Business & GASafety in Avionics: Are Two HUDs Better Than One? For optimum safety and standardization, both pilots in the side-by-side cockpit seating of an airliner should be provided with a head-up display (HUD). That statement is perhaps the one most likely to…
ATM ModernizationIndustry Scan The X-45A unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstration aircraft completed its first flight in late May at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif. The 14-minute flight reached an airspeed…
CommercialTest Cards for the Airbus 380 As the Airbus 380 program moves forward, a specialist avionics data bus supplier enjoys a lead in producing test cards for the super jumbo’s real-time version of the 10/100-megabit/sec (Mbit/sec) switched Ethernet…
Business & GAWanted: Small Package, Big Performance It’s a matter of wanting it all. Aircraft operators seek antennas that perform multiple functions with improved performance, yet are smaller and less obtrusive on the airframe. Antenna manufacturers appear to be…
MilitaryAV-8B: Open Systems Pioneer Six years ago the Naval Air Systems Command (NavAir) started a program to replace the mission and stores management computers on the AV-8B combat VSTOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) aircraft with a…
CommercialAvionics System Design: Antenna Placement In my last column (April 2002, page 48), I noted the challenges in positioning radio antennas. Here are some additional thoughts on the subject. Take com-to-com interference, for example. Many newer radios…
ATM ModernizationCPDLC: Back on Its Feet The Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) program–a joint government/industry effort–has progressed in fits and starts, following conditions in the aviation industry. Like other Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) development programs, CPDLC felt…
CommercialEditor's Note: Wrestling with Cabin Surveillance SINCE THE TRAGEDY OF SEPT. 11, much has been done to bolster air travel security in airports. However, little has been accomplished to secure the airplane–save the mandate to install bulletproof cockpit…
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