avionics magazine november 2012

October 2012October 2012

FUTURE OF GPSWhat’s next for the network?

TEST EQUIPMENTStandards push development

October 2012October 2012

FUTURE OF GPSWhat’s next for the network?

TEST EQUIPMENTStandards push development

November 2012

www.avionicstoday.com

Wire&CableAvionics manufacturers look to wire and cable to gain new efficiencies

AVIONICS FOR NEXTGEN Paving the way for implementation

MANAGING OBSOLESCENCEKeeping military aircraft fl ying longer

THE PROVEN PATHTO NEXTGEN PERFORMANCE

Tapping into NextGen operational improvements just got easier. With Goodrich Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solutions, you can be ready today for ADS-B In CDTI, Data Comm/SWIM, network enabled weather, and other performance-boosting NextGen enabling technologies.

Newest in our EFB family, the G�� SmartDisplay® EFB system supports concurrent operation of Windows-based applications and Type C certified applications like CDTI and CPDLC, providing flight crews with a multi-functional system that maximizes benefits. It also features integrated Wi-Fi/�G wireless, upgraded processors and memory, and a new ��"/��" LCD display with multi-touch and gesturing input compatibility. The wait is over.

You can have the future of NextGen in your cockpit today.

For more information about Goodrich EFBs contact Goodrich at [email protected]

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magazine

www.avionicstoday.com November 2012 Avionics Magazine 3

The editors welcome articles, engineering and technical reports, new product information, and other industry news. All editorial inquiries should be directed to Avionics Magazine, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850–4024; 301-354-1820; fax: 301-340-8741. email: [email protected]. Avionics Magazine (ISSN-1085-9284) is published monthly by Access Intelligence, LLC, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850. Periodicals Postage Paid at Rockville, MD, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: Free to qualified individuals directly involved in the avionics industry. All other subscriptions, U.S.: one year $99; two years $188. Canada: one year $129; two years $228. Foreign: one year $149; two years $278. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Avionics Magazine, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092. Change of address two to eight weeks notice requested. Send both new and old address, including mailing label to Attn: Avionics Magazine, Customer services, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092, or call 847-559-7314. Email: [email protected]. Canada Post 40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: PitneyBowes, P.O. BOX 25542, LONDON ON N6C 6B2 ©2011 by Access Intelligence, LLC Contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

Printed in U.S.A.

November 2012 • Vol. 36, No. 11


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■ E-Letters

• Review of top developments

in the civil

and military aircraft

electronics industry

■ Webinars www.aviationtoday.com/webinars

• Beyond Line of Sight: Using Satcom Datalinks to Enhance UAV Operations

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, 11 a.m. ET

• Navigating the Skies: The Future of GPS

• Driving Innovation: A Software-Centric

Approach to Avionics

Development

• Harnessing the Power of Social Media

in Avionics

• Enhancing Your Flight Operations with Global Voice

and Data Connectivity

Managing Obsolescence ................... 20

In an age of shrinking defense budgets and longer lives of air-

craft, new systems and techniques help the U.S. military main-

tain aging systems by Charlotte Adams

military

Avionics for NextGen .......................... 26

Aviation stakeholders describe challenges to NextGen imple-

mentation and outline ways to overcome those obstacles at

annual conference by Emily Feliz

industry

product focus

20

Wire & Cable......................................... 32

Aircraft operators are turning to wire and cable suppliers to help

extend the life and boost capabilities of their onboard systems by Ed McKenna

THE PROVEN PATHTO NEXTGEN PERFORMANCE

Tapping into NextGen operational improvements just got easier. With Goodrich Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solutions, you can be ready today for ADS-B In CDTI, Data Comm/SWIM, network enabled weather, and other performance-boosting NextGen enabling technologies.

Newest in our EFB family, the G�� SmartDisplay® EFB system supports concurrent operation of Windows-based applications and Type C certified applications like CDTI and CPDLC, providing flight crews with a multi-functional system that maximizes benefits. It also features integrated Wi-Fi/�G wireless, upgraded processors and memory, and a new ��"/��" LCD display with multi-touch and gesturing input compatibility. The wait is over.

You can have the future of NextGen in your cockpit today.

For more information about Goodrich EFBs contact Goodrich at [email protected]

4 Avionics Magazine November 2012 www.avionicstoday.com

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The editors welcome articles, engineering and technical reports, new product information, and other industry news. All editorial inquiries should be directed to Avionics Magazine, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850–4024; 301-354-1820; fax: 301-340-8741. email: [email protected]. Avionics Magazine (ISSN-1085-9284) is published monthly by Access Intelligence, LLC, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850. Periodicals Postage Paid at Rockville, MD, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: Free to qualified individuals directly involved in the avionics industry. All other subscriptions, U.S.: one year $99; two years $188. Canada: one year $129; two years $228. Foreign: one year $149; two years $278. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Avionics Magazine, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092. Change of address two to eight weeks notice requested. Send both new and old address, including mailing label to Attn: Avionics Magazine, Customer services, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092, or call 847-559-7314. Email: [email protected]. Canada Post 40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: PitneyBowes, P.O. BOX 25542, LONDON ON N6C 6B2 ©2011 by Access Intelligence, LLC Contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

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also in this issuealso in this issue

Editor’s Note

Recalculating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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editor’s noteb y E m i l y F e l i z

Recalculating

What started out as military-only network has explod-

ed so that everyone, everywhere is connected via

GPS. You can get GPS in your car, on your phone,

on the boat, and, yes, even on an airplane.

For aircraft operators, the systems are invaluable, pro-

viding benefits that allow pilots to safely and efficiently

navigate an aircraft to its destination. Additionally, GPS is

a cornerstone of FAA’s NextGen airspace modernization

initiative; without it, NextGen would simply not happen.

However, the vulnerability of the GPS network has come

into question in recent months, following some high-profile

jamming and spoofing incidents around the world, and last

year’s LightSquared broadband proposal, which studies

showed posed a serious GPS interference risk. These are

in addition to the perennial concerns of spectrum capacity

and government equipment mandates.

A distinguished panel of experts discussed these

events and the other challenges facing the ubiquitous

GPS network in an Avionics Magazine Webcast, “Navi-

gating the Skies: The Future of the GPS Network.”

Tom Hendricks, president of the National Air Transpor-

tation Association, which represents the interests of the

general aviation industry, during the Webcast equated

GPS systems in aircraft to cell phones for the general

public –– we all have them, and we all rely on them. “It

has been a seminal event for the aviation community to

rally around protecting this valuable resource that we

have,” Hendricks said. “Our concerns are not directed at

a specific company, rather it’s the technical aspects that

we see that present challenges to the aviation users …

Any transmission that would impede GPS is a big con-

cern for the aviation industry.”

The U.S. GPS network is only one of a few such net-

works in the world, including Russia’s GLONASS,

Europe’s Galileo, China’s BeiDou (COMPASS), in

The vulnerability of

the GPS network

has come into

question in recent

months, following

some high-

profile jamming

and spoofing

incidents around

the world, and

the LightSquared

broadband

proposal.


addition to other regional constellations, and ground- and aircraft-based aug-

mentation systems. (For more on other GPS constellations, see our September

article, “What Will Follow GPS?”) The GPS network is undergoing a moderniza-

tion program, and the U.S. government has planned to invest $1.3 billion in the

constellation in the next fiscal year.

“In my view, the future of the GPS network is bright indeed. There are billions

of users of GPS today worldwide and the government is investing a tremendous

amount of money in GPS,” said Christopher Hegarty, director, CNS engineering

and spectrum, at MITRE Corp. “The future of GPS avionics is tied to the future of

the overall Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).”

The third generation of GPS constellation updates, headed by prime contractor

Lockheed Martin, will provide improved position, navigation, timing and power

capabilities for military and civilian users. Additionally, GPS III, which will launch

its first satellite in 2014, will provide increase accuracy, additional signals, anti-

jam capability and the ability to operate autonomously without ground control

corrections, according to John Frye, GPS III capability insertion program man-

ager at Lockheed Martin. “The GPS III constellation is on schedule and moving

forward successfully, and it will bring new capabilities to our global civil users,”

Frye said.

For avionics manufacturers, the challenge becomes developing GPS equip-

ment that can not only comply with FAA and other regulatory standards, but

that can also operate in these new constellation networks, which have faced

some schedule delays as well. This is particularly pressing as the U.S. automatic

dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) mandate of 2020 approaches, panel-

ists said.

“The ADS-B mandate in the U.S. has a stricter requirement than any of the

other ADS-B mandates around the world,” said Rex Hygate, business develop-

ment manager, airline solutions, at Esterline CMC Electronics. He said airlines

have been using GPS receivers compliant with TSO-C-129a, which was a stan-

dard enacted in the late 1990s and was subsequently cancelled in 2011 by FAA.

“For these aircraft to operate in the airspace past 2020, they are going to have to

look for some form of an update” for their GPS receiver.

To listen to an archived version of this Webcast, visit www.aviationtoday.com/

webinars/2012-1010.html.

Connecting the Commercial AircraftKa-band network offers airlines the opportunity to provide

high-bandwidth and high-speed connectivity, at a lower cost,

to the passengers in the cabin and the pilots in the cockpit.

contentbrief

For commercial aircraft operators, the decision about putting connectivity

onboard the airplane can be a complicated one. On one hand you want to

offer a robust package that allows for connectivity for an entire aircraft of

passengers and crew, but on the other, you want to provide the opportunity

for that connectivity to become a potential ancillary revenue stream as well.

And the habits of commercial passengers are different than business

aviation travelers as well. They may not be drafting PowerPoint presenta-

tions for the next business meeting; they may be watching a movie, writing

emails or surfing the Web. Regardless of the activities, the connectivity has

to work.

Around the world, both on the ground and in the air, consumer electronic

devices, including smartphones, tablets and laptops, consume more and

more frequency bandwidth, placing increased demand on satellite connec-

tivity and infrastructure. Demand for data traffic is expected to grow by a

factor of 50 for smartphones and a factor of 62 for tablets.

In addition to the bandwidth, the sheer number of consumer electronic

devices is poised for explosive growth over the next few years. By 2016, it

is estimated that 71 percent of all mobile traffic will be used for watching

videos.

Simply put, more people are projected to be using their data-hungry

devices, utilizing a network that is unable to accommodate even the

current demands.

The Ka-band network, with its true worldwide coverage, highest speeds,

greatest bandwidth and the lowest per bit cost in the industry, provides that

return-on-investment proposition that airlines and their passengers are

looking for.

“Passengers worldwide are hungering for better connectivity and more

expanded services during flights, driven in part by the explosion of table

devices,” said Carl Esposito, vice president, marketing and product man-

agement, at Honeywell Aerospace. “Airlines are taking notice for this devel-

opment and are placing a higher value on passenger connectivity as a way

to add value and differentiate their services.”

Honeywell is well known in the aviation industry for providing the hard-

ware necessary for these connectivity services. And now, with its $2.8 bil-

lion exclusive agreement with Inmarsat to develop hardware that will enable

global in-flight connectivity services via Inmarsat’s GX Aviation Ka-band

network, Honeywell can offer a full package of connectivity solutions for

the commercial aviation industry. Honeywell, through its 2011 acquisition of

EMS Technologies, will develop, produce and distribute the onboard hard-

ware that will enable users to connect to the GX Aviation network. By com-

bining Honeywell’s satellite communication capabilities with Inmarsat’s GX

Aviation connectivity, travelers will be able to do everything from real-time

social media,

to video con-

ferencing and

multi-media

presentation

development

while in-flight

virtually any-

where in the

world, with an

experience

similar to being

at home or in

Appetite for Data

• By 2016, it is s estimated that there will be more mobile devices on the planet than people to use them

• 10 billion devices for 7.3 billion people. • In-flight entertainment hardware expenditures are expected to rise to $2 billion in

2015. (IMDC).• The number of aircraft equipped with passenger connectivity systems will double

to more than 4,000 by 2016. (IMDC)• Wireless in-flight entertainment is forecast to be on about a quarter of the global

commercial fleet by 2018. (IMS Research)• More than 60 percent of U.S. passengers who used cabin Wi-Fi are likely to use it

again in the future. (IMS Research)• More than 40 percent of U.S. passengers who have flow in the past year have used

the service. (IMS Research)

the office. Passengers will have fast, reliable in-flight connectivity for their

iPads, smartphones, tablet devices, and laptops while crossing oceans.

“As requirements for airborne connectivity increase with the same velocity

as consumer connectivity has grown on the ground, the industry will need

to rely on the solution that provides the fastest, most cost effective and

truly global coverage available,” said Todd Van Sooy, sales operations at

Honeywell.

Honeywell is currently developing a Ka-band system targeted for opera-

tion in the Inmarsat GX Aviation service. The hardware currently under

development includes a version for commercial air transport with support

for both single aisle and double aisle aircraft and a version, which will sup-

port many business and general aviation aircraft. Honeywell can also lever-

age these systems for the Defense and Space market.

The Ka-band high-frequency area of the radio spectrum was always

intended for use by mobile operators (unlike Ku-band), so it is well suited

to aviation, the most mobile of all transport sectors. Global Xpress will be

delivered from the proven Ka-band platform of three Boeing 702 HP satel-

lites – and will be optimized for global coverage and mobile applications

from a single, trusted operator.

The onboard equipment needed includes a steerable directional antenna

system mounted outside of the aircraft skin, which is combined with a num-

ber of components within the aircraft skin that function together to provide

the connectivity system. Ka-band offers the ability to focus the energy from

the satellite, which enables higher data rates supplied in a specific location

on or over the earth.

Also, Ka-band is circularly polarized making it easier and less complex

to use in a mobile environment, while Ku-band is linearly polarized and is a

system designed for fixed installations like buildings.

“Inmarsat’s GX Aviation Ka-band satellite connectivity system is a game

changer and continues our tradition of providing the commercial aero-

space market with innovative, proven and reliable products. We expect

that this connectivity system will provide airlines with significantly larger

bandwidth at a cost-effective price.”Jack Jacobs, vice president, Marketing and Product Management at Honeywell

Aerospace.

“In order for airlines and operators to stay relevant and competitive to

keep their customer base, Ka is the future of airborne connectivity for at

least the next 20 years,” said Jack Jacobs, vice president, Marketing and

Product Management at Honeywell Aerospace. “Inmarsat’s GX Aviation

Ka-band satellite connectivity system is a game changer and continues our

tradition of providing the commercial aerospace market with innovative,

proven and reliable products,” said Jacobs. “We expect that this connectiv-

ity system will provide airlines with significantly larger bandwidth at a cost-

effective price.”

