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Lilium Starts the Next Phase of Flight Testing in Spain

Lilium has begun the next phase of flight testing for its eVTOL aircraft at the ATLAS Flight Test Center in Villacarrillo, Spain. (Photo courtesy of Lilium)

Lilium announced this week that it is now performing test flights in Spain using the Phoenix 2, the company’s 5th generation technology demonstrator. This next phase of flight tests is taking place at the ATLAS (Air Traffic Laboratory for Advanced Unmanned Systems) Flight Test Center in Villacarrillo. The Phoenix 2 aircraft previously underwent successful flight testing in southern Germany in 2021. Lilium plans to perform a full flight test campaign at the ATLAS Flight Test Center over the next several months.

Although flight testing has already begun, another demonstrator aircraft—the Phoenix 3—is scheduled to arrive this summer for its first flight. With the addition of a second demonstrator, the Lilium team anticipates being able to accelerate the flight test campaign significantly as well as reducing program risks, according to the media release announcing the flight test.

A spokesperson from Lilium told Avionics in an emailed statement, “We’re excited to have kicked off our flight testing in Spain. We moved our test campaign to the ATLAS Flight Test Center for the excellent weather conditions as well as the optimal infrastructure.”

As testing continues, the plan is “to extend the flight envelope through full transition and high-speed flight.” The ATLAS Center provides a large, unpopulated area for aircraft testing, including high-speed wing-borne flight. “The modern facilities and support from the Andalusian Foundation for Aerospace Development (“FADA”) and Center for Advanced Aerospace Technologies (“CATEC”) have been instrumental in setting Lilium up for a successful flight test campaign,” according to Lilium.

The Co-Founder and CEO of Lilium, Daniel Wiegand, expressed his excitement at having started this phase of flight testing. “This step takes us even closer to reaching our goal of creating a sustainable and accessible mode of high-speed, low noise regional air mobility,” he remarked.

Pictured is Lilium’s 5th generation technology demonstrator performing a test flight in Germany. (Lilium)

Lilium’s aircraft is a five-seater electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet. The design of the 7-Seater eVTOL configuration was revealed just over a year ago. Lilium also announced a merger with Qell Acquisition Corp. at the same time and became a publicly listed company.

Last year, Lilium shared news of two partnerships that have accelerated development of their 7-Seater Jet and brought them closer to launching operations. In July, the battery manufacturer CUSTOMCELLS agreed to provide customized, high-performance lithium-ion batteries for Lilium’s eVTOL aircraft. A $1 billion purchase order from Brazilian airline Azul S.A. made headlines in August 2021. The airline agreed to partner with Lilium and build an exclusive network for the 7-Seater Jet in Brazil.

In March 2022, NetJets—a fractional aircraft operator—entered into a purchase agreement with Lilium for up to 150 of the six-passenger aircraft. In the collaboration, Lilium expects to implement a fractional ownership model to offer the eVTOLs to private individuals in addition to extending their commercial offering through direct sales.

Up until the end of March, the team at Lilium had anticipated achieving certification in 2024 from both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In a message from CEO Daniel Wiegand on March 30, the timeline for certification was pushed back to 2025. “Based on the current status of our design activities to develop the safest possible aircraft, our discussions with regulators, and even taking into account two years of COVID and the continued global supply chain disruption, we plan to start building our first handful of conforming aircraft—the only type of aircraft that can be used for certification—next year (2023),” he wrote. “Upon completion of the conforming aircraft build process we will then spend the following 15–18 months running our final test campaign.”

The post Lilium Starts the Next Phase of Flight Testing in Spain appeared first on Aviation Today.

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New Universal Avionics Connected FMS Technology Ready to Fly This Year

Universal Avionics provided a demonstration of its new FlightPartner—pictured here—and FlightReview “Connectivity Ecosystem” applications during the 2022 Aircraft Electronics Association’s annual convention last week in New Orleans. (Universal Avionics)

The new “Connectivity Ecosystem” technology from Universal Avionics that gives pilots the ability to connect their iPads to their flight management system (FMS) could see its first passenger-carrying flights this year, according to a demonstration of FlightPartner and FlightReview provided to Avionics International during last week’s Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) convention in New Orleans.

Universal Avionics first launched its new connected FMS technology as the cloud-based FlightPartner and FlightReview “Connectivity Ecosystem” iPad applications during the 2021 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference and exhibition. Both iPad apps are hosted on a secure data cloud maintained by the Arizona-based avionics maker and are capable of two-way communications, data collection, and uploading and downloading of FMS and other avionics systems data.

FlightPartner is the more pilot-centric of the two applications, allowing pilots to build and file a complete flight plan on their iPad, upload it to the FMS upon aircraft power-up, and dynamically alter it throughout the flight. The application is also capable of managing navigation or synthetic vision system database updates for the FMS.

Jean-Marie Bégis, director of product management and partnerships for Universal Avionics, provided a demonstration of how pilots can also use FlightPartner to send re-routing updates wirelessly to the FMS directly from their iPad using a tablet and FMS at their booth at AEA. Based on flight planning actions performed by the pilot, such as pre-populating the flight plan with winds and temperatures aloft, the app delivers updated flight plan trajectory and routing data to the FMS before and during the flight.

