircraft at once and has a quite adequate 32-nautical mile range, but can only detect aircraft equipped with transponders, he says.

NASA plans to proceed with its quest for an applicable UAV traffic avoidance system. "If [these technologies] aren’t promising, we’ll look at something else," says Brown. The UAV traffic avoidance effort is part of NASA’s Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program, which is focusing on technologies for high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs. Visit www.nasa.gov, www.goodrichavionics.com, www.scaled.com and www.amphitech.com.

Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System

Vision Systems International has won a $60.1-million contract from Boeing to deliver more than 300 Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) plus spares for F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft. The company expects this low-rate initial production 3 (LRIP 3) contract to be followed by a full-rate production award later this year.

Vision Systems International is a joint venture between EFW Inc. (an Elbit Systems Ltd. subsidiary) and Rockwell Collins. The company was formed in 1996 for the purpose of pursuing the fixed-wing helmet-mounted display market.

Visit www.vsi-hmcs.com.

Cabin Surveillance

Continental Airlines will evaluate a cabin surveillance solution provided by Spirent Systems on two Boeing 777-200s. After installation of the equipment in June, the carrier will initiate a U.S. government-funded, in-flight trial, ending in September, but will continue with further demonstrations and evaluations until December. The configuration includes several analog cameras, a video server, two flight deck-mounted displays and networking components. An open systems approach allows functions to be added in areas such as flight operations, maintenance and cabin management.

Analog imagery is fed to a video server, which is part of an Ethernet local area network (LAN). A network hub connects the server with two flight deck displays–PC workstations designed for cockpit use–and a wireless LAN access point. The wireless aspect allows authorized personnel to view images through handheld devices. Spirent will provide the displays, hubs, wireless LAN unit and system integration, using AD Aerospace’s video security equipment. Visit www.spirent-systems.com and www.continental.com.

Dy 4/Condor Interoperability

Dy 4 Systems has teamed with Condor Engineering to develop an environmentally tested commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution that adds ARINC interfacing capabilities to Dy 4’s ruggedized single board computers (SBCs). Intended for military and commercial applications, the combined solution integrates Condor’s CEI-820 ARINC 429 interface for PCI mezzanine card (PMC) platforms with Dy 4’s PowerPC-based SBCs, the SVME/DMV-181 and SVME/DMV-179.

Dy 4 tested the data bus interface and SBCs together for temperature, shock and vibration. Condor also developed modifications to ARINC drivers for software integration with the VxWorks Tornado operating system and Dy 4’s board support package. Visit www.dy4.com and www.condoreng.com.

Lahore Airport Terminal

Pakistan has inaugurated the Allama Iqbal International Airport terminal in Lahore. The new terminal was completed by Thales ATM, together with Joannou & Paraskevaides. Visit www.thalesatm.com.

IFE for Royal Air Maroc

Royal Air Maroc will outfit four new Airbus A321s and 19 new Boeing 737-700/800s with Rockwell Collins’ Programmable Audio Video Entertainment System (PAVES). The B737s will have 10.4-inch retractable liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and the A321s will have 8.4-inch LCDs. Collins also will equip the single-aisle aircraft, which are being delivered from 2003 to 2013, with its traffic alert collision avoidance system and GLU-920 multimode receiver. Visit www.rockwellcollins.com.

VDL in Spain

Spain’s air traffic service provider, Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA) and telecommunications provider SITA have signed an agreement to deploy and jointly operate 21 new VHF data link (VDL) ground stations within the country. Spain’s airborne communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) data link will be upgraded to the new ICAO-compliant VDL standard, which uses higher-capacity, digital transmission technology. Visit www.sita.aero.

F-35 IR Sensors

Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems has contracted Indigo Systems to deliver infrared integrated detective assemblies (IDAs) for the Joint Strike Fighter program. These megapixel assemblies are intended for the airplane’s distributed aperture system (DAS), which will use a number of sensors–each containing IDAs– mounted on the aircraft, to support various mission functions. The DAS sensors employing the IDAs will obtain real-time imagery which will be converted to streaming video footage that can be displayed on the pilot’s helmet-mounted monitor. Visit www.indigosystems.com.

