Latest from Stephen Pope
Regulations and Government
EASA OKs 100-foot DH for EVS-equipped Gulfstreams
Gulfstream pilots flying in Europe with the Kollsman enhanced-vision system (EVS) are now permitted to descend below published instrument approach minimums
Avionics
UPSAT buy yet another coup for nimble Garmin
It’s a David-and-Goliath story, but lately it has been getting tougher to tell just who’s the Goliath.On the one hand Garmin’s proposed buyout
Avionics
Avionics Update: Chelton EFIS approved for use in helicopters
Chelton Flight Systems of Boise, Idaho, has received FAA approval for installation of its FlightLogic synthetic-vision EFIS in helicopters.
Aircraft
Avionics Update: FlightMax Entegra cockpit selected for Adam A500
Adam Aircraft of Englewood, Colo., will equip the in-development Adam A500 piston twin with Avidyne’s FlightMax Entegra integrated flight deck.
Cabin Interior and Electronics
Avionics Update: Sirius satellite radio reaches for the sky
As anyone who has it or has tried it can attest, satellite radio is seriously cool.
Avionics
Avionics Update: WSI starts shipments of cockpit weather link
Just in time for the Oshkosh airshow last month, WSI announced FAA manufacturing approval for the company’s InFlight weather briefing system.
Avionics
Avionics Update: Honeywell studies automated cockpit to prevent crashes
Honeywell is testing a new type of automated cockpit concept that can take control of airplanes to keep them from flying into the ground or buildings.
ATC
Avionics Update: Transportation Department begins audit of FAA's Nexcom project
The DOT last month began a top-to-bottom audit of the FAA’s next-generation air-to-ground communications (Nexcom) program that is closely scrutinizin
Avionics
Toasts all around for Primus Epic
Calling it one of the most complex design efforts ever undertaken in the field of avionics, Honeywell engineering executives were popping champagne corks l
Regulations and Government
FAA drafts a plan for the future
Saying aviation faces the “one-two-three punch” of terrorism, ATC modernization requirements and tenuous global economic conditions, the FAA has drafted an
Aircraft
Boeing gives green light to heavy-lift airship project
Boeing has teamed with a Canadian firm to develop a massive commercial airship capable of lifting an 80,000-pound load and carrying it up to 200 miles.
Regulations and Government
Congressman decries DRVSM
Charter operators and flight departments that are still searching for ways to cope with the FAA’s proposal to implement domestic reduced vertical separatio
Honeywell signs Airbus, Thales and Boeing deals
Airbus has inked a contract with Honeywell to upgrade the wingtip navigation lights on the A320 family with light-emitting diode (LED) technology.
Avionics
Avionics Update: Teledyne acquires Spirent business unit
Teledyne Technologies, the parent company of Teledyne Controls and Teledyne Continental Motors, last month closed a deal to buy Spirent’s Aviation Informat
Avionics
Avionics Update: Patent approval boosts AirCell's in-flight cellphone concept
AirCell, the Louisville, Colo.
ATC
Avionics Update: Arinc's digital ATIS package aimed at smaller airports
You’ve probably never given it much thought, but recording and updating those ATIS voice messages is a royal pain in the neck for controllers.
Avionics
Avionics Update: Avidyne demonstrates Nexcom digital radio
As part of the FAA’s Nexcom initiative to develop next-generation digital datalink radios for general aviation, Avidyne last month announced it has success
Avionics
Avionics Update: OPSAT secures blanket approval for WAAS navigator
The FAA has issued a technical standard order and blanket installation approval covering 850 aircraft models for the CNX80 all-in-one GPS navcom from Salem
Avionics
Avionics Update: Garmin G1000 cockpit makes debut at Oshkosh
The wraps officially came off Garmin’s new G1000 integrated avionics system late last month at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture airshow i
Aircraft
Improving air safety by thinking inside the box
It is impossible to ignore the role technology has played in making the art of powered, heavier-than-air flight incrementally safer for the successive gene
Avionics
Technical hurdles delay Primus Epic program
Ongoing software integration problems are forcing at least two airframe manufacturers into the unenviable position of having to stretch aircraft certificat
Regulations and Government
Getting started: The road to RVSM approval
The following is a list of steps operators will need to complete to gain RVSM approval.
Regulations and Government
As DRVSM deadline nears, compliance pressure grows
In spite of the near panic the subject of DRVSM creates in some flight departments, it may come as a surprise that the FAA lists only three things an opera
Avionics
Firms seek Learjet 25 RVSM OK
After completing all the necessary test flights in a late-model Learjet 25D this past spring, Avcon Industries now anticipates receipt this month of an STC
Avionics
The search is on for 10 most challenging approaches in America
Switzerland has the notoriously difficult approach over the mountains into Lugano Airport.
Avionics
Chelton Group continues buying spree, rapid growth
You’ll have to forgive Geoffrey Cooper if he can’t immediately bring to mind the exact number of companies he is responsible for overseeing.
Training and Workforce
Avionics Update: Honeywell, FlightSafety bring Primus Epic to the classroom
To serve as a training aid for pilots who are about to strap into Dassault’s new Falcon 900EX with the Primus Epic EASy cockpit, Honeywell and FlightSafety
Avionics
Avionics Update: Software problems delay Embraer 170 certification
Embraer and Honeywell are facing challenges related to software problems that have forced the Brazilian airplane manufacturer to delay certification and in