When flight plan changes are entered directly into the FMS by the pilot, whether to avoid a storm or due to an air traffic controller request, the app—which is tightly coupled to the FMS navigation data—is automatically updated. Aircraft that are equipped with high-speed connectivity also give FlightPartner the ability to optimize and re-route the trajectory of the aircraft based on weather, turbulence, and other flight environment updates.

The complete setup used by Universal Avionics to provide demonstrations of how its new connected FMS technology works. (Universal Avionics)

“You don’t need connectivity on the aircraft to connect the iPad to the FMS,” Bégis explained. “The two-way communication with the iPad is through Wi-Fi.”

When an update is sent to the FMS from the iPad, a notification appears on the FMS display that the pilot must accept or reject in order to authorize an update to the route that the aircraft is following.

“It’s ring-fenced for safety critical avionics systems,” Marc Bouliane, vice president of business development for Universal Avionics, said during the demonstration. “It’s not an exchange of a password or anything like that, the FMS must recognize the QR code provided by the iPad when a re-route or other update is submitted wirelessly. That QR code is how the iPad provides its credentials to the FMS. If it doesn’t see that QR code, then you cannot access the network.”

How was UASC able to give its existing Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) FMS the ability to communicate with iPads over Wi-Fi? The centerpiece of this connected FMS enablement is the company’s Solid-State Data Transfer Unit (SSDTU) that has an Ethernet databus connection linking it to the FMS, flight data recorder, communications management unit, terrain awareness and warning system, and all of Universal’s other flight deck components. The SSDTU, which also has Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Secure Digital (SD) media ports, acts as a centralized uploading and downloading center for database and other system data uploads and updates transmitted to and from FlightPartner and FlightReview—the other new iPad app that also communicates with aircraft systems.

The SSDTU, pictured here in the center, is connected to all other line replaceable unit elements of the Universal Avionics flight deck system. (Universal Avionics)

Working in tandem with FlightPartner is FlightReview, the more maintenance-focused of the two applications that collects flight operational and avionics systems performance data exchanged between the FMS and the iPad and uploads it to the Universal Avionics “cloud-based infrastructure.” Once the data is uploaded to the cloud, authorized maintenance and flight department personnel can remotely review data that has already been collected after a flight or access a live-view of how individual systems are performing in-flight.

The connected FMS concept enabled by Universal Avionics is similar in functionality to advancements developed by other avionics manufacturers that have enabled similar wireless tablet-to-FMS connectivity in recent years. In the June 2019 edition of Avionics International Magazine, for example, we provided an overview of connected FMS technologies developed by Honeywell Aerospace and GE Aviation. The focus for Honeywell was allowing for filed flight plans to more easily be transferred from an iPad application to the FMS without manually entering them. GE’s connected FMS also allows for dynamic flight plan optimization while en route with a focus on exploiting connectivity for weather and other updates.

Garmin’s Flight Stream 510 Multi Media Card (MMC) also uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to allow business and general aviation pilots to wirelessly communicate with their GTN 650/750 touchscreen navigators through the mobile Garmin Pilot application.

Universal’s Bégis said that the initial focus for the company is to enable its new connected flight deck concept for operators with FlightPartner and FlightReview. However, eventually they want to incorporate third-party flight planning applications.

“We don’t need to recreate or reinvent everything; this new connectivity ecosystem is being developed to enable third party applications. This way we can start bringing in flight plans from those most used and reputable third-party applications,” Bégis said.

Bouliane confirmed that Universal has secured a launch customer for its new connected FMS technology, an unnamed airline. The company expects to start performing its first connected FMS installations and upgrades by this summer, which means it could start being operated on passenger carrying flights later this year.

The post New Universal Avionics Connected FMS Technology Ready to Fly This Year appeared first on Aviation Today.

Drone Company to Launch Small Urgent Package Delivery in Ireland

Manna Drone Delivery is beginning official operations soon after performing nearly 90,000 test flights. (Photo courtesy of Manna Drone Delivery)

This week, Manna Drone Delivery is planning to launch commercial operations of its custom-developed aerospace grade drones. The company claims it is the largest drone delivery operation in Europe, and has raised a total of $35 million in venture capital funding since 2018. Manna has been operating since 2020 in Ireland and has recorded about 5,000 real-world deliveries between the suburbs of Galway and Dublin. The team has also performed close to 90,000 test flights to date. The upcoming launch will happen in Balbriggan, a suburb of Dublin.

Manna’s head of U.S. operations, Andrew Patton, recently shared some details about the company’s progress and upcoming goals in an interview with Avionics International. “Expect to see partnerships with some extremely large multinational brands in the second half of 2022 or the first half of 2023—both in the U.S., where we will fly in 2022, as well as internationally,” he stated.

One challenge that Manna’s team hopes to solve is determining how to connect unmanned aircraft system (UAS) traffic management with current manned air traffic management (ATM) surveillance systems. “There is still a lot of ambiguity as to how this looks at scale,” according to Patton. For Manna and other small UAS companies, the existing regulatory framework enables significant development. Patton explained, “The regulations—especially in Europe—allow us to get pretty far down the track for a long time, meaning it’s really on us to continue developing the technology, operations, and demonstrated expertise that the regulators are going to need to give us a set of rules that can truly allow us to scale without limitation.” Another important factor is Europe’s U-space regulatory framework, which will become applicable in early 2023.

