All Things Avionics: 10 Products & Services

BAE Systems manufactures avionics, flight and engine controls and flight-deck electronics. Through low-cost production with BAE Systems’ global manufacturing network, the installation base includes Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777s with systems like electronic cargo handling and controllers, emergency-door power assist systems, ice detection, overspeed warning and pilot alerting.

BAE Systems also offers Flight Control Systems (FCS) for the Airbus A320; Boeing 737, 747, 767, 777 and 747-8; Bombardier CRJ and C Series; Embraer Legacy 450/500; Gulfstream G500/G600; and the Bell 525 and Embraer KC-390 in development. The FCS includes Active Inceptor Systems (AIS), actuator control electronics, fly-by-wire control systems, autopilot controls and prognostics and health management.

Avionica’s most recent products and capabilities include AviONS (an onboard network server with integrated QAR, RDC, 4G wireless GSE Module and Wi-Fi), joining the established Avionica products SatLINK MAX (Iridium Satellite Communication) and MiniQAR (miniature quick-access recorder, with 4G wireless GSE module/AvCM and AvSYNC service). AvIONS aircraft interface device holds supplemental type certificates for most Airbus, ATR, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream and Saab aircraft.

Avionica's platforms connect third-party software systems to the aircraft cockpit, enabling pilots to become more aware of maintenance issues in flight: “Maintenance has historically been seen as something that’s done when the aircraft is on ground. . . . Besides the paper trail between the flight and technical operations, there’s really no real-time coordination. That’s where things are really changing,” says Anthony Rios, vice president of sales.

Honeywell Aerospace offers Primus Epic, a flight-deck product line with added enhancements including Honeywell’s SmartView Synthetic vision. The system allows aircraft to take advantage of updated lower landing minimums and 2-D and 3-D airport moving maps. It also offers cockpit display of traffic information through the position of the nearby ADS-B on the flight deck multifunction display.

The 10-, 12- or 14-in. touch-screen controls shows flight-deck connectivity with worldwide weather, updates on the layers of the navigation display and relevant location specific information and smart landing and runway Runway Awareness Advisory System (RAAS).

On March 8, Alaska Airlines used GE Aviation’s flight management technology on Flight 870 to help Capt. Hal Andersen position the Boeing 737-900ER so that the passengers could experience a solar eclipse in real time, instead of missing it by 25 min. during the flight’s usual scheduled departure. 

The flight management technology helped with the challenging latitude and longitudes over the ocean to maintain required arrival to each waypoint within 2 sec. The flight management system is also on the Airbus A320, A330 and A340 as well as on U.S., UK, Indian and Japanese military aircraft.

New cockpit control systems have typically been designed from the existing previous mechanical structures, but Rockwell Collins is looking to develop such systems from a clean slate, optimizing the systems envelope and cost standpoint. Although the company has offered pilot control systems for 10 years—including controls that artificially generate a mechanical feel to the control wheel with redundant position and force sensor assemblies, stall warnings, jam protection and passive or active side sticks—Paul Barnes, director of business development, says that by working directly with aircraft manufacturers on clean-sheet aircraft platforms, Rockwell Collins’s control systems in 10 years will look and feel completely different than the industry standard today. Rockwell Collins also offers a learning management system for instructor-led training courses and customer service engineers for field support services.

Sandel Avionics has developed the Avilon system, designed for integrated avionics systems for retrofit for turboprop and light jets. The Avilon Flight Deck Equipment comes with two 12.1-in. and two 8.4-in. touch-enabled pilot and co-pilot displays, three air data computers, two flight management systems and many other computers, systems, radar and radars.  Currently, the flight deck is designed expressly for the King Air, and Sandel Avionics is focusing on completing the certification and introduction with Kingair for the ADS-B out rules effective in 2020 and FAA’s performance based navigation National Aerospace System (NAS) Strategy that outlines a road map for transition to a “Performance Based Navigation (PBN)-Centric” NAS. Although the team did not respond for comment when asked about potential new aircraft types, within the commercial market it seems as though it’s well posed to release the equipment for the Embraer ERJ and Bombardier CRJ. Sandel will be presenting at a Mini Symposium during NBAA with Aerosim Technologies on NextGen operational safey and the Avilon flight deck, November 2, and you can register through email.

Universal Avionics’ satellite-based augmentation system-flight management system (SBAS-FMS) offers navigation with an internal SBAS GPS receiver to improve GPS-derived position information, performance-based navigation to improve fuel efficiency and reduce delays at airports and meet FAA Next-Gen mandates for 2020. The FMS flight-planning function helps create safe flight plans through features like the built-in safeguard of entry of list-reference selections to reduce errors.

The universal flight-planning Windows-based software allows the pilot to create routes, waypoints, departures, arrivals and approaches that can be accessed offline. The systems are certified on more than 50 aircraft types, including the Airbus A300, Boeing 737-200/300/400/800 and 747. Horizon Airlines, West Jet, Jazz and RAVN Alaska are some of the SBAS-FMS users.

UTC Aerospace Systems’ OpsInsight Electronic Flight Folder (EFF) connects the pilot or user to the aircraft through a Tablet Interface Module (TIM) and aircraft interface device (AID) architecture, integrating flight planning, avionics data, flight performance tracking and weather data. The preflight features include flight plan reviews and electronic approval. 

During the flight, real-time performance data and information can be viewed in split screens, and post-flight features include post-flight reports and approvals as well as historical performance comparisons and user input for flight report notes.

ACSS recently introduced the NXT-600/700/800 transponders that meet the DO:260B Mandate ADS-B requirements for air transport, military, regional and business jet operators. For installation, the equipment may be able to use the aircraft's existing mounting rack and connectors, and no additional control heads are required. These installation capabilities are intended to reduce owner/operator costs and downtime as the aircrafts are serviced for compliance.

Teledyne Controls released GroundLink AID+ two years ago to extend aircraft interface device (AID) functions to all aircraft, allowing tablets and crew devices to connect wirelessly to electronic flight bags to reduce manual data-entry errors as well as provide internet access while on the ground. Currently, 10,000 GroundLink Comm+ systems from Teledyne are flying. GroundLink AID+ integration requires a software upgrade, some additional wiring for integration and some provisions of the wireless network through the Wireless Access Point (WAP) in or near the cockpit. Teledyne’s main customer, Austrian Airways, has installed the system in its full fleet, and it is working on trials with airlines in the U.S. 

“We’re entertaining trials on all commercial aircraft types,” says Murray  Skelton, director of business development. If a customer already has the GroundLink Comm+ system, the AID+ software, WAP and wireless kit are provided free for the trial. Teledyne is also adding a satellite communications product in February 2017.