New TCAS Ruling

The Federal Aviation Administration recently issued a rule requiring aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 33,000 pounds (14,970 kg) or more to be equipped with traffic alert collision avoidance systems (TCAS) II by Dec. 31, 2004. The rule succeeds a previous rule, which required TCAS II installation based on passenger seating, not weight, excluding cargo carriers. The new rule conforms to European requirements. It also requires that piston-powered aircraft operating under FAR Part 121 or 125 be equipped with TCAS I. Visit www.faa.gov.

MDS Capabilities Expanded

Satisfied with the results from initial testing of Sensis Corp.’s Multistatic Dependent Surveillance system for surface area surveillance, the operator of Frankfurt Airport is now evaluating the system for enhanced terminal surveillance and precision runway monitoring. Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide is testing the transponder multilateration system with assistance from Germany’s Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS). Visit www.sensis.com.

RVSM for Citation Jets

Star Aviation Inc., Mobile, Ala., has gained a multiple supplemental type certificate for a kit providing reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) capability on the Cessna Citation 550 business jet. The kit, which includes Innovative Solutions and Support’s analog interface unit and air data display units, can be installed in both single- and dual-flight director aircraft equipped with the Honeywell SPZ-500 autopilot. It can be fitted to the Citation 500 series, excluding serial numbers 001 to 274. Visit www.staraviationinc.com.

MyTravel’s CabinVu

The UK charter operator, MyTravel Airways, has contracted AD Aerospace, Manchester, UK, to provide its CabinVu video surveillance system for cockpit door security in its fleet of Boeing 757s, 767s and DC-10s. MyTravel also contracted Aircraft Engineering & Installation Services (AEI), Orlando, Fla., for an installation design to equip each aircraft with closed-circuit TV cameras and a liquid crystal display monitor in the cockpit. Visit www.ad-aero.co.uk.

Deicing the Horizon

Raytheon Aircraft Co. has selected Cox & Co.’s EMEDS (electromagnetic expulsion deicing system) for the horizonal stabilizer on the new Hawker Horizon business jet. The ice protection system already is approved and factory installed on the Raytheon Premier I bizjet. Visit www.coxandco.com.

EX500 Certified

Avidyne has received FAA technical standard order (TSO) approval and a supplemental type certificate (STC) for its FlightMax EX500 multifunction display (MFD) with integrated data link. It was designed to make airborne data link weather and temporary flight restriction (TFR) updates affordable for general aviation pilots. Weather data can be presented graphically with a moving map display on the EX500. Visit www.avidyne.com.

EDO Acquires Darlington

New York City-based EDO Corp. has acquired Darlington Inc., Alexandria, Va., a company that designs, manufactures and supports military communications and networking systems. EDO paid $28.5 million in cash for the firm, which will be integrated into EDO Combat Systems. Visit www.edocorp.com.

Graphical Advisories Sought

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is pressing the U.S. Congress to hold the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accountable to its promise to provide general aviation pilots with timely, graphical temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) and notices to airmen (NOTAMS) via the Internet. Visit www.aopa.org.

Two-Way Boeing Support

Air France Industries (AFI) will provide components, repair and spares pooling for Alitalia’s Boeing 777 fleet under a recently signed, seven-year contract. A parallel, five-year accord allows Alitalia’s Engineering & Maintenance organization to repair and overhaul the auxiliary power units (APUs) for Air France’s B747-classic fleet. The two companies plan further cooperation on the support of shared aircraft types and complementary fleets. Visit www.airfrance.fr and www.alitalia.it.

Honeywell EHSI

Honeywell has received technical standard order (TSO) approval for its Bendix/King KI 825 electronic horizontal situation indicator (EHSI), the first 500 of which will carry a five-year or 5,000-hour warranty. The unit combines heading and navigation functions with course line and waypoint data depicted on a 3-inch ATI format. Visit www.honeywell.com.

Clarification

An article on microwave landing systems (MLS) in our April issue states that "the MLS scanning beam ignores reflected signals." While it is true that MLS is able to ignore reflected signals, the technology is able to do this because of the time-referenced scanning beam technique it employs.