“It’s really on us to continue developing the technology, operations, and demonstrated expertise that the regulators are going to need to give us a set of rules that can truly allow us to scale without limitation.” – Andrew Patton, Head of U.S. for Manna (Manna Drone Delivery)

An advantage of Manna’s business model is the scalability that is enabled by the software platform they use to manage overall operations. “We have a lot of technology developed in-house,” Patton said. The company’s “simple but robust hardware and software in our system allow safe, simple operations,” in particular for last-mile deliveries in the U.S. and Europe. “We have utter commitment to the direct-to-backyard use case—extremely focused on suburbia, and on delivering at low cost,” he emphasized.

Patton foresees improvements in mechanisms for electronic conspicuity being rolled out and adopted to facilitate integration of drones into the manned aircraft airspace. He added, “Very low-power ADS-B In receivers would be very interesting on low-altitude drones.”

He also predicts that urgent package delivery with low payloads will become ubiquitous in urban areas within the next 10 to 15 years. “It’s going to be far cheaper, more environmentally friendly, safer, and a more efficient, better customer experience than any other type of delivery,” Patton noted. With urgent package delivery, he said, the incremental cost of ordering items will ultimately drop to zero—much like ordering packages on Amazon Prime, where there is no added charge for delivery.

(Manna Drone Delivery)

Long-term, Manna Drone Delivery’s team intends to focus on vehicle safety, reliability, speed of delivery, and minimization of carbon footprint, as well as the development of technologies to accomplish these goals. “We will contribute a lot with hardware development or overall system development,” Patton said. “We also want to be a good actor: we think a lot about how this fits into a manned traffic management system where other companies might join us in the skies in a safe and organized way. We think about how that UTM system connects to manned aviation and how we ensure safety there, and how we integrate with retail, broadly speaking.”

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Next Generation Perigon Flight Control Computer to See First Placement in Defiant X Helicopter

Lockheed Martin Sikorsky Boeing has selected the Collins Aerospace Perigon flight control computer for its Defiant X advanced utility helicopter. (Collins Aerospace)

The next generation Collins Aerospace Perigon flight control computer has received its first airframe selection as it will become a central part of the avionics featured on the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant X advanced utility helicopter.

Defiant X is the co-axial rigid rotor being developed by Sikorsky and Boeing that has been selected as a finalist for the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition that aims to find a replacement for the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Collins Aerospace first launched Perigon as a next generation vehicle management computer in 2018, and achieved some major program milestones last year with its development by adding AdaCore and Lynx Software Technologies as embedded software and processing suppliers.

Kim Kinsley, vice president and general manager, environmental and airframe control systems for Collins Aerospace, commenting on the selection, said that Perigon’s “enhanced processing power will allow it to integrate numerous DEFIANT X functions, including flight control, utility management, prognostic health and advanced flight modes such as autonomy.”

Defiant X will also be equipped with an “optionally-piloted flight control system,” according to Lockheed’s overview of the platform.

Collins Aerospace is developing a next generation flight control computer, Perigon, and expects it to be ready for qualification testing by the end of this year. (Collins Aerospace)

During an interview with Avionics International last year, Darryl Woods, general manager of the flight control systems division of Collins Aerospace, explained how the use of multicore processors, an input/output (I/O) card, and high-speed backplane will give Perigon “20 times the processing power of its existing flight control computers.”

Perigon features three dissimilar multicore processors, each capable of individually achieving 1 gigahertz (GHz)—or a billion clock cycles per second—processing power.

In addition to Perigon, Collins will also supply the armored pilot and co-pilot, cabin crew, and troop seats for the Defiant X. The Lockheed Martin Sikorsky Boeing team developing Defiant X has also added the Irvine, California-based division of Parker Aerospace to supply flight controls, while Fort Worth, Texas-based Elbit Systems of America will provide the mission system computer.

Boonton, New Jersey-based Marotta Controls is providing electrical power system components for Defiant X, while the team also previously announced Honeywell Aerospace as the supplier of its new HTS7500 turboshaft engine to power the helicopter.

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GA-ASI’s SkyGuardian UAS Completes Detect-and-Avoid Flights for the FAA

The unmanned SkyGuardian used detect-and-avoid technology to enable successful flight tests in partnership with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. (Photo courtesy of GA-ASI)

At the end of March, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) announced completion of multiple test flights of its unmanned SkyGuardian aircraft that were performed for the Federal Aviation Administration and served to demonstrate GA-ASI’s detect-and-avoid technology. The FAA uses data from test flights like these to support and enable future integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS).

GA-ASI partnered with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site to conduct the test flights in January, which occurred shortly after the company received a $1.5 million grant from the FAA to collaborate with the UAS Test Site and research detect-and-avoid (DAA) capabilities. The Northern Plains location provides infrastructure and services for UAS development in North Dakota. A manned aircraft flew numerous flight paths in coordination with the SkyGuardian’s, and GPS receivers and data recorders were carried on both aircraft for determining the accuracy of the DAA system’s sensors.