The efficiency of the Ka-band system, combined with the significantly

lower operational costs over Ku-band systems, will mean the systems

onboard aircraft will either be able to support more passengers and/or more

applications simultaneously; see improved performance for the applications

that are rate sensitive; or see improved performance for applications that

are rate sensitive.

Ka’s proven track record in the military aviation space and other markets

provides even more evidence that the system is more than capable of han-

dling the connectivity demands of airline passengers.

And at the same time, that track record means system and installation

costs, a major concern for any operator, will be comparable to what opera-

tors are already paying. For airlines, the

system offers potential lifecycle cost savings, providing a future-proof

option with ample broadband capacity for growth.

“The hardware designs for the terminals and antennas leverages over 20

years of experience in this arena and Ka actually posses less interference

problems than other fre-

quencies with other equip-

ment on the aircraft making

it even more attractive and

less tangential cost impacts

to a user,” Jacobs said.

“Installation costs for an

airline are probably compa-

rable between the two, but

the bandwidth and capabil-

ity will be an order of

magnitude better at the same or lower operational monthly costs.”

“Ka-band systems are now deploying in large numbers for direct to home

television and Internet services,” said John Broughton, director of product

management, Global Xpress Satcom, Honeywell Aerospace. “The satellites

are being built by multiple vendors and every region in the world is deploy-

ing new Ka-band based systems. Of course Ka-band has been in use in

the military space for years. In other words it is technology whose time has

come. It’s available, reliable and dependable.”

Markets for ground-based and maritime applications in both Europe and

North America have shown that the most cost effective, highest perfor-

mance, and customer satisfying solutions are Ka-band solutions. The same

advantages apply to the aeronautical market.

This is the second story in a three-part series discussing Ka-band and the

future of airborne connectivity. The next installment of the series will appear

in the December issue of Avionics Magazine.

letters

UAS in the NAS

I had occasion to read Emily Feliz’s Editor’s Note in the Sep-

tember issue. I have no quarrel with what she says; it is just

that she did not go far enough to outline the bigger picture.

The subject of the Editor’s Note is the huge problem of

integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the

National Airspace System (NAS). The major problem, as I

see it, is the failure of Congress to look at all of the many

pieces of the issue before passing the mandate to get it

done, and putting a complete-by date on it while essentially act-

ing in ignorance, and leaving out the Constitution as the measuring stick. As

Feliz points out, “what exact steps are needed to ensure the safety of operators

of manned and unmanned aircraft in the same airspace are unclear.”

Three possible missions for UASs in the NAS were cited in the article —

resource management, border patrol, and search and rescue. As an old MEDE-

VAC pilot, I can see how they could aid in search and rescue, but not replace

EMS helicopters with the onboard medical professionals, medical expertise and

equipment. Resource management can be accomplished by already existing

satellites, and so could border patrol, unless you are talking armed UASs which

raises another big issue.

During the last 100 years, freedom, liberty and independence have been

steadily eroded by the accelerated growth of the central government. Along with

the explosion of laws comes the explosion in bureaucracy. It has clearly got-

ten to the point that the federal government is just about uncontrollable with the

inevitable result that we are seeing more and more chaos. Is there any wonder

Feliz states, “In addition, the industry faces the big task of changing public per-

ceptions of the ‘drones’ that could darken the airspace, invading our privacy.”

Finally, from the point of view of a pilot using the NAS, I do not relish sharing it

with UASs, and/or having to buy additional proximity warning devices to install in

my airplane. As I showed above, there is no compelling need to allow UASs to fly

in the NAS.

It is time for all citizens to make the effort to find out and understand current

events in the illuminating light of history. It is a fact that it repeats itself.

Mike Stoner is a retired Army colonel, aircraft maintenance officer, test pilot and

commercial pilot flying Part 135 operations in support of the oil and gas industry.


4 Avionics Magazine September 2012 www.avionicstoday.com

editor’s noteb y E m i l y F e l i z

2015: UAS OdysseyThe unmanned aviation industry is

poised for some rather explosive

growth in the next few years, if the discussions on the floor of

the Association of Unmanned Vehicles

Systems International (AUVSI) are to be

believed. Hundreds of professionals gath-

ered in Las Vegas last month, displaying

airframes of all sizes, payloads of varying

capabilities and missions of all sorts, ready

and willing to deploy these systems around

the world.But the roadblock to this explosive

growth is FAA, according to show attend-

ees. FAA, backed by a Congressional

mandate to integrate unmanned aircraft

systems (UAS) into the National Airspace

System (NAS), is tasked with creating a

roadmap, a plan, to give UAS manufactur-

ers and users access to the airspace. A big

task to be sure, and one that is mandated

to be complete by 2015. This integration is

a key component of FAA’s multi-billion-

dollar airspace modernization initiative

Next Generation Air Transportation Sys-

tem (NextGen).“We have a fantastic opportunity to

lead the world of aviation to get it done,”

said David Vos, formerly of Rockwell Col-

lins, at the convention. “It is quite reason-

able to accommodate UAS into the NAS

by 2015 … 2015 is doable, but it is not

doable at the current pace. But some sort

of deadline is good.”The current pace isn’t all that quick, as

the industry gears up to move forward with

the mandate. The aviation industry knows

they need to integrate UASs into the NAS,

but what the integration will look like

and what exact steps are needed to ensure

the safety of operators of manned and

unmanned aircraft in the same airspace

are unclear. Start with small UASs? Focus

on specific missions? Experts at AUVSI

called on FAA, along with JPDO and

other industry stakeholders, to take the

lead on the discussion to figure out how to

move forward. After all, 2015 is not that

far away.“The advantage of the legislation is

that it is forcing function. It is more than

a significant challenge for integration by

2015. But the law doesn’t say full integra-

tion; it just says integration. FAA has to

lay out the full plan, the pathway to get to

full integration by the earliest possible date

… until you lay that out you’re not going

to be able to say when full integration will

occur,” said Chuck Johnson, manager of

the UAS in the NAS project at NASA.

My takeaway from this panel discus-

sion is in theory the industry could achieve

integration, but it’s not going to happen.

Technologically speaking, manufacturers

are ready, but regulatory hurdles abound.

In addition the industry faces the big task

of changing public perceptions of the

“drones” that could darken the airspace,

invading our privacy. A deadline is a good

goal to strive for, but at least in this case

that goal just isn’t going to happen.“Full integration by 2015 is a significant

challenge that I’m not sure is achievable,”

said Heidi Williams, vice president air

traffic services and modernization for the

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

(AOPA).“The problem with 2015 is the lack of

focus ... we’re trying to look at a picture

too big,” said Tom Bachman, vice presi-

dent, new products and technology at AAI

Unmanned Aircraft Systems.The real shame is the suppliers and air

frame manufacturers are ready, willing and

able to capitalize on heightened interest in

the civilian applications for UAS.“Civil is a viable market,” said Steve

Morrow, president and CEO of Bingen,

Wash.-based Insitu, citing missions in

resource management, border patrol and

search and rescue, but “they are all depen-

dent on FAA making a timeline” for UAS

integration into the NAS.UAS integration will be the one of the

topics discussed at this year’s Avionics for

NextGen conference, to be held Sept. 18

in Atlantic City, N.J. Other topics include

closing NextGen’s business case, global

harmonization and public-private partner-

ships. For more information, or to register,

visit www.avionicsfornextgen.com.

The aviation indus-try knows they need to integrate UASs into the NAS, but what the inte-gration will look like and what exact steps are need-ed to ensure the safety of opera-tors of manned and unmanned aircraft in the same air-space are unclear.

03_AVS_0912_Ednote_p04_05.indd 4

Tin Whiskers

I read with interest Walter Shawlee 2’s informative article on the undesirable con-

sequences of the EU’s “policy- driven, not science-driven” Restriction of Hazard-

ous Substances (RoHS) Directive, and in particular, tin whiskers.

RoHS, and WEEE, from which it was split, were created

without any finding of public health or environmental damage

attributable to the use of the restricted substances in electri-

cal and electronic equipment. There was no finding of public

health damage because there is none, including unregulated

recycling in third-world countries.

Regrettably, unregulated recycling in third-world countries is

damaging the local environment, but since it is already illegal,

the effect of the RoHS directive on lawbreakers is nil.

One can’t understand the above two directives without

understanding the “Precautionary Principle,” which the environmental activists

who promoted them had previously introduced as nothing more than an expres-

sion of common sense. Consider these two formulations:

1. When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment,

precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect rela-

tionships are not fully established scientifically.

2. In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be

widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are

threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall

not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent

environmental degradation.

Where there are “threats” of harm, both formulations give the rationale for act-

ing without proof. While at first glance they may look OK, neither is at all common

sense. Both are fatally flawed. In fact, without an established cause-effect rela-

tionship, there can be no way to determine whether the proposed “precautionary

measures” are either necessary or sufficient.

The second formulation introduces the notion of cost-effectiveness. But if the

original activity is only suspected of causing harm, by what means is the safety

and effectiveness of the remedy to be determined?

To see how complicated (and ultimately, useless) the application of the Pre-

cautionary Principle is, we need look no further than the questions of whether

the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing global climate warming, and


system designb y W a l t e r S h a w l e e 2

Death by Tin Whiskers

At our home and office, we recycle everything we can.

I have converted our lighting to low power LED and

CFL lights, and I drive a pretty efficient Honda, and

not very far or often. We have a big backyard garden,

collect our roof rainwater for irrigation and I think I do a

pretty good job of minimizing my impact on the universe at

large. But the entire concept of the mandatory Removal of

Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations scared me from the

first time I heard it. Like many green initiatives, it sounds rea-

sonable, maybe even laudable, but then fails catastrophically in

implementation because not enough thought was given to the

inevitable consequences.

Europe has spearheaded many industrial changes that I

truly appreciate, and often am amazed that we do not embrace

as readily in North America. Europe’s requirement for any

significant AC-operated electronic equipment to have power

factor correction is a huge leap forward, and all by itself could

ease electrical distribution woes in many areas just through

reducing peak current stress on the electrical grid. I upgraded

my own computer to a PF-corrected supply, and switched to a

super efficient low idle-power laser printer to take advantage

of this technology. The electro-magnetic emission standards

for monitors and similar equipment was an equally great

change, as was their early recognition of the dangers of car-

pal tunnel syndrome in data workers and the need for better

ergonomic design in work areas. All excellent ideas, and I was

happy to see them implemented, but importantly, all were the

result of solid engineering and thorough study.

The RoHS initiative, on the other hand, adopted in the EU

in 2003, and which took full effect on July 1, 2006, made some

fatal mistakes right out of the gate. It was policy driven, not

science driven, which did not bode well. It simply assumed that

the specified chemicals and processes were foolishly used for

no good purpose in the electronics industry, and their resulting

elimination could only bring joy, health and happiness to all.

The largest blunder was the mandated removal of lead (Pb)

from the assembly of all electronic equipment. This rule is

even more idiotic when you consider that sweeping exceptions

were made for ubiquitous things like car batteries, the end-

less gel-cell lead acid batteries used everywhere for emergency

lighting and every computer UPS on the planet. That massive

lead use was OK, just don’t solder anything together inside

with lead. The EU was then forced to make many additional

exceptions for such categories as “essential medical and moni-

toring equipment,” and to permit existing items, such as power

plants and nuclear reactor instrumentation, to remain or the

program would have been simply impossible to implement.

That should have been a very strong clue right there that prob-

lems were around the corner.

The items removed under the RoHS rules include lead (Pb),

mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+),

polybromated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated siphenyl ether

(PBDE) and acrylamide. The three non-metals are all flame

retardant additives for plastics. Mercury, cadmium and lead

are used extensively in batteries, but this was glossed over and

dealt with in the EU “Battery Directive” which requires them

to be recycled (without initially providing an actual way to do

so), and is laced with exemptions for everything from power

tools to medical equipment. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) use is

also specifically exempted for photo-voltaic solar cells, but is

not allowed for the ubiquitous high current switch/relay con-

tacts as cadmium-silver (CdAg) widely used in aviation.

If you care for irony, then you will love the fact that all

those energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL)

are RoHS compliant even though they contain mercury far

beyond the allowable limit. They are now flocking to landfills

worldwide, dispersing mercury into the water table on an

unprecedented scale with minimal recycling.

The actual task that was needed, and is still needed, is the

efficient recycling everywhere of electronic waste, but instead,

the mandate was to remove these substances, and frankly to

continue recycling and disposing of them badly. Just for some

clarity, the total world use of lead is about 90 percent for bat-

teries, and the amount used in electronics (excluding batteries)

is all of 2 percent. So, of course, target the 2 percent. Further,

of the lead in landfills (the supposed concern of this directive),

the overwhelming majority is coming from the disposal of

TV CRTs and monitors, which can contain up to 2 kg of lead

per tube, not from circuit board assemblies, by a massive ratio

of 9 to 1. Later, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

regulations attempt to improve recycling and waste disposal,

but long after the biggest wave of toxic material was already

dumped, thanks to RoHS deadlines.

Now enters the pivotal issue for avionics makers. No specific

exemption was granted for civil avionics production, with the

single possible interpretation that “fine pitch” devices could be

soldered with lead-bearing solder within a product. This is a

rather problematic area, as the “failure” to pass RoHS compli-

ance is only to be over 0.1 percent lead content (1000 ppm) on

any single homogenous component, not by the total device

weight. It’s pretty hard to pass that limit and use lead anywhere.

Decades of research went into the perfecting of electronic

soldering technology, finally culminating in high-perfor-

mance eutectic alloys like Sn63/Pb37 with almost perfect

phase change characteristics, resulting in very high-quality

joints of high mechanical strength. On the other hand, sol-

dering with non-lead solders like tin/silver/copper alloys

(SnAgCu) has some very significant issues. It generally

requires about 30°C higher temperatures which is stressful

to components, wetting (adhesion to parts and tracks) takes

longer and is not as effective. Additionally, joints tend to be

more brittle and are now subject to both vibration and ther-

mal cracking. Visual examination for bad connections is no

longer really possible, as all lead-free joints look like “cold

solder” joints — all events that are very bad news in the

aviation world.

