Commercial

Safety: Mode Confusion, Timidity Factors

Ever since computers and airplanes came together, modal confusion and pilot perplexity have gone hand in hand. Now and again, they hook up with grave consequences. Case in point is the Jan.…

ATM Modernization

Scan

Maps for A400Ms Airbus Military SL has contracted EADS Defence Electronics to equip the A400M military transport aircraft with a digital map generator system. The system will be installed in the 188…

ATM Modernization

UWB-Europe is Concerned, Too

Europe knows it has to act on impulse--that is, on "impulse radio," otherwise known as carrier-free or ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless technology. The European authorities are taking more time than their U.S. colleagues…

ATM Modernization

Wireless Gatelink: Coming of Age

Over a decade ago an aircraft industry initiative called gatelink attempted to establish high-speed data transfer while aircraft were docked at the gates. Early concepts ranged from infrared control heads at the…

ATM Modernization

Calendar

July 18-22 Satellite Communications Payload and System Design, a short course offered by the University of California-Los Angeles. Contact UCLA Extension's Department of Engineering, Information Systems and Technical Management, phone 310-825-3344, e-mail…

Business & GA

Editor’s Note: Widespread Use of EFBs

In the May issue, I extolled in this space the virtues of the electronic flight bag (EFB) and reported that adopting this promising technology need not be costly. The expense can be…

ATM Modernization

ATN: Harmonizing Aero Communications

There was a time when life in aeronautical communications was simple. There was analog voice radio or nothing. But how times have changed. Today we face competing technologies, divergent regional solutions, a…

ATM Modernization

Boeing 787: Integration’s Next Step

Moving beyond current jetliners in the integration and openness of its architecture, Boeing sees the 787 Dreamliner's avionics suite as a major contributor to the economies it promises with the new mid-…