“The DAA system must identify any potentially hazardous situations, alert the remote pilot and help the pilot keep the unmanned aircraft well clear of any other aircraft.” (GA-ASI)

The FAA awarded the contract to GA-ASI to validate their aircraft’s DAA capabilities, particularly for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. The DAA system that GA-ASI used in the test flights was developed in conjunction with Honeywell Aerospace and featured GA-ASI’s Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which enables detection of aircraft regardless of whether they are broadcasting flight information, according to the announcement from the company.

Brandon Suarez, Technical Director of UAS Civil Airspace Integration for GA-ASI, explained, “The DAA system must identify any potentially hazardous situations, alert the remote pilot and help the pilot keep the unmanned aircraft well clear of any other aircraft.” GA-ASI is also working on development of an update to its DAA system in order to achieve FAA certification for use on large unmanned aircraft.

The SkyGuardian N190TC from GA-ASI was the first to receive experimental approval from the FAA for using onboard DAA in a flight beyond visual line of sight. (GA-ASI)

Since 2013, both GA-ASI and Honeywell have collaborated with organizations such as the FAA and NASA to develop and test detect-and-avoid system equipment and technical safety standards. The SkyGuardian N190TC from GA-ASI was the first to receive experimental approval from the FAA to use “an onboard DAA system to operate BVLOS of the remote pilot or a safety observer.” The airborne DAA system used during the test flights in January met all of the key requirements of the FAA-accepted performance standards.

In 2018, GA-ASI’s DAA avionics system was installed on a NASA-owned Predator drone for a successful unmanned flight. Also in 2018, the company’s Guardian RPA (remotely piloted aircraft) completed large-scale demonstration flights in Japan, the country’s first demonstration of a long-endurance RPA by a private company. The DAA capabilities proved to be successful in ensuring safe operational flight throughout the Japanese airspace.

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FedEx Express to Test Elroy VTOL for Autonomous Middle Mile Cargo Delivery

FedEx is partnering with Elroy Air to evaluate the use of an autonomous VTOL aircraft for middle-mile logistics operations. (FedEx Express)

FedEx Express, the regional subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has a new partnership agreement with Elroy Air aimed at flight-testing their autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) air cargo system for middle-mile logistics operations by 2023.

Elroy Air revealed its pre-production vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the Chaparral—which could become the first end-to-end autonomous VTOL air cargo system—in January. Headquartered in San Francisco, the startup has received funding from Catapult Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Marlinspike Capital, and Prosperity7 Ventures, in addition to various angel investors.

The new agreement between the two companies is a “first of its kind agreement,” according to the March 30 announcement from FedEx Express, which plans to test the Chaparral’s ability to fly shipments between its various sortation facilities. Joe Stephens, senior vice president of engineering and technology at FedEx Express, in the announcement said the air cargo operator was “built on innovation and we are always looking toward new technologies to help enhance the logistics industry through improved safety, efficiency and customer service.”

Chaparral is being developed with a hybrid-electric architecture and an in-flight rechargeable lithium battery to be capable of carrying cargo weighing up to 500 pounds with a maximum range of 300 miles. An early prototype of Elroy’s Chaparral was first flown in 2019. Today, the model possesses eight vertical lift fans, four distributed electric propulsors, and updated systems for ground autonomy and cargo handling.

FedEx Express is the second regional carrier to express interest in future operations of Chaparral, after signing an agreement with Mesa Airlines for a future purchase of up to 150 aircraft. Kofi Asante, Elroy Air’s vice president of business development, said the company is ready to help FedEx build “the next generation of express logistics. When you’re not limited by challenging infrastructure, traffic, or airports, logistics can reach more people, faster than ever before.”

Elroy Air first began working with FedEx in January 2020, and will continue to pursue certifications toward a goal of beginning flight-testing of the Chaparral for middle-mile logistics operations in 2023.

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17 New Avionics Technologies Introduced at the 2022 Aircraft Electronics Association Convention

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — Business and general aviation aircraft electronics are becoming increasingly more connected and digital within smaller modular form factors, as evidenced by the opening ceremony of the annual 2022 Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) convention.

There were a total of 30 new avionics products introduced during this year’s ceremony, with a significant number of them providing general aviation operators with new methods for acquiring, transmitting, and analyzing critical flight operational and aircraft system maintenance data. This list highlights 17 of the most innovative new avionics technologies introduced during the opening ceremony.

The list is in no ranking order, and does not feature every new product that was introduced during the opening ceremony. Some of these technologies were previously announced or launched prior to AEA’s 2022 convention; however, this was the first time Avionics was provided access to or acknowledgment of them, while some others included new software or other feature updates being announced for the first time.

Universal Avionics Connectivity Ecosystem

Universal Avionics provided this overview of its “Connectivity Ecosystem” during its new product introduction. (Universal Avionics)

Universal Avionics introduced its new FlightPartner and FlightReview applications, which the company describes as its initial launch of a broader “Connectivity Ecosystem.” First unveiled during the 2021 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference and exhibition back in October 2021, both applications are hosted on an iPad and have a native connection to Universal’s flight management system (FMS).