The most serious issue with the abandonment of lead in

solders is the fault mode known as tin whiskering. This is a

phenomenon so bizarre it almost sounds like science fiction,

but it is all too real, and frequently fatal to circuit operation

26 Avionics Magazine July 2012 www.avionicstoday.com

6/11/12 9:50:29 PM


whether any of the proposed “precautionary” remedies would make things better.

Few seem to have noticed that, while WEEE and RoHS were enacted based

on the “Precautionary Principle,” that very principle should have been used to

defeat them.

The notion of “threat of harm” from the use of the restricted substances in

the targeted applications

(i.e., most electrical and

electronic equipment) is

problematic. Not one case

of human health effect

due to such use has ever

been made public. In

the absence of any link-

age, or even a plausible

mechanism, what meaning

can inhere in the phrase

“threat of harm”? Is

“threat” merely in the eye

of the perceiver?

Additionally, there is no

basis for exempting the

contemplated “precau-

tionary measures” from

the same scrutiny as the

“current activity.” Simply

put, although “Precaution-

ary Principle” formulations

don’t explicitly say so, they

imply the remedy must not

make things worse. But in

the absence of proof that

the current activity is caus-

ing trouble, how could the

value of the remedy, be

assessed, and by whom?

The prospects for relief

from the RoHS directive

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are bleak. The RoHS Directive is not primarily driven by concern for health and

the environment. At the time the EU enacted it, some of the 27 Member States

permitted the sale of Pb in gasoline and paint. Any attempt to use science-based

reasoning on EU politician/bureaucrats who ignored such reasoning a decade

ago would fail. The politician/bureaucrats imposed the RoHS Directive not on

manufacturers, distributors or sellers, but on the legislatures of each Member

State. It directs each legislature to enact enabling legislation for that state. Thus,

even with the EU seemingly on the verge of collapse, virtually all of those legisla-

tures would have to repeal the legislation. With few exceptions, those legislatures

are far too busy with far more pressing matters to entertain any appeals for relief.

Even with a global repeal, many component manufacturers, having switched to

Pb-free tin as the termination finish, would be reluctant to switch back, asserting

they have the whisker problem under control.

If there were to be any hope at all, the CEOs of major electronics equipment

manufacturers would have to unite to complain far more vigorously than they

have. Their lack of complaint demonstrates clearly to those at the top, as long

as all their competitors must also comply, RoHS (with all of its associated head-

aches for those in the trenches) is “just part of the cost of doing business.”

It may not be clear to all readers why tin is used at all in electronics manufac-

turing. Surfaces on printed boards and electronic components to be connected

by solder must be solderable. Boards and components can be designed and built

to have solderable lands without tin. For cost reasons, most components are not.

The disappearance of termination finishes other than Pb-free tin is driven not by

customers imposing “a single world standard” but by the component manufac-

turers themselves, who find it too expensive to provide a choice.

Gordon Davy retired in 2007 as an advisory engineer after 34 years at a large

defense electronics manufacturer.


The U.S. Air Force’s C-5M program has fixed some of the problems that

arose during two major modernization initiatives for the transport aircraft

and is working to repair the others, according to the Air Force and prime

contractor Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin designed and successfully tested software changes

to reduce the false alarm rate and improve the fault isolation rate of the jet’s new

built-in test (BIT) function, which checks the health of the aircraft’s systems using

on-aircraft sensors and reports the health status back to operators and maintain-

ers, company spokesman Chad Gibson said.

“The Air Force is processing the final paperwork to get that version of software

out to the field, and we hope that it will start to be installed on C-5M aircraft later

this year,” Gibson told Avionics Magazine. “In addition to the software improve-

ments … we have made several improvements to the Air Force technical orders

to identify nuisance faults and to provide procedures to help flight crews and

maintenance technicians deal with these indications while we process the soft-

ware changes.”

The software package, known as Block 3.5, is also expected to resolve a sus-

ceptibility to information assurance problems.

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Lockheed, Air Force

Fix C-5M ‘Defi ciencies’

industry scan


ciencies’To address a lack of C-5M-specific

training systems, the Air Force has

worked with another contractor,

Flight Safety International, to convert

flight crew trainers to the C-5M con-

figuration.

In the meantime, Lockheed Mar-

tin is supporting aircrew training with

an engineering simulator. In addition,

Lockheed Martin is developing two

maintenance trainers: an avionics

maintenance systems trainer that is

undergoing testing at Dover Air Force

Base in Delaware and a flight controls

systems trainer that will be delivered to

Dover later this year.

The Air Force and Lockheed Martin

said problems with the C-5M’s autopi-

lot, environmental control system and

thrust reversers have all been correct-

ed and successfully tested.

The Pentagon’s Director of Opera-

tional Test and Evaluation (DOT&E)

highlighted the various C-5M “deficien-

cies” in its fiscal 2011 annual report,

the most recent available.

The Air Force has been upgrading

the Lockheed Martin-built C-5 Galaxy,

its largest airlifter, into the C-5M Super

Galaxy through two major efforts –– the

Avionics Modernization Program (AMP)

and the Reliability Enhancement and

Re-Engining Program (RERP). AMP

adds a glass cockpit, digital avionics

and new communications, navigation

and surveillance equipment. AMP also

provides a digital backbone for RERP,

whose centerpiece is four new GE

commercial engines.

The programs are designed to boost

the aircraft’s endurance, power and

reliability and make it quieter and

easier to fly and maintain. Specific

improvements include reducing fuel

consumption by 20 percent and cutting

climb time by 50 percent. At the end of

August, the C-5M fleet had flown more

than 10,000 flight hours, 50 percent

more than projected, Gibson said.

Lockheed Martin in April delivered

the last of 79 C-5s to go through the

14-year-old AMP program. Of those,

52 are going through RERP, which is

expected to achieve full-rate produc-

tion this fall and be completed in fiscal

year 2016. The Air Force plans to retire

the other 27 aircraft, saying it no longer

needs them.

The Air Force is pursuing additional

upgrades to keep the aircraft ready for

combat and humanitarian missions.

Lockheed Martin expects to receive

a development contract in March for

the C-5M’s Core Mission Computer/

Weather Radar Replacement Pro-

gram. A modification to equip C-5Ms

with Northrop Grumman’s anti-missile

Large Aircraft Infrared Countermea-

sures (LAIRCM) system is ongoing and

scheduled for completion in fiscal year

2017.

Already in service for decades, the

C-5 is slated to remain in the Air Force

fleet through 2040.

“The C-5 is a national asset with no

peers in its class,” Gibson said. “At this

time, there is no known replacement in

work.” —Marc Selinger

industry scan


COMMERCIAL

Senate UAS Caucus

U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Joe

Manchin (D-W.Va.) formed a unmanned

aircraft systems (UAS) caucus, in hopes

of educating lawmakers and staff about

the capabilities of the systems.

The Senate Unmanned Aerial Caucus

also hopes to help provide a foundation for

the federal UAS policy-making process.

Over the last decade, the use of UASs

has expanded from primarily being used

for military intelligence to areas such as

law enforcement, weather surveillance

and aerial photography.

“The increased use of Unmanned Aerial

Systems carries great potential — and

great risk,” said Manchin. “It’s impor-

tant for all of us to understand how we

can use this advancing technology to

strengthen our national security and

improve our ability to respond in case of

natural or man-made disasters, while at

the same time ensuring the privacy of all

of our law-abiding American citizens. I

am so appreciative of Sen. Inhofe’s work

on this issue, and I look forward to work-

ing together in a bipartisan way to keep

our colleagues updated on the emerging

policy issues involving this technology.”

Earlier this year, FAA established the

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integra-

tion Office in its safety organization to

address all matters related to civil and

public use of UAS, as the agency contin-

ues to integrate more unmanned aircraft

into the national airspace system (NAS).

Currently, FAA authorizes the limited use

of UAS and is working on a proposed rule

to govern the use of UAS in the NAS.

Recovery Slow for Airlines

The U.S. airline industry is still adjusting

to a volatile 2008-2011 period with merg-

ers, new passenger fees and a reduced

number of scheduled flights, according to

the aviation industry performance report

released in September by Department of

Transportation Inspector General Calvin

L. Scovell III.

The report states in 2000, 10 major air-

lines accounted for 90 percent of total

domestic passenger air traffic — and in

2012 that has been reduced to five, a num-

ber that could drop to four if US Airways

and American Airlines choose to merge.

According to the report, airlines

reduced the number of scheduled

domestic flights by 14 percent between

2007 and 2012, which has led to

increased passenger loads and higher

fares on regional flights.

High fuel prices and a slow economic

recovery have greatly influenced the

newer business models being introduced

by airlines, according to the report. Fuel

costs peaked at 40 percent of airline

operating costs in 2008, a 30 percent

increase from 2000 when fuel costs

accounted for 10 percent of airline oper-

ating expenses.

To offset the skyrocketing cost of jet

fuel, airlines are passing the cost along to

passengers, mainly with baggage fees.

In 2011, U.S. airlines collected a total of

$2.7 billion in added revenue from higher

baggage fees — and spent $31 billion on

jet fuel.

“Ultimately, the trends presented in this

report suggest that the changes in the

number of airlines controlling the indus-

try, fare increases, and capacity reduc-


tions that began in 2008 are not a brief

phase, but rather are signs of a greater

shift in the industry that will remain for

years to come,” the inspector general

said.

Allegiant to Offer Row 44

Allegiant Air will offer the Row 44

video-on-demand (VOD) service on its

fleet of 757s, as part of a new partner-

ship with the in-flight entertainment

(IFE) provider, under an agreement

announced in early October.

Row 44 said Allegiant will offer its

wireless in-flight video streaming only

service, which operates without satel-

lite connectivity directly on passengers’

iPad, iPhone, Android and other Wi-Fi-

enabled devices. The VOD entertainment

content is stored aboard the aircraft on

a 1.8 terabyte server, and does not offer

the Row 44 satellite Internet service.

“Allegiant has proven adept at pioneer-

ing and delivering innovative solutions

in the travel marketplace,” said Travis

Christ, chief marketing and sales officer

for Row 44. “Allegiant is a low cost spe-

cialist when it comes to linking leisure

travelers to popular destinations, and

we look forward to complementing their

brand with a world-class VOD entertain-

ment experience.”

Row 44 will begin installations of its

VOD service on the Allegiant Air fleet of

Boeing 757s in the first quarter of 2013.

In-Flight Phone Service

Emirates will begin offering in-flight

mobile phone service on its fleet of

A380s, as part of the Dubai carrier’s con-

nectivity package with OnAir.

The OnAir system uses EDGE and

GPRS connections to allow passengers

to make and receive phone calls and text

messages through their individual mobile

service providers.

Emirates said the OnAir mobile ser-

vice has been successfully installed and

tested on one of its A380s, and will be

retrofitted to its entire fleet of 25 A380s

going forward.

“Our goal on every flight is to exceed

our passenger’s’ expectations. We

believe that exceeding expectations

should not only apply to our Cabin

Crew’s award-winning in-flight service

and our SKYTRAX ‘World’s Best Airline

In-Flight Entertainment’ ice system, but

also to our passenger’s desire to stay in

touch while travelling,” said Patrick Bran-

nelly, vice president of corporate com-

munications at Emirates.

MILITARY

Rafale C137

The French defense procurement agency

DGA received the first production Rafale

C137 aircraft equipped with the Thales

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hale

s

France’s Rafale C137 equipped with the Thales RBE2 AESA radar system.

16 Avionics Magazine November 2012 www.avionicsmagazine.com

industry scan

RBE2 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, the companies announced in October.

Thales said its radar is designed to provide extended range capabilities sup-porting low-observable target reduction and greater waveform agility for Synthet-ic Aperture Radar imaging, among other capabilities.

“Dassault Aviation and Thales are proud to equip French forces with this advanced radar technology, which is now entering operational service on a Europe-an combat aircraft for the first time,” said Thales in a statement.

DARPA AHR Flight Tests

The Defense Advanced Research Proj-ects Agency (DARPA) Autonomous High-Altitude Refueling (AHR) program recently completed successful flight demonstrations of technology that allows unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to automatically refuel in-flight.

DARPA conducted the flights in col-laboration with Northrop Grumman and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center using two NASA Global Hawk UASs.

The agency said that the two Global Hawks successfully flew in close forma-tion (as close as 30 feet) for more than 2.5 hours at 44,800 feet. The close for-mation flight showed the ability of UAS to operate autonomously under in-flight refueling conditions.

“The technical developments that enabled these two high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned Global Hawks in close formation is an outstanding accomplishment for the AHR pro-gram,” said Fred Ricker, vice presi-dent and deputy general manager for

Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems’ Advanced Programs & Technology. “Coupled with the advanced design and technical implementation of aerial refu-eling systems on board both aircraft, the demonstration has truly brought a concept to life, which has the potential to change the operations for unmanned aircraft utility and enable mission flex-ibility never before realized.”

CONTRACTS

➤ The Office of Naval Research has awarded a $13.5 million contract to an industry team led by Lockheed Martin to explore autonomous technologies aboard an unmanned vertical take-off and land-ing aircraft. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin and a team of industry, government, and academic partners will develop a tech-nology that will enable aircraft to operate under supervisory control. A human opera-tor will interact with the system at a high level while low level control is left to the automation. The resulting technology will have the potential to improve the utility and effectiveness of current unmanned verti-cal take-off and landing aircraft, as well as offer pilots supplemental decision aids on legacy manned platforms, Lockheed Mar-tin said.➤ Mexican carrier Interjet has selected the ACSS T³CAS integrated surveillance sys-tem for six Airbus A320s. Phoenix-based ACSS is a joint venture of Thales and L-3 Communications.

“T³CAS will deliver Interjet the most advanced surveillance capability for its A320s,” said Scott Duffin, director of sales at Thales. “Through its higher

www.avionicstoday.com November2012 Avionics Magazine 17

level of integration and technological advancement, T³CAS delivers the full suite of surveillance functions with less weight and volume of federated systems, with reduced wiring and improved power efficiency.”