FlightPartner effectively enables a two-way data exchange that allows pilots to manipulate flight plan data on the FMS display with their iPad throughout the flight. FlightReview is the more maintenance-focused of the two applications, as its native connection to the FMS uploads flight operational data to the cloud-based operating system used by Universal Avionics to host its applications, where that data can then be accessed by maintenance technicians for review on a per-flight basis.

According to the company’s website, the applications will become available for use by the “end of the first quarter of 2022.”

Flightcell’s SmartHub

Flightcell’s new SmartHub is a HD video, audio, flight data recorder and access point for USB/IP devices. (Flightcell)

Flightcell, the New Zealand-based airborne communications supplier, introduced its new SmartHub all-in-one cockpit recorder that targets the rotorcraft market. SmartHub is capable of recording cockpit audio, video, and aircraft flight data, while also serving as an aviation-compliant Wi-Fi access point.

According to Flightcell, the SmartHub can also serve as a digital maintenance log of specific flight exceedances that are configured to be monitored by a flight operations or maintenance department. SmartHub can be installed under a local modification (minor change) and “can be mounted in various positions in the smallest machines to provide virtually a ‘plug and play’ recording capability.”

John Wyllie, Flightcell CEO, said the SmartHub was developed in response to customer demand and for what his company is seeing related to increasing civil aviation regulatory requirements for “mandatory cockpit recording, especially for government and public sector rotorcraft operators.”

Astronautics AeroSync

Astronautics’ AeroSync connectivity system for Airbus Helicopters. (Astronautics)

Astronautics Corp., the Oak Creek, Wisconsin-based avionics maker, introduced its new AeroSync Wireless Airborne Communication System (WACS). First launched at the 2022 Heli-Expo conference and exhibition earlier this month, the system provides data acquisition and health monitoring for helicopter operators, while also being capable of providing cabin in-flight connectivity (IFC) for passengers. AeroSync has also received a technical standard order (TSO) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to enable streaming mission data and video between helicopter and ground-based systems.

The system has already been selected as line-fit connectivity for Airbus Helicopters’ new production H125s and H130s. AeroSync is also the line-fit connectivity solution for Airbus’ new H145 platforms.

Thommen Aircraft’s CRT-to-LCD Display Upgrades

Thommen Aircraft Equipment introduced its new CRT-to-LCD display upgrade service. (Thommen Aircraft Equipment)

Switzerland-based avionics manufacturer Thommen Aircraft is targeting legacy cathode-ray tube (CRT) and first-generation liquid crystal display (LCD) cockpits with its new display replacement services. The company notes that its in-house lamination and assembly services can tailor-cut modern LCD upgrades for “virtually any size of displays that are used in aircraft cockpits and mission systems.”

In the upgrade process, analog information is converted and processed to color and composite video signals to provide accurate navigation and mission data to the flight crew in a digital format, according to Thommen.

Flight Data Systems FDAIU

Flight Data Systems, the Irving, Texas-based aircraft data acquisition and recording supplier, has launched a new Flight Data Acquisition Interface Unit (FDAIU) as a plug-and-play replacement upgrade for legacy ARINC 542A recorders “such as the L3 Fairchild F1000 & F800,” according to a March 2 press release.

“As finding functional spare parts or repair services for widely used legacy FDRs is becoming more challenging, global supply chains have moved to accelerate end-of-support for legacy ARINC 542A recorders,” Flight Data Systems said in its announcement of the new FDAIU.

The company notes that the FDAIU is also a replacement option for its own line of legacy SENTRY flight data recorders (FDRs), that is capable of keeping the existing ARINC 404A ½ ATR long tray, connectors, and wiring for those recorders in place so that there is no modification required to the aircraft.

Avionica’s miniAID

Avionica’s mini aircraft interface device (miniAID). (Avionica)

Avionica Vice President of Products and Services Scott Ridge provided an overview of the Miami, Florida-based avionics maker’s new aircraft interface device (AID), the miniAID.

“Allowing two-way connectivity from your connected aircraft to your Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), with the wireless built in and the cellular built in, this connects your EFB to the aircraft operational data. A very specific application that is often used is aircraft moving map,” Ridge said.

Originally launched at the 2021 NBAA conference and exhibition, the miniAID features an optional integrated GPS receiver and wired Ethernet as well as 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage. The box is just under two inches in height and weighs 6.9 ounces.

RightHand Technologies CabinLink 6

RightHand Technologies launched its new CabinLink 6 at AEA 2022. (RightHand Technologies)

RightHand Technologies, the Chicago-based original design manufacturer, introduced its new CabinLink 6, a Wi-Fi 6 wireless access point that the company claims to be capable of enabling up to “40% faster streaming” on connected mobile devices.

According to Cisco, Wi-Fi 6 is the sixth generation Wi-Fi standard, also known as 802.11ax, capable of generating a theoretical maximum connection speed of 9.6 gbps, as opposed to the maximum 3.5 gbps allowed by Wi-Fi 5.

The company has included five ethernet ports and a detachable radome antenna to optimize ease of installation into aircraft. According to RightHand Technologies, their CabinLink 6 is “business jet certified” and will become available by the fourth quarter of this year for a list price of less than $10,000.

Jupiter Avionics Eclipse Digital Audio System

The new Jupiter Avionics digital audio system (Jupiter Avionics)

Jupiter Avionics introduced its new Eclipse digital audio system, with the JACS-001 audio control system serving as the “brains,” according to Bryan Hart, the company’s senior marketing manager. JACS-001 allows aircraft OEMs or modification providers to connect up to seven control panels or two multi-function displays, two speaker outputs, and an audio configuration module for programming. In total, the Eclipse digital audio system enables up to six direct inputs, eight receivers and 11 transmit positions.

Texas Aerospace Technologies TXA201 Tri-Axial Accelerometer

Brad Sutphin, VP of Texas Aerospace Technologies, introduced the company’s new next generation triaxial accelerometer, the TXA201. The primary functionality of accelerometers are to measure vertical, longitudinal and lateral acceleration for flight data recorders.

An overview of the TXA201 from Sutphin notes that it uses Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) to convert gravitational and inertial forces into a DC voltage output for each of the three axis requirements lateral, longitudinal, and vertical for FDRs and flight data acquisition units. The company expects to achieve certification for the TXA201 by June 2022.

Mid Continent Instruments and Avionics Displays

(Mid Continent Instruments and Avionics)

Mid Continent Instruments and Avionics introduced five new 2-inch digital instruments, including new counter drum encoding altimeters, airspeed indicators, GPS clocks, battery ACUs, and attitude indicators.

CCX Technologies GPS Antenna Coupler

The new CCX Technologies GPS Antenna Coupler (CCX Technologies)

CCX Technologies introduced its new GPS Antenna Coupler, which works collaboratively with the company’s T-RX avionics tester to validate the functionality of aircraft GPS radios. The new antenna coupler is capable of providing more than 20 decibels (dB) of antenna isolation from outside GPS signal interference.

Chris Bartlett, president of CCX Technologies, said in a statement that the new coupler addresses issues that can occur when testing aircraft GPS radios, “because GPS satellite signals must be excluded during the tests, and you don’t want to interfere with another aircraft’s GPS while testing the aircraft. Our new GPS Antenna Coupler provides superior signal isolation so that testing can occur inside or outside the hangar without worrying about interference from satellites or interfering with the GPS radios of other nearby aircraft.”

Garmin’s D2 Mach 1 Smartwatch

Garmin’s new D2 Mach 1 aviator smartwatch (Garmin International)

Garmin International introduced its new D2-Mach 1 GPS aviator smartwatch, the latest in its D2 aviation watch family. The Mach 1 features a touchscreen Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) display and is capable of assisting pilots with pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight functionality such as multi-band frequency and multi-GNSS support for more accurate GPS positioning.

Additionally, the watch has a preloaded global aeronautical database that enables a “direct-to-navigation” feature which allows pilots to navigate to the next waypoint within their flight plan.

Viavi’s AVX-10K Flight Line Test Set

The AVX-10K flight line test set (Viavi Solutions)

Viavi Solutions, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based test and monitoring equipment supplier, introduced its new AVX-10K flight line test set. The AVX-10K is compatible with Android and iOS devices, has a digital touchscreen interface, and is capable of reporting and transferring testing results and data via USB, Ethernet, and wireless.

According to Viavi, the AVX-10K is capable of testing a range of communications, navigation, and surveillance systems, including very high frequency (VHF) radios, distance measuring equipment, and ADS-B Out transponders, among others.

FreeFlight Systems New Radar Altimeter

FreeFlight Systems’ RA-4500 Mk II is being promoted by the manufacturer as a 5G-resistant radio altimeter. (FreeFlight Systems)

Irving, Texas-based FreeFlight Systems provided an overview of their new RA-4500 Mark II (MK II) radar altimeter, that was first launched earlier this month during the 2022 Heli-Expo exhibition.

The company claims that the RA-4500 Mark II—a replacement for its existing RA-4000 and RA-4500 altimeters—has a “5G mitigation solution” that is a “unique combination of internal filtering and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology that can tolerate out-of-band 5G interference as well as other RF interferences.”

Applied Avionics Nexys Thru-Holes

Applied Avionics is making its individual NEXSYS components available as Thru-hole devices.

Applied Avionics, the Fort Worth, Texas-based supplier of pushbutton switches, introduced its individual NEXSYS components as Thru-hole devices—designed to be compatible with 0.062-inch to 0.093-inch thick circuit boards.

CarlisleIT’s Octax LT

CarlisleIT’s Octax LT connector for commercial aviation applications (CarlisleIT)

Carlisle Interconnect Technologies (CarlisleIT) introduced its new Octax LT 10 Gbps single-port Ethernet connector for commercial aviation applications. The LT marks the entry of the Octax connector series into the commercial market, as the previous variants were primarily used in defense applications.

It is optimized for use with all the CarlisleIT Gigabit Series cables and is field-terminable, according to the company.

Shadin Avionics Embedded Control System Platform

Shadin Avionics and partner company ECE’s embedded control system platform (Shadin Avionics)

Shadin Avionics, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based data conversion provider, introduced its new “Embedded Control System Platform,” as a solution to enable embedded processing for the majority of applications and systems that require them on aircraft.