In addition, US Airways received Sup-plemental Type Certification (STC) on its Airbus A330 aircraft for DO-260B (TSO c166b) capability using ACSS’s XS-950 Mode S Transponder. DO-260B is the highest level of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast transmission (ADS-B). US Airways will equip 20 Air-bus A330s as part of the FAA’s NextGen implementation program. The XS-950 was certified in 2011 to DO-260B, which enables ADS-B transmission of more information about an aircraft’s position, speed and intent.➤ FAA is providing $1.3 mil-lion in grants for Chicago O’Hare, Denver and San Francisco International Air-ports for vehicle surveillance equipment to reduce the risk of “conflicts” between air-port safety vehicles and air-craft.Each airport will receive $421,875 to purchase up to 75 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) units to allow air traffic controllers to locate vehicles on the airfield dur-ing low visibility conditions. FAA said the ADS-B units will be installed on airport operations vehicles such as fire trucks and snow plows.

“This grant allows ground

equipment operators to have a better situational awareness of where they are on the airfield, which increases airport safety,” said FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta.➤ L-3 Aviation Recorders signed an agree-ment with Airbus to certify and provide the FLYHT Aerospace Solutions AFIRS 228S real-time data communications and SAT-COM system for installation on the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. The system, which provides ACARS capability and SATCOM voice connectivity anywhere in the world through the Iridium network, is marketed under the FLYHT brand in conjunction with L-3’s Flight Data Recorders. The products being sold will have the technical ability to support FLYHTStream, FLYHT’s triggered data streaming tool.

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18 Avionics Magazine November 2012 www.avionicsmagazine.com

industry scan

➤ The Avionics & Systems Integration

Group (ASIG) flyTab team will install a Class

2 electronic flight bag (EFB) on CRJ-200s

and Dash 8-100s operated by Nav Canada.

ASIG, of Little Rock, Ark., said its EFB

components have STC certifications that

enable the iPad EFB to be fully integrated

with the aircraft. Nav Canada selected

the flyTab pedTray mount, power condition-

ing module (PCM) for iPad recharging and the

aircraft interface module (AIM) to connect the

EFB with all aircraft systems and sensors.

“The iPad EFB is a replacement for our

current Class 3 EFB that is expensive to

maintain. This installation will allow us

to maintain our operational efficiency

Business aviation could play

a vital role in the continued

recovery of the European

economy, according to a

report conducted by Oxford

Economics.

The report, conducted on

behalf of the European Busi-

ness Aviation Association

(EBAA), said in 2011, 96 per-

cent of city pairs served by

business aviation had no scheduled con-

nection. The other 4 percent served more

than a third of all business aviation air

traffic in volume, according to Oxford.

Also, the report uses case studies to

highlight the importance of business avia-

tion to local economies in Europe. One

example shows that at Farnborough Air-

port in the U.K., on-site employment is

around 1,000 jobs — and an additional

4,000 jobs in the local region are the

result of the airport’s larger supply chain.

The Oxford economists also found

each additional passenger on a business

aviation flight generates the same gross

domestic product as nine business pas-

sengers on a scheduled flight.

EBAA concludes from the report that

more investment in the business aviation

industry and expansion of destinations

served by business aircraft operators

would greatly help to accelerate the Euro-

pean economic recovery.

“What this study clearly points out is

that business aviation is playing a key

role in facilitating Europe’s recovery,” said

Fabio Gamba, CEO at EBAA. “This impor-

tance should be recognized in policy

formulation, with legislators developing

regulations and mechanisms that bolster

business aviation activity in order to fur-

ther stimulate the growth of our region,

rather than ignore it as it was evidenced

with the European Commission’s pro-

posed recast on slot allocation, or penal-

ize it as the Italian government has done

by introducing a double tax on owners

and passengers, resulting in dismal traffic

figures in the country.”

Report: Expanding Business Aviation Could Help European Recovery

www.avionicstoday.com November2012 Avionics Magazine 19

and ‘paperless cockpit’ at a much lower

cost on our CRJ and Dash 8 aircraft with

enhanced applications,” said Anthony

MacKay, manager of flight operations at

Nav Canada.

➤ The U.S. Air Force awarded a five-year

$51 million contract to PKL Services, of

Poway, Calif., to provide functional ele-

ments spanning operations, maintenance

and simulator support for the Air Force and

Republic of Singapore (RSAF) F-15 aircraft.

This contract provides functional ele-

ments spanning operations, mainte-

nance, and simulator support to maintain

the RSAF F-15SG and the Air Force F

F-15C/D and F-15E aircraft.

PKL will provide avionics maintenance,

inspection and database management

and analysis among other specialized

support functions for all assigned aircraft

at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in

Idaho.

➤ Lufthansa Systems will provide its iPad

Lido/iRouteManual navigation charts to Air-

BridgeCargo Airlines. The Russian cargo

carrier signed a five-year contract with

Lufthansa to deploy the iPad navigation

charts on its Boeing 747s.

The Lido/iRouteManual for the iPad

gives pilots access to relevant navigation

charts, NOTAMs and general text infor-

mation with mobile broadband-enabled

updates, according to Lufthansa.

➤ Southwest Airlines will install ARINC

Water Vapor Sensor Systems (WVSS) on

its fleet of Boeing 737-700s.

The systems will provide coast-to-coast

weather observations on more than 100

aircraft once installation is complete,

according to ARINC.

➤ Oculus Systems has become the U.K.

vendor for the Huginn X-1 unmanned air-

craft system (UAS).

The Huginn X-1, manufactured by Den-

mark-based Sky-Watch, is a nano UAS

designed for surveillance tasks in both

civilian and military settings, according to

Oculus.

business


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In an age of shrinking defense budgets and longer

lives of aircraft, new systems and techniques help

the U.S. military maintain aging systems

The U.S. Air Force’s aging airplanes need careful tending — especially their

airframes and engines. But the avionics systems in this age of mass-market

electronics are often a headache as well. Obsolescence is far more com-

mon today than in the days of mil-spec. And even the newest upgrades

face these issues before they are fielded. But the military has adapted and

now wields a number of weapons. While these can’t defeat obsolescence, they make

it manageable.

There are two kinds of obsolescence — material and operational. Material

obsolescence is a fact of life in the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) era. Although

this can affect whole configurations of aircraft, it does not drive major upgrades.

Those are prompted by the threat of operational obsolescence. Because of bud-

get constraints, program offices often can’t afford regular component refreshes.

Instead, they study data from many sources and let this information — and analy-

sis based on it — guide the initiation of component upgrades.

“COTS is a two-edged sword,” says Gary Hebert, deputy system program

By Charlotte Adams

ObsManaging


A B-52H Stratofortress takes off from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, in 2009.

manager in the A-10 System Program Office (SPO). “It brings capability, opportu-

nity and flexibility, but it’s a fast-moving train.” What’s produced today probably

won’t be around next year. It’s almost like buying a cell phone which is obsolete

at the moment of purchase.

“You need to remain agile,” he says. When you’re building a product, you need

to look not only at the lifecycles of its components but at the vendors’ roadmaps

for the component families.

Nevertheless, “when it comes to avionics, the ‘O-word’ doesn’t scare me as

much as it used to because we’ve got some ways of predicting what’s going to

happen,” Hebert says, alluding to tools like parts databases and predictive analy-

sis. More importantly, he says, the service has the capability of replacing hard-

ware functions with chips such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and

programmable logic arrays (PLA).

“In the defense market, while platforms may age, we are going to see a lot

refreshes in terms of comm gear, nav gear, displays and other avionics products,”

said Bob Smith, chief technology officer at Honeywell Aerospace at the Avionics

for NextGen conference in September.

bsolescence

B-52

When it comes to obsolescence issues, the image of the B-52 rises in one’s

mind. The youngest Stratofortress is 50 years old and these aircraft are expected

to fly through 2040.

There are 76 B-52Hs still flying, out of 744 that were built, says Col. John Fisher,

B-52 system program manager. The SPO uses both bottom-up and top-down tools

to monitor parts obsolescence. Like other Air Force SPOs, it relies in part on the Air

Force Sustainment Center and the Defense Logistics Agency for assistance.

But the SPO also has “very active integrity programs to manage structural,

mechanical and avionics systems integrity on the B-52,” says Jerold Smith, chief

engineer. Integrity programs look at reliability indicators, failure mode data and

usage data. They are set up to examine system and component design and antic-

ipated lifecycles, and then to perform predictive analysis in order to plan mainte-

nance, repair and overhaul. The programs also involve evaluations in the field and

depots to see if wear is occurring as analytically predicted, Jerold Smith says. If

there is a negative difference between what the predictions are and what the air-

craft tells you, “that tells us we need to take some preventative action or do some

An A-10 Thunderbolt II moves to take position off the right wing of a KC-135R Stratotanker, after refueling mid-air during a training flight over Michigan in July.

Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Jeremy M. Wilson


tech refresh,” whether on a structural member or an avionics component, Jerold

Smith explains. The refresh program would be put in place before the item failed.

The SPO also tracks all the boxes and components on the aircraft against

maintenance man-hours, Jerold Smith says. “We can see where the maintenance

man-hours are expended,” and then, based on that information, “we can target

improvement initiatives to try to reduce that workload.” It is a methodology to

discover — and solve or improve — both component and maintenance issues.

This attention pays off. The B-52 fleet is two aircraft over the Air Force’s avail-

ability requirement, says Wendy Walden, chief of the SPO’s Logistics Branch.

CONECT

The B-52’s biggest ongoing avionics upgrade is CONECT, or Combat Network

Communications Technology. CONECT replaces monochrome 8x10-inch multi-

function displays (MFD) at all five crew stations with full-color 8x10-inch MFDs

that increase situational awareness by creating a “common sight picture,” if

required; it adds a 1-Gigabit Ethernet digital backbone, so that boxes can share

data more quickly; it adds data links for retasking aircraft and retargeting weap-

ons while the B-52s are in flight — something that is not possible today; and it

installs a digital interphone to aid communications between crew members.

Although CONECT will solve some obsolescence and reliability issues, the

upgrade was driven by the threat of operational obsolescence. “We have to make

sure that we’re tied into, not just the U.S. Air Force, but the joint force,” Fisher

says, with network-centric capability, for example.

CONECT has been percolating since 2005, and the first “kit proof” will be

installed on an operational aircraft next year, at the beginning of low-rate

initial production.

Not surprisingly, CONECT has already experienced obsolescence issues. The

team has identified some potential items and is putting strategies, such as life-of-

type buys, in place, Walden says.

So far the program has made three or four end-of-life buys, some of which

involved numerous parts, says Scot Oathout, director of B-52 programs, Boe-

ing Defense, Space and Security. It reports monthly to the procurement office

on obsolescence monitoring. The program also subscribes to a “fairly universal

commercial [part tracking] service” and has agreements with its major suppliers

“to periodically monitor the supply base.”

More importantly, however, CONECT’s architecture is designed to make the

non-hardened computational segments easily upgradeable, says Jim Kroening,

Boeing’s B-52 development program manager. “We use standard interfaces and

can essentially drop in a new board.”

The hardened components required for nuclear missions are much less volatile

and subject to technology evolution.



A-10

The A-10 tank-killer is also out of production — the last plane was delivered 28 years

ago — yet the fleet is expected to fly till as late as 2040. Although the aging airframe

presents the biggest headaches, avionics sustainment is also a challenge.

While the SPO relies on the Sustainment Center, it is taking additional steps to

improve early warning. It conducts studies that may catch issues not flagged in the

parts databases, Hebert says. A system-level study may be prompted, for example, by

reports of problems in several related boxes, explains Jerry Coates, the SPO’s opera-

tional safety, suitability and effectiveness integrator.

The SPO is also preparing an A-10 Platform Obsolescence Plan. The winning con-

tractor will load the A-10 bill of materials into the commercial Advanced Component

Obsolescence Management (AVCOM) database and focus solely on the A-10’s needs.

The program office also notes the importance of test equipment support. Over

the last three years the SPO has worked with experts at the Warner Robins Air

Logistics Complex to develop a Support Equipment Road Map. This software

tool, populated with 18,000 elements of A-10 support equipment, allows manag-

ers to highlight reliability, supportability and obsolescence issues. The effort also

involved organic development of the portable automated test set (PATS-70), a

unit that tests a lot of avionics.

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B-52’s CONECT program replaces monochrome 8x10-inch multifunction displays (MFD) at all five crew stations with full-color 8x10-inch MFDs that increase situational awareness by creating a “common sight picture.”


F-16

The U.S. Air Force currently operates about 1,000 F-16s, about one-third of the

worldwide fleet. The F-16 is more fortunate than the B-52 and the A-10 in having

an active production line to help with spares.

The F-16 SPO teams with the Sustainment Center, which focuses on scanning

parts databases for obsolescence issues, says Col. Mark Mol, F-16 system pro-

gram manager. “Their goal is to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the

supply chain, and my goal is to ensure the safety and suitability of the fleet.”

However, there are often synergies between the two perspectives. Take the fire

control computer upgrade. The prior system was based on long-outdated com-

puting technology with limited memory capacity and data throughput and limited

spare parts availability, explains Mark Greenamyer, the SPO’s avionics program

manager.

The SPO looked at what could be done at the chip, card and box level, but it

made more sense to replace the mil-spec system with one based on ruggedized

commercial technology — the Commercial Fire Control Computer. The process-

ing power and memory improvement that came with the new system made it “a

much cheaper approach than solving individual [obsolescence] issues,” Gree-

namyer says.

The SPO does not have regular refresh intervals, Mol explains, as this “would

require an extraordinary amount of funds to address potential problems that may

not actually materialize.”

The SPO also receives reports on the “total non-mission-capable rate” for sup-

ply or maintenance, Mol says. “So when we identify a negative trend, we’ll start

doing root cause analysis” to track down the source and develop a solution. This

process can turn up issues such as obsolescence, repair process problems,

technical data problems, contract issues or even operational issues.

The last resort for the SPOs is the “boneyard” at Davis Monthan Air Force Base

in Arizona. But supplies there are limited and, although the aircraft have been

protected from the elements, the condition of their avionics systems is unknown

and components such as commercial chips and boards would probably be obso-

lete. (Davis Monthan is a more likely source of components such as antenna

bracketry.) “We also would need to run [components] through additional tests to

ensure that they meet airworthiness criteria,” Mol says.

The “O-word” is still scary Mol says. “We know we can overcome the chal-

lenges, but … it takes considerable budget to address.” An obsolescence issue

is typically not a question of one or two or three components, he says. You might

be able to get those from the boneyard. A true obsolescence issue could affect

an entire configuration of airplanes — it’s a big issue to solve. “Only when I do a

lifetime buy or redesign” do I solve it.

industry


NextGenAviation stakeholders describe challenges to

NextGen implementation and outline ways to

overcome those obstacles at annual conference

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Avionics for


By Emily Feliz

Aviation industry leaders

gathered in Atlantic City,

N.J., in September for the

Second Annual Avionics for

NextGen conference, urg-

ing cooperation among industry stake-

holders and action from regulatory

bodies to move the massive airspace

modernization initiative forward.