“If you have an electro-mechanical system, and you need an embedded control come talk to us. If you have a group of systems engineers and don’t want to hire a bunch of software engineers, come talk to us,” Shadin Avionics President and CEO Mike Ingram said during the new product introduction ceremony.

The post 17 New Avionics Technologies Introduced at the 2022 Aircraft Electronics Association Convention appeared first on Aviation Today.

Swiss International Air Lines Plans to be First in the World to Use Solar Jet Fuel

The company Synhelion has selected Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) as the first to use its solar aviation fuel. (Photo courtesy of Synhelion)

In a strategic collaboration with solar technology developer Synhelion, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and parent company the Lufthansa Group have partnered to bring solar aviation fuel to market and enable SWISS to become the world’s first airline to use solar kerosene. SWISS and the Lufthansa Group coordinated to develop a strategy for bringing Synhelion’s solar kerosene to market. The fuel is carbon-neutral and is made using concentrated sunlight.

This week, Synhelion’s team announced that they will collaborate with the German company INERATEC to combine their technologies and accelerate solar fuel production. INERATEC’s modular synthesis plant will be used to transform syngas into liquid fuels by way of the Fischer-Tropsch process. Both companies offer technologies that are modular and this collaboration will help to demonstrate that producing solar fuels is profitable and scalable.

“Joining forces with Synhelion shows what can be achieved when partners who share the same vision collaborate. Together, we’re producing sustainable fuel to make transportation more climate friendly. We’re looking forward to demonstrating the production of sustainable fuels at scale.” – Tim Böltken, Managing Director and Founder of INERATEC (Photo courtesy of INERATEC)

Carmen Murer of Synhelion gave an in-depth look at the company’s progress and what’s coming up next in an interview with Avionics. Murer, the company’s head of corporate communications, explained the basic idea of creating solar aviation fuel: “We use solar heat directly to drive the thermochemical processes to produce syngas. Syngas is a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen [H2 and CO], which can then be processed into jet fuel.”

The team plans to start production of the solar fuel in 2023, and their first industrial-scale plant is currently being built in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a demonstration plant, not a commercial one, said Murer, “but it will be the first time that we are really producing fuel at a large-scale plant.” The plant in Germany will serve to demonstrate the potential of Synhelion’s process of transforming concentrated sunlight into liquid fuel for powering airplanes. “Germany is not the ideal location when it comes to solar radiation,” she added, “but the circumstances are ideal to build this plant very quickly to show that the technology works.”

Synhelion’s technology converts concentrated solar heat into the hottest existing process heat on the market, making it possible to drive an unprecedented number of industrial processes such as fuel production and cement manufacturing with solar heat. (Synhelion)

The next plant that Synhelion plans to build will be located in Spain, which is a more ideal location in terms of the sunlight it receives. The plant in Spain will be the company’s first commercial facility, and it could begin production of solar fuel as soon as 2025. Estimated production capacity per year at this commercial plant would be about 500,000 liters of fuel.

By 2030, the company hopes to scale up to production of 875 million liters of fuel per year. “Globally speaking, that’s still a drop in the bucket,” Murer said in mentioning the high levels of fuel consumed by global aviation. However, she explained, if you consider that level of fuel production for one region such as Switzerland, that 875 million liters would cover half of the country’s annual demand for jet fuel. Looking even further ahead to 2040, Synhelion aims to produce 50 billion liters of solar fuel annually.

A key distinguishing feature of Synhelion is what they call the “sun-to-liquid” process as opposed to a “power-to-liquid” process for creating fuel. Murer remarked, “We have a very direct approach with few conversion steps because we use solar heat directly. Solar heat is a very abundant resource, and a big advantage of working with solar heat is that it is storable—we can use it 24 hours a day and produce fuel all day long, which is very important for production of synthetic fuels. With an industrial production facility, you cannot switch it on and off on a daily basis; you want to run it continuously.”

“Our setup is standalone, so all the energy that we need is produced onsite. We don’t have to be connected to an existing energy grid, and we don’t have to wait for renewable electricity capacities to ramp up. We can scale more or less independently.”

“Our involvement with Synhelion is a key element in our long-term sustainability strategy.” – SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx (Photo: Synhelion)

In the company’s announcement, Synhelion CEO and co-founder Dr. Philipp Furler commented on the aviation industry’s interest in sustainable aviation fuels and, in particular, solar fuel. “Our next-generation carbon-neutral solar kerosene is an economically and ecologically viable substitute for fossil fuels,” he remarked. “We believe in a globalized world connected by climate-friendly mobility.”

CEO of SWISS, Dieter Vranckx, looks forward to the opportunity to enable use of solar fuel in regular flight operations in coordination with Synhelion. “We are proud that SWISS will be the first airline in the world to fly with solar kerosene. In partnering with Synhelion, we are supporting Swiss innovation and are actively pursuing and promoting the development, the market introduction and the scaling-up of this highly promising technology for producing sustainable fuels.”

Research and development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) have only been ramping up as of late. The company Pratt & Whitney was awarded a project to develop hydrogen propulsion technology by the U.S. Department of Energy last month. Rather than using solar heat, the technology will take advantage of liquid hydrogen combustion and water vapor recovery.