Panels discussed the vari-

ous roadblocks to implementa-

tion including the integration of

unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)

in the National Airspace System

(NAS); global airspace harmoni-

zation efforts; closing NextGen’s

business case; and tackling Nex-

tGen implementation issues on

Capitol Hill.

Bob Smith, vice president and

chief technology officer at Hon-

eywell Aerospace, kicked off the

conference. He said parts obso-

lescence and evolving certification

standards are obstacles for the avi-

ation industry. Further, he called for

companies to speed development

time of NextGen-enabled technolo-

gies and for regulatory agencies,

namely FAA, to speed the certifi-

cation of new products to get the

NextGenfor

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products into the hands of the operators more quickly. “Action or inaction will set

the pace of growth for the aerospace industry,” he said.

He identified three trends in avionics — the growth in IT performance; the

interoperability of systems throughout the network; and the continuous flow of

information needed around the world.

“The aircraft have the same desire to get this kind of information on and off

the aircraft and it’s really going to be incumbent on this industry to figure out

how to do that efficiently,” particularly in a world with mixed equipage and

parts obsolescence, Smith said. “The opportunities we have more than out-

weigh any obstacles.”

Modernizing the airspace in the midst of these obstacles is a big task for the

U.S. aviation industry, particularly with the backdrop of economic and politi-

cal uncertainty in this country. Regardless, NextGen faces some key milestones

in the coming years, including the 2015 mandate that UASs be integrated into

the NAS and the 2020 equipage mandate for automatic surveillance-broadcast

(ADS-B) In capabilities, among others.

Several NextGen programs have made great strides, showing operational ben-

efits for the users, conference attendees said, including the construction of the

ADS-B ground infrastructure and Required Navigation Performance procedures

around the country. ADS-B prime contractor ITT Exelis said the ground network

has received FAA In-Service Decision and more than 460 sites have been con-

structed, with more than 70 sites in planning or under construction.


Additionally, just a few days after the conference, Harris Corp. was awarded

a seven-year, $331 million contract to provide air/ground data communications.

The Harris team includes Adfero Group, American Airlines, ARINC, The Brattle

Group, CGH, EES, Egis Avia, GE, HCRQ, NATS, Sunhillo, Thales and Washington

Consulting Group.

“[NextGen] is becoming real and we are moving forward on some of these

commitments,” said Kris Burnham, director of investment planning and analysis

at FAA.

At the same time, NextGen has faced some setbacks in recent months, includ-

ing major schedule delays and budget overruns. According to a Government

Accountability Office report issued earlier this year, more than one-third of major

air traffic control acquisition programs associated with the NextGen program

have gone $4.2 billion beyond their initial estimates, and half have experienced

schedule delays. At the same time, many operators have been reluctant to equip

for future programs, citing questions about the initiative’s return on investment.

“More than three years after Task Force 5, we are not as far as we had hoped to

be at this point … with the recommendations and the timelines that Task Force 5


set out there,” acknowledged Capt. Steve Dickson, senior vice president of flight

operations at Delta Airlines. Dickson was on RTCA Task Force 5, which issued

recommendations to FAA regarding NextGen implementation.

“On the other hand, there is some progress in some other areas, particularly

with aircraft equipage that I did not anticipate three years ago. Airlines in the

last 18 months have placed orders for hundreds of new narrowbody equipment

that are coming onboard here in the next five or six years. That is really going to

change the balance in terms of heavy users of the NAS are going to be in a much

different place five years from now,” Dickson said.

He added return on investment isn’t the only hurdle for NextGen’s business

case. He described the four legs to the NextGen stool as strategic fit for the com-

pany’s corporate objectives and goals; return on investment; benefit uncertainty,

which can undermine an otherwise strong business case; and financial capacity

of the operator.

Similarly, measuring those benefits or metrics are hard to quantify and hard

to prove, panelists said. For example, an operator can fly a required navigation

performance approach, with the navigational guidance provided by the air traffic

controller, but there is no way to prove the approach was performed. That make

the business case even harder, panelists said.

“Every single operator’s business case is different,” said Debby Kirkman, Next-

Gen Performance Integration Lead at MITRE Corp.

Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), in his luncheon keynote address at the confer-

ence, echoed many of the panelists reassurances about the importance of Next-

Gen for the safety and operations of the airspace.

Next year’s event will be held Sept. 17 at the Sheraton Atlantic City. Stay tuned

to www.avionicsfornextgen.com for more details.


product focus

For wire and cable companies, the aviation

industry, even in a time of economic auster-

ity, is a key source of opportunities. Smaller,

lighter and more capable cables and wire

remain a priority for an industry looking to reduce

operating costs and support advanced digital technologies. As

they look to boost the capability of new aircraft, operators also

need an assist from wire and cable suppliers to stretch out the useful life of their

legacy platforms. To meet these challenges, companies are pressing ahead with

research and development on products and strategies to address efforts to main-

tain and upgrade veteran aircraft.

While some market segments have stagnated, “the aerospace industry still

represents a huge opportunity for cable suppliers,” said John Wadeley, senior

global product manager for TE Connectivity. “Confidence throughout the indus-

try remains high, and the pace of R&D … remains strong offering a healthy new

product stream at all levels of the supply chain.”

Wire & CableAircraft operators are turning to wire and

cable suppliers to help extend the life and

boost capabilities of their onboard systems

By Ed McKenna


There are some com-

plications, however, begin-

ning the high cost of raw mate-

rials, such as copper. “Increased

material costs have not slowed

down the development of new

products or reduced the opportunity to

(decrease) … size and weight, but it does mean

that when these new products hit the market they will

come with a higher price tag,” said Wadeley.

With regards to R&D, “there certainly is less funding at least from the

government side, but I don’t know how much in comparison from previous

years,” said Michael Traskos, president of Lectromec, a wiring test company in

Dulles, Va.

The belt tightening is yielding some opportunities, however. “‘Sustainment’ has

become a buzz word in the industry,” said Jeff Fyfe, aerospace business leader at

W.L. Gore & Associates. “Because of continuing delays to new aircraft platforms

caused by technical challenges and/or budget constraints, the industry is looking

for ways to ‘sustain’ current platforms and extend their service life.”

“For the most part, they are rewiring these older civil and military aircraft

with existing technologies; (for example) …wiring a 1960s aircraft with 1980s

designed wire,” said Bob Scott, senior wire and cable product manager at A.E.

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Emteq’s HD video cable


Petsche, an Arlington, Texas-based distributor of wire and cable products. Gen-

erally, “this does not pose difficulties because you are talking about the proven

reliability … of mature products.”

However, Service Life Extension Programs, such as that proposed by the Air

Force for the F-16 earlier this year in response to F-35 delays, do provide chal-

lenges. Sometimes, these programs call for not just basic maintenance but also

avionics improvements that could require “wire and cabling solutions that equal

current or higher performance standards,” said Fyfe. “At the same time, the wire

and cables must be installed within the existing aircraft structure, which means

the performance enhancements must be accomplished within the same size or

smaller wire and cables,” he said. “These tighter configurations leave less room

for wire and cables; therefore, they also need to be engineered with additional

TE Connectivity offers wire and cable products for avionics, and in-flight entertainment and power distribution systems.

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mechanical strength to prevent damage during routing and installation.”

In maintaining and upgrading these older aircraft, there are also challenges

related to assessing the safety of the electrical wiring interconnect systems

(EWIS) of these platforms. “They are going to need to go through the thousands

of maintenance data entries, perhaps tens of thousands … then they need to

gather all of the wiring system data together,” Traskos said. “We have been work-

ing in this field for a while and have developed techniques to automate some of

this, but if they are going through this for a first time, it will be a difficult,” he said.

“Further, once they have all the data, the process of combining the current condi-

tion, life projection … and system risk information is complex.”

Lectromec is “working with the Air Force right now to help them develop their

EWIS risk assessment for service life extension programs,” said Traskos.

“As for upgrading, that is a tough proposition for any aircraft in the fleet; I think

the last major rewire project was on the F-15s and that (cost) over $500 million,”

he said. “If anything, maintainers are looking to limit rewiring to subsections in

the aircraft … part of this to be justified by results of EWIS risk assessments of

the older aircraft.”

While progress often comes at slow pace, companies are pressing ahead with

R&D efforts aimed at upping the durability and capability of the technologies

while reducing size, weight and energy use to meet the power requirements “of

(the) more complex, interconnected systems in the aircraft” and “lower oper-

ating costs … because less weight equals fuel savings,” said Fyfe. Civil avia-

tion’s priorities are “reliability, temperature resistance and weight, (while) mili-

tary aerospace is more focused on size and weight due to the increasing use of

advanced electronic systems (pods) that require more reliable performance in

harsh environments.”

To meet these needs, the companies are developing and deploying products

using a variety of strategies as well as conductive and insulation materials and

protocols. When it comes to airframe wiring, the large aircraft manufacturers

“are still undertaking initiatives to do thinner wall insulations … downsizing

gauge size as a weight saving initiative,” said Scott. For example, some are

“going from 22 to 24 gauge but are running at a higher voltage to have the same

power capability.”

In the larger sense, the airframe wire world is on the verge of “a revolution

with large aircraft manufacturers dismissing conventional wrapped solutions

due to the endless problems of visible damage caused during the installation

into the airframe,” said Wadeley. “This has lead to a drive towards alternative

insulation systems based on hybrid constructions and the further development

of inorganic films,” he said. “This period of change will permanently modify the

landscape of the aircraft wire market which has remained largely unchanged for

the last 30 years.”


When it comes to data cables, “the aerospace industry is facing a step change

in the use of high-speed copper cables” to support “the increased demand for

passenger entertainment and information technology especially on the long haul

routes,” said Wadeley. To boost capability, industry is adopting protocols import-

ed from commercial electronics and automotive industry, such as the Ethernet,

Digital Visual Interface, Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Controller Area Network

(Can) bus. Cables used for “these protocols are normally unsuitable for use on

aircraft, so the cable industry is being challenged to create new offerings using

higher temperature and tougher materials,” Wadeley said.

On a practical note, “customers are still asking for higher temperature jack-

ets so they can run cable along with their main wiring and not have to separate,

which reduces engineering time and labor time for installation,” said Kerry Stuck-

art, product manager, coax cables, at Emteq, based in New Berlin, Wis.

Time for Fiber?

The pursuit of higher speed, higher data rates — gigabit speeds — has signifi-

cantly increased the use of more fiber on military and civil aircraft for instrumen-

tation and weapons systems and on the commercial side for in-flight entertain-

ment systems, said Scott.

As the “experience with fiber improves,” the trend has been for fiber solutions

“to proliferate within the industry,” Wadeley said. “For commercial aircraft, there

are more systems and platforms that are supporting up to 10 Gbps on 50 uM

Market Moves

The following are announcements by wire and cable manufacturers and distributors.

ɀ Carlisle Companies Inc., parent company of Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, late last year completed its $285 million acquisition of Tri-Star Electronics International, an El Segundo, Calif.-based supplier of electronic inter-connect components for mission-critical applications for commercial aerospace, defense and industrial customers.

“We are pleased to have completed the purchase of Tri-Star and look forward to the contributions this excellent company will make to Carlisle. The addition of Tri-Star enhances Carlisle Interconnect Technologies’ leadership in aerospace specialty interconnect components and systems. We welcome the Tri-Star team to Carlisle,” said David A. Roberts, Carlisle’s chairman, president and CEO.

ɀ Thermax, based in Indianapolis, has been qualified to the EN2267-009 and -010 specifications issued by the Certification of Aerospace Standard Products, the company said in April.

ɀ Phoenix Logistics in January said it had successfully completed the requirements to be qualified to Revi-sion C of the AS9100 aerospace quality standard. The aerospace AS standards contain the requirements of ISO 9001 and additional industry requirements and is the Quality Management System for the aerospace and defense industry

ɀ Lockheed Martin in February accepted first article inspection of the first F-35 production harnesses to be supplied by Co-Operative Industries Defense, based in Fort Worth, Texas. Co-Operative Industries was selected to manufacture select electrical wiring harnesses for all F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.


(micron) fiber OM3/OM4 fibers,” he said. However, the challenge has been to get

a user friendly fiber that could just be “cut and used.”

There have been recent advances, such as on the Irvine, Calif.-based Lumex-

is’s fiber to the screen (FTTS), Wadeley said. The system, which TE Connectiv-

ity helped develop and uses that company’s fiber ARINC 810 connectors, is a

“complete fiber solution that gives excellent bandwidth capacity to assist in

implementation of wireless solutions on an ample bandwidth backbone,” said

Wadeley. “There are other systems that are employing partial solution back-

bones, but none have been able to match their bandwidth performance to

date.” The system has attracted three customers to date — flydubai, Transaero

and Pacific Royale Airways.

Along with ARINC 801 termini, TE Connectivity also offers and expanded beam

technologies for fiber optics solutions along with its Quadrax connectors and

cables that support 1-gigabit Ethernet requirements.

“Fiber is a great way to transfer more data and reduce cable size and weight,

(but) I see fiber being more prevalent and accepting in shorter runs, seat-to-seat

IFE [in-flight entertainment] type installations,” said Stuckart. “There is still the

concern and hesitancy with working with fiber optic cable and field terminations;

(however), fiber is a technology that Emteq definitely plans to support,” she said,

adding the company is continuing to focus of developing innovative ways to

expand it high definition aircraft grade cable and is currently “working on multiple

product designs” to meet the “increased demand for longer lengths.”

Currently, “fiber optics and copper cables are both used in aircraft, with cop-

per remaining the dominant media for signal transmission,” said Fyfe. “This

may change over time, but a complete change from copper to fiber optics is not

expected.” While higher bandwidth might be “driving the increased use of fiber

optics, RF, power and system constraints still require improved copper cabling.”

“Copper and fiber always have and always will coexist,” Wadeley said. “As

the higher speeds are implemented the challenge will be to make sure proper

tools/interfaces are employed to assure the end applications employ proper

matched impedance performance that work in concert with the application and

performance demands.”

Meanwhile, “the introduction of copper clad aluminum conductors has offered

huge weight savings to aircraft manufacturers, but these savings have come at

a price,” Wadeley said. “The connector/cable industry is still wrestling with inex-

pensive reliable termination, and because of this, the uptake has been patchy

with only one manufacturer taking wholesale advantage of this new technology.”

Looking to the future, there has been “steady progress” in work with carbon

nanotubes (CNT), said Wadeley. “We are working with key selected customers

investigating several approaches to the solution and have made working proto-

types that are based on the following concepts: CNT, CNT shielded/traditional


Companies

A.E. Petsche Co. ............................................................................................. www.aepetsche.com

Air Harness Manufacturing .................................................................................www.airharness.com

Ametek Aerospace ...............................................................................................www.ametek.com

Amphenol Corp. ............................................................................................... www.amphenol.com

Brand Rex ........................................................................................................ www.brand-rex.com

Calmont Wire & Cable, Inc. ..................................................................................www.calmont.com

Carlisle Interconnect Technologies ........................................................................ www.carlisleit.com

Chippewa Aerospace ....................................................................... www.chippewaaerospace.com

Christensen Industries .......................................................................................www.ci-aviation.com

Co-Operative Industries Aerospace ......................................................................www.coopind.com

Dallas Avionics Inc. ..................................................................................... www.dallasavionics.com

Data Bus Products ................................................................................. www.databusproducts.com

DIT-MCO International ............................................................................................www.ditmco.com

Eaton Corp. ............................................................................................................ www.eaton.com

Electro Enterprises ................................................................................ www.electroenterprises.com

Emteq ................................................................................................................... www.emteq.com

Glenair Inc. ............................................................................................................ www.glenair.com

Habia Cable ...............................................................................................................www.habia.se

H.S. Electronics Inc. ..................................................................................... www.hselectronics.com

InterConnect Wire ................................................................................www.interconnect-wiring.com

kSARIA Corp. ......................................................................................................... www.ksaria.com

Lectromec ....................................................................................................... http://lectromec.com

Marine Air Supply ......................................................................................www.marineairsupply.com

MilesTek Corp. ....................................................................................................www.milestek.com

Nanocomp Technologies .......................................................................... www.nanocomptech.com

Phoenix Logistics ........................................................................................... www.phxlogistics.com

PIC Wire & Cable .................................................................................................. www.picwire.com

Radiall .................................................................................................................... www.radiall.com

SEA Wire & Cable ............................................................................................... www.sea-wire.com

TE Connectivity ............................................................................................................. www.te.com

Teledyne Reynolds ..................................................................................www.teledynereynolds.com

Thermax ................................................................................................www.thermaxconnects.com

Vermillion, Inc. ................................................................................................www.vermillioninc.com

W.L. Gore ................................................................................................................ www.gore.com

WHITMOR/Wirenetics .................................................................................. www.wireandcable.com

WireMasters ....................................................................................................www.wiremasters.net

Woven Electronics Corp. ........................................................................www.wovenelectronics.com

Zippertubing Co. ............................................................................................www.zippertubing.com


conductor, and CNT-metal hybrid constructions,” he said. “This development is still with the AD&M [Aerospace, Defense & Marine] advanced development group but will transition to a manufacturing group sponsorship when it is suf-ficiently mature.”

Last year, Concord, N.H.-based Nanocomp Technologies was awarded a con-tract from Northrop Grumman under the U.S. Army Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech) to develop manufacturing best practices for carbon nanotube cabling and tapes, intended for insertion into aircraft as a replacement for con-ventional copper-based wires and cables.

“Using fiber optics is only one way to reduce weight; other material technolo-gies, such as engineered fluoropolymers, can also offer weight reduction,” said Fyfe. In fact, “the industry would like to have the electrical performance of a normal-weight wire in a lightweight form,” said Tom Sharp, Gore’s new product development specialist. “The trend has been to develop lightweight versions of standard products by using advanced polymers, (but) the challenge is developing an insulation system that is mechanically robust over a wide range of tempera-tures up to 260°C,” said Sharp. “As aircraft begin operating at higher altitudes with extremely cold temperatures, the industry is (also) beginning to request improved low-temperature performance.”

“By manipulating engineered fluoropolymers, we are developing new materi-als that maintain integrity in extreme temperatures and other harsh conditions,” Sharp said.

Gore’s key initiatives are aimed at providing “solutions that maintain electri-cal and mechanical integrity in the challenging aerospace environments,” said Fyfe. “For example, our new cable-based antennas (often referred to as leaky lines or leaky feeders) improve signal propagation without increasing the amount of hardware required on … both wide-body and single-aisle passenger aircraft,” he said. The technology provide access “to different wireless protocols, so pas-sengers can easily connect to in-flight entertainment, Internet servers, and email accounts,” said Fyfe.

The company also offers GORE SKYFLEX Aerospace Materials that provide “long-lasting protection against chafing and abrasion in both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft surfaces.”

Next month: Databus

Avionics Magazine’s Product Focus is a monthly feature that examines some of

the latest trends in different market segments of the avionics industry. It does not

represent a comprehensive survey of all companies and products in these mar-

kets. Avionics Product Focus Editor Ed McKenna can be contacted at

[email protected].

system designb y W a l t e r S h a w l e e 2

PED Situation on Aircraft

This topic has probably ignited more discussion among the air traveling pub-

lic than lost luggage or the in-flight meal service. In our endlessly connect-

ed age, people demand to be spliced into the communication stream 24/7.

How dare a flight attendant tell them you cannot use some device at any

time they desire? Everybody knows this “problem” is a total farce, and nothing bad

will ever happen if they call, text, surf or game with everyone around them, when-

ever they choose. Planes don’t spontaneously explode when they text, and don’t

crash or hit a mountain when they use their cell phones, so it must be a non-issue.

In addition, the existence of planes now equipped with internal Wi-Fi clearly

proves there is nothing to this whole personal electronic device (PED) thing to pas-

sengers, as does the permission to let users whip out their laptops in flight and

click away. So, in the collective minds of flying public, this is just foolishness, and

there isn’t a single piece of solid evidence to justify the ban, and frankly, it’s hard

to blame them. The case has not been reported to change behavior, and frankly

everyone tries to downplay even the likelihood that such a problem exists, for a

variety of legal liability reasons. It’s a hugely frustrating environment to work in for

everyone, especially cabin crews.

So, first things first, do PEDs actually cause in-flight aircraft problems?

NASA maintains an extensive (but voluntary) flight report database called Avia-

tion Safety Reporting

Database, available

at http://asrs.arc.

nasa.gov/search/

database.html. In a

search for all PED

in-flight events, the

database reported

108 occurrences.

The first 50 events

reach back to

2002, which I think

is as far as I want

to go, because

the very nature of

the technology is

changing enough


All PED Events

that I prefer to have

only timely data.

Excluding the reports

of passengers simply

refusing to comply

with legal cabin crew

instructions to stop

using their PED rules

out 30 percent of the

reported events. Also,

if we remove issues

of crew uncertainty

as to whether some

device is acceptable,

and miscategorized

events, we can then

eliminate another 12 percent. That leaves 58 percent of the remaining NASA reports

as genuine in-flight system failures, directly tied to PED operation. That is a signifi-

cant number.

The simple fact that cell operation is even possible inside the aircraft is also unfor-

tunate proof that potentially disruptive emission is possible into aircraft systems from

the passenger area. If the windows, vents and composite structures produced a seam-

less RF shield, then cell operation should not be possible, and neither would interfering

trans-hull emissions into antenna systems.

I was particularly concerned that the largest valid fault report percentage (26 percent)

was tied to fire, smoke and explosions. Before studying the reports, I had not really

considered this a meaningful PED threat (more like a deliberate terrorist act), yet the

report data clearly shows this to be a very significant problem, especially when pas-

sengers attempt to charge any of their electronic devices from onboard power. What

was even more astonishing was the number of events where passengers attempted to

conceal their involvement in the smoke/fire/explosion event, clearly indicating the level

of responsibility people demonstrate in flight even when they are creating a potentially

and visibly dangerous problem is negligible.

Also unexpected were the events tied to TCAS, where flight crews got alarming mes-

sages of imminent airborne collision, and moved the aircraft in response. The frequen-

cies involved are 1030Mhz for query, and 1090Mhz for reply, which matches no known


Relevant PED Events


PED frequency directly. These events are so disturbing I have copied the short synop-

sis of the three events here:

➤ B737-800 FLT CREW EXPERIENCED SEVERAL TCAS RA’S ALLEGEDLY GENER-

ATED BY A WI-FI ENABLED LAPTOP COMPUTER.

➤ A FALSE TCASII RA SENDS A DC9 FLT INTO A CLB TO AVOID A POTENTIAL TAR-

GET 5 MI SE OF BUNTS INTXN, PA.

➤ DC-9 FLT CREW RECEIVED A FALSE TCAS RA DURING DEP CLIMB AND

INCREASED THEIR RATE OF CLB TO AVOID A FALSE TARGET APPARENTLY

GENERATED BY A PAX LAPTOP COMPUTER.

I fully expected to see COM-related problems; my own lab experiments showed

laptops by themselves could easily disturb VHF AM radio transmissions. This was in

turn tied to specific software running as that excited the memory bus and dramatically

increased emissions. Cell phones, two-way pagers and Wi-Fi devices all actively trans-

mitting pose a much bigger RF interference threat to on-board avionics.

No doubt everybody who flies has noticed there is a cabin announcement to stop

using all electronic devices as landing begins, and so the expectation should be that

Localizer and Glide Slope problems should occur in the reports, and they do. This is a

very critical flight phase, especially under IFR conditions, and the potential for an acci-

dent is significant if the situation is not remedied.

Magnetic compass errors are also reported, which should be no surprise, as the flux

valves used to extract magnetic field data (usually wing or tail mounted, to avoid local

magnetic field disturbance) are extremely sensitive, and easily upset by detected RF sig-

nals at the flux valve connections.

To me, the reports that are the most disturbing (after TCAS alerts) are instances where

significant cockpit instrumentation failure occurs. The stress in the cockpit this gener-

ates is very significant, and the potential for flight mis-cues and errors is profound, not

to mention being alarming from an electronic interference viewpoint. Here are the con-

densed reports:

➤ A B757-200’S L FUEL GAUGE BLANKED AFTER TKOF AND BECAME OPER-

ABLE PRIOR TO LNDG. CREW SUSPECTS POSSIBLE PED INTERFERENCE.

➤ A B767 HAS MULTIPLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS INCLUDING

LOSS OF ENG AND FLT INSTRUMENTS AS WELL AS CTL OF AUTO FLT SYS-

TEMS FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME DURING CRUISE FLT. PAX STATED IT

WAS A NEW PHONE BY AT&T, MODEL SIEMENS CEO168, HE WAS INSTALLING

NEW PHONE NUMBERS IN DATA BANK AND NOT TALKING ON PHONE.

The issue here is PED/TPED RF emissions are affecting non-RF systems, which

means the pulse energy or data interference is also reaching into other system wiring

system design


within the cabin area, with serious repercussions. This suggests further shielding or

conduit runs are also required to protect wiring not involved with shipboard radio sys-

tems per se, if they transit the passenger cabin area.

Let’s think about numbers and risks. The reluctance to file any optional and poten-

tially inflammatory report is high, and there is a large disincentive for any airline or

airframe maker to generate such reports or encourage their generation or discussion,

since it highlights a potential problem. In addition, many flight crews do not have the

time or inclination to try a cabin scan for PEDs as serious problems occur, so many

events just get recorded (if at all) in the aircraft snag reports as intermittent problems,

and get “resolved” as No Fault Found (NFF) subsequently.

If we ignore all flight except commercial airline flights, that is roughly 28,000 a day

in the United States, out of 87,000 total per day. Worldwide there were roughly 93,000

commercial airline flights per day as of 2008. That is a lot of flying, and relatively few

PED event reports, far less than even one a day. It is not unreasonable to assume only

10 percent or even less of PED events get voluntary reports, but even at 1,080 per 10

years that is still a vanishingly small flight percentage. The odds of a reported PED

flight event seem to be roughly 1 in 100,000. Keep in mind, however, over this same

period, there were more than 418,000 incident reports filed in the NASA database, and

some of these are certainly PED related, but reported as intermittent problems, so the

real incidence and correlation remains hard to establish. The only certainty is a real

problem.

An objective person has to conclude that while aircraft systems are affected by

PEDs, the incidence of events is low, frankly a testament to good avionics and airframe

design, and the relentless announcements to passengers. Unfortunately for everyone,

the landscape is changing for the far worse with regard to passenger equipment RF

emissions, and it is a big mistake to assume the low voluntary report rates, and inci-

dents of mild severity are going to remain the norm.

The most significant change to the cabin ecosystem is PEDs with accidental

Relevant PED Events

system design


emissions are now being supplanted by Transmitting PEDs (T-PED), devices that

deliberately emit high levels of RF. This means increased RF levels by 80-100dB, a

huge increase. This includes cell phones (now in many bands, up to 2Ghz), both 2.4

and 5.8Ghz Wi-Fi within many devices not thought of specifically as radios, Bluetooth

devices which can have significant range, FRS (Family Radio Service), CB radios, ISM

band devices, two-way pagers, and all manner of handheld radios from low band VHF

to over 1 Ghz, and many GPS-enabled devices which can act as secondary emitters,

usually from local oscillator injection. Any or all of these could be operated in the cabin

area either deliberately or accidentally. In fact, all the aviation communication and navi-

gation bands are now bracketed both above and below by a sea of potential RF emis-

sions, and are now clearly at risk.

Keep in mind, all RF emissions at any frequency also contain harmonics, unwanted

spurious content, and produce mixer (sum and difference) products at the victim

receivers. This synergistic unhappiness dramatically increases the chances of acci-

dental “in-band” interference, even though no emitting source is nominally actually

“on” that frequency intentionally. The potential is also there for highly elevated noise

floor levels, which can compromise system operation, especially for GPS, which is an

extremely low level service.

In addition, new aircraft have increased composite structures with no shielding, pro-

viding much easier RF contamination paths, and lower resistance to unwanted signal

contamination. This trend is especially profound in helicopters, which not only have

huge window areas and tightly packed cabins with antennas very close by, but now

have minimal RF shielding in literally every direction.