Safran Helicopter Engines and Bell Textron are also prioritizing research into SAF. The two companies recently announced a new collaboration to test the performance of SAF as well as the economic impacts of using it to power the Bell 505 helicopter. The team at Safran hopes to enable use of 100% SAF for helicopter engines in the near future.

The post Swiss International Air Lines Plans to be First in the World to Use Solar Jet Fuel appeared first on Aviation Today.

Canada Chooses F-35A in Future Fighter Competition

An F-35 sits on the ramp at Nellis AFB, Nev. for a Red Flag exercise last August (U.S. Air Force Photo)

The government of Canada on March 28 said that it has begun negotiations with Lockheed Martin on a buy 0f 88 F-35As under the country’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP) to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 Hornet fighters for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Canada said on March 28 that it “will now enter into the finalization phase of the procurement process with the top-ranked bidder, the United States government and Lockheed Martin, for the F-35 fighter jet.”

“This procurement represents the most significant investment in the RCAF in more than 30 years,” the government of Canada said. “It is essential for protecting the safety and security of Canadians, it will enhance our Arctic sovereignty, it will ensure we are equipped to better defend North America and it will help make sure we continue to meet our NATO and NORAD obligations well into the future.”

Canada said that during the finalization phase negotiations, “the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin must successfully demonstrate that a resulting contract would meet all of Canada’s requirements and outcomes, including value for money, flexibility, protection against risks, and performance and delivery assurances, as well as high-value economic benefits for Canada’s aerospace and defence industry.”

Last last year, Canada said that it had rejected Boeing as a finalist in FFCP. After that announcement, Sweden’s Saab, offering the Gripen E, and Lockheed Martin were the remaining bidders.

In 2018, Canada announced five eligible suppliers to submit proposals for the FFCP as the U.K. and Airbus with the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing with the Super Hornet, France’s Dassault Rafale, Lockheed Martin with the F-35, and Saab with the Griper E (Defense Daily, Feb. 23, 2018).

However, Dassault withdrew in 2018 and Airbus withdrew in 2019, partially over demanding intelligence data sharing and interoperability requirements.

Canada initially released the final request for proposals (RFP) for the FFCP in 2019.

This article was first published by Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International, it has been edited, click here to view the original version.

The post Canada Chooses F-35A in Future Fighter Competition appeared first on Aviation Today.

Japanese Conglomerate ITOCHU Invests in Wingcopter, Becomes Authorized Partner

ITOCHU joins existing Wingcopter investors SYNERJET, DRONE FUND, Expa, Xplorer Capital, Futury Capital, Hessen Kapital III, and Corecam Capital Partners. The Japanese conglomerate has also agreed to become an authorized partner of Wingcopter and will be able to distribute and lease the 198 eVTOL drone for delivery services in Japan. (Photo: Wingcopter)

German drone manufacturer Wingcopter announced a strategic partnership today with Japanese general trading company ITOCHU Corporation. ITOCHU is not only investing in Wingcopter but will also distribute and lease the Wingcopter 198 delivery drone in Japan. This new agreement means that ITOCHU is now a part of Wingcopter’s Authorized Partnership Program, joining the Latin American aviation company Synerjet Corp as an authorized partner of Wingcopter.

The drone manufacturer announced in February that they are partnering with UAV del Peru for bringing drone delivery operations to Peru. Wingcopter will provide and deploy its Wingcopter 198 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) drones to enable commercial drone services as well as medical supply delivery in the South American country.

Pictured above is the Wingcopter 198 cargo drone model. (Photo: Wingcopter)

The agreement with ITOCHU is the latest example of Wingcopter’s growing global network of strategic partners that are able to act as drone operators, resellers, promoters, lessors, and distributors in a specific region. Wingcopter views Japan as one of the key markets for future unmanned aircraft system (UAS) delivery services, in part because the country takes a progressive approach to UAS integration. The CEO of Wingcopter, Tom Plümmer, expressed his confidence that ITOCHU’s partnership “will help us serve more Japanese customers and allow us to jointly scale Wingcopter’s operations across Japan.”

ITOCHU’s investment into Wingcopter was made through ITOCHU Europe PLC. The CEO of this subsidiary—Takanori Morita, who is also the Executive Officer of ITOCHU Corporation—believes that Wingcopter is in the best position to become a leader in the drone delivery market. “Together with Wingcopter and its stakeholders, we look forward to a great journey with a product that will make a positive difference to people’s lives,” he said. “Drone delivery has the potential to revolutionize how we transport goods, and it can immediately improve the quality of life for many people across the globe.”

In a recent interview conducted over email, Wingcopter’s Tom Plümmer told Avionics International that one upcoming goal for the company is to achieve type certification from the FAA for its eVTOL drone. The team also plans to establish drone delivery operations on every continent. At the beginning of 2022, Wingcopter partnered with a drone company called Spright to set up a nationwide delivery network in the United States. Spright is a subsidiary of Air Methods, a leading air medical service provider. Spright will be acquiring a significant number of Wingcopter 198 eVTOL drones for its fleet as part of their commercial agreement valued at over $16 million.

The post Japanese Conglomerate ITOCHU Invests in Wingcopter, Becomes Authorized Partner appeared first on Aviation Today.

Category Archives: All News

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