Human Behavior

It’s important to look at passengers behavior while in flight. In 2006, the IEEE published a

very useful study, in which researchers spent three months in 2003 scanning 37 domes-

tic flights for PED emissions. They found passengers used cell phones on the average

at least one to four times per flight, even during landing, and despite being told not to

do so. They also found emissions could clearly interfere with GPS reception, echoing

NASA studies. In addition, they detected signals showing at least one phone was on and

attempting to attach to a network. As noted earlier, it is unrealistic to expect passengers

to do anything to curtail PED use, even to maintain their own safety.

it is the combination of multiple sources, and their combined spurious emissions, that erode the safety margin of operating avionics systems.


The article also confirmed what I have seen in testing — it is the combination of mul-

tiple sources, and their combined spurious emissions, that erode the safety margin of

operating avionics systems. It is the gap between what FAA accepts as allowable sig-

nals and what the FCC accepts as allowable spurious emissions in approved devices

that is the root of the problem. GPS, DME, NAV and COM interference were all observed

though combinatorial interference using FCC approved devices. The key to this situation

is to control the environment so that even passenger non-compliance does not threaten

airworthiness.

Both the FCC and PED equipment makers are to blame for these potential PED prob-

lems. FCC permitted spurious emission levels are far too high and enforcement of com-

pliance, especially on imported low end equipment is minimal, and largely self-policed.

Many items from kid’s toys to music players have no real FCC oversight, yet are plastic-

housed significant emitters loaded with noisy digital circuits, and often wireless links as

T-PEDs.

Little or no effort is expended to make “airplane” mode easy to find on equipment like

cell phones to iPads, and many items have no clearly marked power-off switch. Some-

thing as simple as a certification “flight safe” program to check equipment for unwanted

emissions would totally change the dynamic created by the toothless government regu-

lations in force. Making certification compliance a USER and MAKER effort issue, not a

flight crew issue is a critical safety step we are currently missing.

It is very important to note that once spurious emissions standards are set (and espe-

cially if they are set poorly), then component makers and designers will use them as the

de facto design levels. Filters and other related parts will be made to those specs, and no

effort will ever be made to improve them by any manufacturer. There is simply no reason

to do so, and a direct financial disadvantage to do it.

Lack of an incoming emissions test of passengers is the next practical problem to

overcome. Self-check-in makes this much worse, as there is no opportunity to advise

passengers or determine if they are cooperative enough for flight. A simple RF scan as

people travel through the gangway, with a divert back if emissions are found, would be a

hugely helpful tool.

In addition, it is important to include warning information in the seat pocket hand-out,

not to leave the RF defense to over-worked and harried flight attendants. It must spell

out all electronic equipment is to be OFF during take off and landing, and communication

from the plane during approach, take off and landing is an actionable offense according

to Homeland Security. Some action by Sky Marshals is preferable periodically to clarify

that it is not a joke.

Physical proximity is an important issue for interference, and small aircraft and heli-

copters are much more susceptible to PED/T-PED interference than larger airlines simply

system design


because the close proximity of the user to the system, and the lack of shielded bar-

riers. Helicopters are an especially difficult problem because the use of unshielded

composites is now common, it is not easy to even achieve good antenna perfor-

mance, and inter-system interference is the norm rather than the exception. Add-

ing the RF burden of PEDs and T-PEDs simply increases problems for every system

because shielding between the user and the victim system is negligible in almost

every direction.

The normal use of a cell phone or other T-PED is often by the user’s head, and thus

close to the outer top skin of the airframe, this makes coupling to the coax cable

runs, as well as through the windows to the antennas more likely. NASA studies on

airliners showed a series of coupling models that clearly highlight windows, air ducts,

composites and door seams as the principal emission pathways into external anten-

nas. This coupling factor was about 80 to 85dB in a large aircraft, amazingly high

when you consider there is no real line of sight possible.

The smaller the airframe is, the higher the coupling factor, and so the higher the

chances of unwanted interference to onboard systems. In addition, roof access coax

feedlines will be most susceptible to T-PEDs, a factor often easily forgotten. Hardening the Airframe:

1. Windows seem to be the key to RF suppression in large ships, but simply may not

be effective in helicopters due to their physical design. Use of either clear conduc-

tive coatings like ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) (up to ~40dB attenuation) or conductive

micromesh (up to 60-80dB) can dramatically reduce both RF leakage out, as well as

incoming signals to discourage users from attempting cell phone calls.

2. Use of extra shielding on all antenna feedlines, with the outer (non-current-carrying)

shield bonded at each mounting clamp. This is in essence, a Triaxial cable with the

outer braid treated for non-corrosion, and externally exposed and clamped. Use

of an inner foil to achieve 100 percent coverage under the braid is recommended.

A single cable conduit is also ideal if possible at airframe construction time. In

essence, provide a well shielded path for any RF cables transiting the passenger

cabin area.

3. Use of a well-grounded thin cover foil over all wiring exposed to the cabin area, so

that all cabin exposed wire runs are shielded from gross signals, especially in over-

head areas.

4. Use of passivated conductive seam tape over all mechanical body seams, and con-

ductive mesh filters in air ducts. Add door RF finger seals if possible.

5. Install an RF tight quarantine area for problem devices found in flight. Use of a zip

lock highly conductive bag may also work if the item is left with the passenger.


6. Install RF sniffer monitors or provide portable sniffers for crew in the cabin to look for

problem RF transmissions.

7. Install Radiax (leaky cable) or GORE Cable-Based Antenna style internal Wi-Fi sys-

tems (probably floor run to avoid roof mounted GPS antenna interference), with

demonstrated non-interference to ship’s systems. This provides the 2-way pathway

for useful and safe passenger communication at low RF levels. Make it under pilot

control, so it can be disabled during approach/landing and take-off. Use a 50 ohm

attenuator to reduce system output, and stabilize the cable to reduce unwanted

emissions due to ringing.

8. Modify any cabin wall sound insulation to also be RF absorbent, to dramatically

reduce reflections within the cabin and emissions into wiring.

Part of the fix to this problem is somewhat counter-intuitive, namely, implement one

effective Wi-Fi access method for all to use for free, which can be effectively controlled,

and try and render other T-PEDS ineffective, to discourage their use. In this way, the RF

environment can be made useful to passengers, but safe for on-board avionics. In addi-

tion, focus on this frequency allows direct frequency filtering to remove it, rather than

some kind of very lossy wideband filter in every system as a control technique.

The simple go-no-go test for a successfully hardened ship will be that reception of out-

side cell networks is not possible, but use of the internal Wi-Fi network is possible inside

only. If this can be achieved, then the likelihood of PED/T-PED transmission as a fault

trigger is dramatically reduced, and passengers can still have the link they insist on for

outside communication.

It is important to understand that short of removing all PEDs and T-PEDs from pas-

sengers, totally safe cabin operation is not possible, but it is possible to mitigate most

threats far better than we are doing now. This will have a weight and cost penalty that is

not trivial, unfortunately, but the risks are increasing, so some effective plan needs to be

implemented.

I would have had a lot more confidence in ship shielding as a viable tool if I had not

done experiments. To really consider physical shielding as effective, I felt I should be

able to show this effect using ambient signals over a 1Ghz range, an antenna linked to a

spectrum analyzer, and a suitable shield.

In my test, I used a small broadband test Yagi antenna tied to my IFR A-7550, and a

desktop 1Ghz TEM cell (shielded RF test chamber, which will come into play again later

in our search for emissions).

This really highlights the shielding problem of an aircraft. Relative to handheld PEDs

and T-PEDs, the aircraft is NOT an effective shield, since the skin is a floating element,

acting more like an antenna element than a shield. In fact, the aircraft, by virtue of its

system design


insulated tires, is never really grounded at any time, and so not hugely effective as a

shield relative to floating internal items and external fields. Helicopters landing on metal

skid tubes are probably the only aircraft to ever become truly grounded. The airframe

skin will work for internal (airframe grounded) avionics, but may never be truly effective

for external fields. This is a situation not unlike being able to operate your cell phone in an

elevator high up, which despite being a sealed metal box, can still operate.

These are very low-level emissions, and frankly are impressively so. For reference, the

signature from my iPad was similar, but my homemade larger TEM cell that it fits in is not

clean enough to use as a public data source, but take comfort from the fact that the iPad

is also a low (but not zero) emitter.

Please note though emissions exist, and certainly at frequencies not expected. This is

the story of almost all PEDs and T-PEDs, they all add to the RF background, and T-PEDs

dramatically so. Once you blend together 100 of these in the cabin area, the picture

becomes a lot murkier as to how safe they really are going to be in flight.

Any plan going forward has to recognize the unwillingness of passengers to cooperate,

and the increasing RF pollution we will face. I doubt there is a single solution for every air-

frame, but I believe it is possible to improve the situation if everyone makes some effort.

Clearly the risks are not zero, so doing nothing, especially in the face of rising T-PED RF

levels and widening frequency coverage is just not going to be a viable option.

Walter Shawlee 2 is the president of Sphere Research Corp. in West Kelowna, British

Columbia, Canada, and a senior designer at Technisonic Industries. He can be reached at

[email protected].


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Supply Agreeemnt

Mid-Continent Instrument and Avionics,

based in Wichita, Kan., signed a distribu-

tion and supply agreement with A123 Sys-

tems, of Waltham, Mass., by which Mid-

Continent will offer A123’s Nanophosphate

lithium-ion battery technology for aviation

applications. Mid-Continent’s True Blue

Power division initially began by offering

two inverters and the TS835 Emergency

Power Supply. Under the agreement, True

Blue Power will provide lithium-ion cells,

modules and custom power solutions to

the aviation community.

Visit www.truebluepowerusa.

FAA STC ODA

FAA awarded Pro Star Aviation, of Lon-

donberry, N.H., a Letter of Designation

for the FAA Supplemental Type Certifi-

cate (STC) Organization Designation

Authorization. This designation allows

Pro Star Aviation to act on behalf of FAA

Mission Computer

Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense

Solutions (CWCDS) introduced the

Multi-Platform Mission Computer

(MPMC) 9105 VMC (Versatile Mission

Computer). The system is an ultra

compact, volume optimized sys-

tem designed for space, weight and

power (SWaP)-constrained vetronics

and avionics applications, the com-

pany said. This COTS subsystem

features a compact and lightweight

small form factor ideal for use on

platforms such as UAVs, helicopters

and ground vehicles.

The MPMC-9105 VMC meets or surpasses the MIL-STD-810F Test Method Stan-

dard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, and for

EMI as per MIL-STD-461 Requirements for the Control of EMI Characteristics of

Subsystems. It will meet a wide range of environmental tests including temperature,

altitude, shock, vibration, fluid susceptibility, voltage spikes, and electrostatic dis-

charge. The circuit cards installed in the sealed compact chassis are completely iso-

lated from external environmental conditions such as humidity, dust and sand. Visit

www.cwcdefense.com.

new products


when approving and issuing STCs.

As an ODA, Pro Star Aviation said it

will manage and control STC projects

from start to finish with minimal over-

sight from FAA. Visit www.prostaravia-

tion.com.

Satcom Device

DeLorme, of Yarmouth, Maine, intro-

duced inReach two-way satellite com-

municator. The Iridium system allows for

two-way personal text messaging, mes-

sage delivery confirmation, SOS alerting

and remote GPS real-time Flight Fol-

lowing/Ping-Me Locating. The inReach

device also interfaces wirelessly with

Android and Apple smartphones.

Visit www.delorme.com.

Sales Office

Innovative Solutions & Support, of

Exton, Pa., opened an Atlanta sales and

field service office to support its prod-

ucts in the commercial air transport,

military and corporate/business aviation

market segments.

The office is located at 100 Hartsfield

Centre Parkway, Suite 535, Atlanta, Ga.,

30354. Visit www.innovative-ss.com.

1553 Integration

Data Device Corp. (DDC), of Bohemia,

N.Y., added real-time LabWindows/CVI

and LabVIEW functionality to its Lab-

VIEW support package. The expanded

BU-69093 package allows engineers to

integrate Mil-Std-1553 and ARINC 429

hardware and software systems ensur-

ing the utmost data integrity while sav-

ing valuable time, effort and cost, the

company said.

Visit www.ddc-web.com.

Electronic Flight Bag

Jeppesen introduced Boeing Enroute

Application, a Class 3 electronic flight bag

(EFB) system that replaces paper en route

charts in the flight deck for commercial

operators.

It is designed for use with certified and

integrated aircraft EFB systems, desig-

nated as Class 3. The Boeing Enroute

Application provides an interactive, data-

driven en route display based on naviga-

tion information from Jeppesen’s global

en route library, the company said.

The Boeing Enroute Application is

compatible for integration with Block

Point 3.7 and 4.4 EFB platforms. Pilots

using the Boeing Enroute Application

are able to filter preferred en route dis-

play information through selection of

airports, airways, waypoints, airspace,

NAVAIDs and terrain on-screen.

Visit www.jeppesen.com.

Hardware Certifications

TriaGnoSys, based in Oberpfaffenhofen,

Germany, has been awarded EASA Part

21 Design Organization and Production

Organization Approvals, meaning the

company can build, design and certify

hardware for aircraft.

In conjunction, TriaGnoSys has

received EASA ETSO certification for its


GSMConneX system, which includes

the AeroBTS+ in-flight entertainment

and connectivity platform that provides

GSM mobile phone and Wi-Fi services,

as well as wireless distribution of IFE

content. Visit triagnosys.com.

Distribution Partner

OnAir and Inmarsat signed a contract

finalizing the appointment of OnAir as

the first Aviation Distribution Partner for

Global Xpress (GX), the global Ka-band

network to provide in-flight broadband

connectivity for the aeronautical market.

OnAir currently uses Inmarsat Swift-

Broadband (SBB) to provide the con-

nectivity for Mobile OnAir and Internet

OnAir, and has been jointly working with

Inmarsat on a deployment path from

SBB to GX.

Visit www.onair.aero.

Legend Panel

Cobham has added another removable

legend panel to the N301A family of

audio controllers. The N301A-3xx series

includes a selection switch that allows

operators to choose compatibility of the

N301A between commercial and military

headsets.

Cobham’s removable legends are

available in kits with multiple text

options, including international languag-

es, and legends are customizable to suit

operator specification.

Cobham’s N301A may be used in

new installations where single or mul-

tiple-user networks (up to 10 stations)

are required. User-controlled features

include enhanced noise reduction capa-

bility, split receive and intercom sys-

tem volume controls, Voice Operated

eXchange squelch control, an additional

RX input for the auxiliary transmit posi-

tion, and an extra nav aid position.

Visit www.cobham.com.

Fleet Management

Blue Sky Network, of La Jolla, Calif.,

released its New SkyRouter mobile

application, a fleet management portal

for land mobile, aviation, and marine

applications. It is a cloud-based sys-

tem designed to support connectivity

with remotely dispersed mobile assets.

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (Requester Publications Only) 1. Publication Title: Avionics Magazine 2. Publication Number: 1085-9284 3. Filing Date: 10/4/2012 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 12 6. An-nual Subscription Price &99. Complete Mailing Address of Known OfÞce of Publication: Access Intelligence, 4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-4024 Contact: George Severine Telephone: 301-354-1706 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business OfÞce Publisher: Access Intelligence, NNC, 4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-4024 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Maging Editor: Publisher: Randy Jones, 4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-4024 Editor: Emily Feliz, 4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-4024 Managing Editor: Debra Richards, 4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-4024 10. Owner if the publication is owned by a corporation, give the name and address of the corporation immediately followed by the names and ad-dresses of all stockholders owning or holding 1 percent or more of the total amount of stock: Veronis Suhler Stevenson, 55 East 52nd Street, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10055 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or other Securities: None 12. Non-proÞt organiza-tion: not applicable. 13. Publication: Avionics Magazine 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: September 2012. Average No. of No. Copies of 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Copies Each Issue Single issue During Preceding Nearest to 12 Months Filing Datea. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) 9.723 10,164b. Negitimate Paid and/or Requested Distribution (1) Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions 7.703 7.719 (2) Inside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions 0 0 (3) Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, 357 328 and Other Paid or Requested Distribution outside USPS (4) Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes 9 8c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 8,069 8,055d. Nonrequested Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail) (1) Outside County Nonrequested Copies 553 549 (2) Inside-County Nonrequested Copies 0 0 (3) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail 0 0 (4) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail (Include Pickup Stands, Trade Shows, Showrooms, and Other Sources) 735 1,201e. Total Norequested Distribution 1,288 1,750 f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) 9,357 9,805g. Copies not Distributed (OfÞce, Returns, Spoilage, Unused) 366 359 h. Total (Sum of 15f and g) 9.723 10,164i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 86.23% 81.15%17. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November 2012 issue of this publication18. Signature of Owner: Don Pazour Date: 10/4/2012 PS Form 3526-R, August 2012


The system provides fleet managers

with around-the-clock connectivity with

assets via most Android or iOS mobile

phones or tablets, the company said.

Visit www.blueskynetwork.com.

ADS-B Capabilities

PASSUR Aerospace, of Stamford,

Conn., is integrating and displaying

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-

Broadcast (ADS-B) into its PASSUR

Integrated Traffic Management

(PITM) system. PITM is a web-hosted

integrated business intelligence platform

that targets key constraints through the

entire lifecycle of the flight, in order to

optimize fuel costs and other financial

metrics, carbon emissions, schedule

integrity, and the passenger experience,

the company said.

PITM is built on a proprietary network

of radar surveillance systems installed

throughout North America and interna-

tionally, integrated aviation databases

with historical archives, predictive ana-

lytical algorithms, and decision support

software. Visit www.passur.com.

U.K. Citation Center

Cessna opened the first Cessna-owned

Citation Service Center in the U.K.,

located at Robin Hood Airport Don-

caster Sheffield. The 50,000-square-

foot facility, rebranded as the Doncaster

Citation Service Center, offers a range

of services from maintenance to mod-

ernization and paint. Previously known

as Kinch Aviation Services, the business

has operated for 15 years and been a

Cessna authorized service facility for the

past four years. It becomes the fourth

Cessna-operated Citation Service Cen-

ter in Europe.

Visit www.cessna.com.

Phone STC

International Communications Group

(ICG), of Newport News, Va., received

two FAA Supplemental Type Certificates

(STC) for its ePhone cordless cabin tele-

phone system. Working with Chicago

Jet Group, ICG completed the first STC

on a Falcon 900 and collaborated with

L2 Consulting Services to complete

the requirements for a second STC for

the installation of the Digital Enhanced

Cordless Telephone device on a Boeing

737-800 operated by a U.S. airline.

The first STC covers the ePhone’s

docking station, handset and base unit

on the Falcon 900. Visit www.icg.aero.

ATM Support Tools

Lockheed Martin announced the avail-

ability of The Logic Suite, a set of deci-

sion support tools that helps connect

more passengers to their flights, reduc-

es surface congestion at airports and

lowers operating costs for airlines.

The Logic Suite is comprised of Ramp

Logic, which forecasts when an aircraft

is ready to depart; Departure Logic,

which allocates airline departure slots

based on runway availability and air

traffic constraints; Flight Logic, which

allows airlines to perform a risk analy-


sis of a flight plan based on current and

potential future restrictions (i.e., weather

delays) in the National Airspace (NAS);

and Flow Logic, which enables collab-

orative traffic flow management.

Visit www.lockheedmartin.com.

In-Seat Power

Astronics AES aircraft cabin power

system, manufactured by Astronics

Corp., based in East Aurora, N.Y., is

now available for sale as a stand-alone

5 Volt DC In-Seat USB charging sys-

tem designed to charge the latest pas-

senger electronics devices. This latest

EMPOWER stand-alone 5 Volt DC USB

In-Seat Power charging system provides

power to four individual USB Outlet

Units capable of simultaneously charg-

ing four iPads.

Visit www.astronics.com.

Distributor Agreement

Geotest-Marvin Test Systems has

named CoreTest Technologies a distrib-

utor for its TS-900 Semiconductor Test

product line in the U.K. and Ireland.

CoreTest Technologies, in Lincoln,

U.K., has experience supporting prod-

ucts for semiconductor and PCB test

in many market sectors including semi-

conductor manufacturing, automotive

electronics, consumer electronics, med-

ical electronics, aerospace, and military

and defense.

Visit www.geotestinc.com.

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19878

Robert K. Ortberg, Philip J. Jasper

Rockwell Collins appointed Robert K. Ortberg as the company’s

president. He joins Clayton M. Jones, who continues as chairman

and CEO, in the newly formed Office of the Chief Executive.

As president, Ortberg is primarily responsible for the operational

management of the company, including oversight of its commer-

cial and government businesses and supporting functions. He was

formerly executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company’s

Government Systems business, and previously served as executive vice president

and chief operating officer of Commercial Systems.

Additionally, the company has also named Philip J. Jasper executive vice presi-

dent and chief operating officer of Government Systems. Jasper has more than

20 years’ experience with Rockwell Collins, including previous roles as vice presi-

dent, business development, and vice president, mobility and rotary wing solu-

tions for the company’s Government Systems business.

ICG Personnel Additions

International Communications Group (ICG), based in Newport News, Va., is

expanding its workforce.

Davert Leong has been hired as an electrical engineer. Leong joined ICG

after five years of service in the U.S. Army and with the California Army

National Guard.

David Casey was appointed lead embedded software engineer. Casey

brings experience in systems and software development associated with

GPS receivers, flight controls and multifunction displays. He spent 15 years

with Rockwell Collins, and previously worked at Honeywell, the Department

of the Army and GE.

Doyle Sisson was named project manager. Sisson has more than 25 years of

experience in aviation business development and program management. Pre-

vious employers include Boeing, Raytheon, AIS and Laird Technologies. More

recently, he was senior program manager at BaySys Technologies.

Additionally, Debbie Glass has been added as a technical writer. Glass joined

ICG from Avidyne Corp., where she wrote installation and maintenance manuals

for primary/multi-function flight display units. Previously, she worked for Rock-

well International and United Space Alliance.

Larry Levine, Darby Shields

Teledyne Controls, based in El Segundo, Calif., named Larry Levine vice

president of sales and marketing, with overall responsibility for the company’s

Robert K. Ortberg


people


worldwide Sales, Marketing and Customer Account Management

teams.

Levine comes to Teledyne Controls with more than 30 years in the

aviation industry and solid experience in sales and marketing. Prior to

joining Teledyne, he was with Boeing in the Commercial Aviation Ser-

vices organization for more than 13 years. Previously, he also worked

with Decrane Aircraft Holdings, Litton Aero Products and Lockheed Martin.

Darby Shields, the former vice president of sales and marketing, is now in

charge of a new Business Development and Program organization at Teledyne

Controls focused on e-enabled solutions.

Scott McKenzie

Duncan Aviation, based in Lincoln, Neb., named Scott McKenzie

an avionics technical representative.

In this new position, he will provide technical service as well as

troubleshooting in support of avionics and instruments. In addition

to supporting customers with their avionics and instrument ques-

tions, McKenzie will assist in expanding the Duncan Aviation avionics bench

capabilities.

Gerry Block

Gerry Block, president and CEO of Sandel Avionics, has been appointed to the

General Aviation Manufacture Association (GAMA) board. GAMA is an interna-

tional trade association representing more than 75 of the world’s leading manu-

facturers of general aviation airplanes and rotorcraft, engines, avionics, compo-

nents and related services.

George Novak

George Novak has joined the Aerospace Industries Association as assistant vice

president of civil aviation. Most recently, Novak was director of safety, borders

and security with InterVISTAS Consulting. While at the firm he also worked on

regulatory and compliance issues, aircraft certification strategies and on interna-

tional policy issues involved with FAA, EU and ICAO standards.

Novak began his professional career in 1983 as an attorney with FAA. Sub-

sequently he worked as a consultant on a variety of U.S. and international legal

and regulatory issues for manufacturers, air carriers, airports and civil aviation

authorities.

John Bullis, Christian Zumkeller

Universal Avionics Systems, based in Tucson, Ariz., named John Bullis

regional sales manager of Northern Europe. Bullis is based out of London, and

Larry Levine

Scott McKenzie


responsible for the overall growth and development of Universal

Avionics’ product sales in the Northern European region.

Bullis began his career with Universal Avionics in 1998 in the posi-

tion of avionics technician, later moving into his most recent position

as field service engineer.

Concurrent with Bullis’ transition to regional sales manager for

Northern Europe, Christian Zumkeller transitions to regional sales manager for

Southern Europe.

West Star Sales Team

West Star Aviation announced changes within its sales team. Greg Byrnes has

been named senior vice president, sales, while Rick Brainard, previously vice

president of sales, has been named vice president of business development.

Byrnes was most recently vice president, sales and new business development

at Gulfstream Aerospace. At West Star, he will be responsible for generating the

maintenance and modification sales.

In his new position, Brainard’s primary responsibility will be the development of

new business for West Star. This includes the aircraft dealer and aircraft broker net-

work, managed fleet and fractional groups, as well as bankers and financial groups

associated with the leasing and financing of business aircraft.

John Bullis

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2013

February

12-14 ATM World Congress, IFEMA, Madrid, Spain. Visit www.worldatmcongress.org.

March

4-7 Heli-Expo 2013, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas. Visit www.heliexpo.com.

12-14 ATC Global, Amsterdam RAI Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Visit www.atcglobalhub.com.

25-28 Aircraft Electronics Association International Convention and Trade Show, MGM Grand

Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas. Visit www.aea.net.

April

9-11 Aircraft Interiors Expo, Hamburg Messe, Hamburg, Germany. Visit www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com.

8-10 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center,

National Harbor, Md. Visit www.seaairspace.org.

16–18 Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE), Shanghai Hawker Pacific

Business Aviation Service Centre, Shanghai, China. Visit www.abace.aero

22-26 AMC Open Forum and AEEC General Session, Hilton Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Fla.

Visit www.aviation-ia.com.

May

21-23 European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE),

Geneva PALEXPO and Geneva International Airport, Geneva, Switzerland.

Visit www.ebace.aero.

June

17-23 Paris Airshow, Le Bourget, Paris. Visit www.paris-air-show.com.

July

29-Aug. 4 EAA AirVenture, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis.

Visit www.eaa.org.


calendar


Pg Advertiser Web Address

5 Carlisle Interconnect Technologies ........ www.CarlisleIT.com

17 Emteq Inc. ....................................................www.emteq.com

31 Esterline Power Systems ........................................................

........................................ www.esterline.com/powersystems

2 Goodrich ................................................. www.goodrich.com

7A Honeywell Aerospace ............................www.honeywell.com

10 PIC Wire & Cable ...............................www.picwire.com/avm

ad index

August

12-15 Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems

2013, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Visit www.auvsi.org.

September

9-12 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Annual Expo. Anaheim, Calif. Visit http://

apex.aero.

October

21-23 Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition,

Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Visit www.ausa.org

22-24 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting & Convention, Las Vegas

Convention Center, Las Vegas. Visit www.nbaa.org

November

17-21 Dubai Airshow, Dubai World Central, Dubai. Visit www.dubaiairshow.aero.

A FREE Avionics Magazine Webinar!

UAV programs continue to evolve rapidly with a wide range of applications and requirements develop-ing in both military/government and civil operations. Datalinks are critical to UAV operations and traditional

Line-of-Sight (LOS) technologies have certain limitations, requir-ing alternative datalink solutions to accomplish their missions. Satellite based datalinks provide an excellent alternative while offering a Beyond-Line-Of-Sight (BLOS) capability. With recent advancements in Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband satellite services and newer generation terminals which are smaller, lighter and less expensive to deploy without compromising on performance are now available today with more developments in the near future to support and enhance UAV operations globally.

In this webinar, panelists will discuss the use of Inmarsat SwiftBroadband terminals to extend and enhance UAV operations. Using satcom data links such as SwiftBroad-band can bring a unique set of capabilities to both UAV manufacturers and operators due to the latest generation of services and hardware.

Panelists from leading terminal manufacturer Thrane & Thrane, a Cobham company, service provider Inmarsat and systems integrator Cahon Systems will present their per-spectives and insights on how to select the right terminal, service and con�guration to meet the needs of a beyond-line-of-sight solution for UAV applications.

Beyond Line of Sight: Using Satcom Datalinks to Enhance UAV Operations

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 | 11 a.m. ET

Barry Jackson

Founder and Chairperson of the Board of Directors

Cahon Systems

Andy Beers

Director, Aeronautical Sales for the Americas Region

Thrane & Thrane Cobham SATCOM

Panelists:

Emily Feliz

Editor in Chief, Avionics Magazine

Moderator:

For information, or to register, visit

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avionics magazine november 2012

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