Honeywell successfully flew its new integrated Anthem flight deck for the first time using the company’s Pilatus PC-12 testbed, the company announced on Friday. While the integrated flight deck has accumulated more than 120 hours of flight time during testing over the last year, this was the first time that a flight was entirely managed by the Anthem system, according to the company.
The milestone flight took place over Phoenix and lasted for about one hour. Honeywell test pilot Ed Manning flew the PC-12 testbed with copilot Bill Lee, with support from flight engineers Paul Carter and Will Quinn. Anthem is a cloud-connected avionics system with touchscreen displays that have built-in processors, reducing size, weight, and power requirements by about 50 percent compared to existing flight deck systems.
“This is a historic milestone as Honeywell Anthem is poised to change the way aircraft are piloted,” said Jim Currier, president of Honeywell Aerospace’s Electronic Solutions division. “Throughout the flight, the pilot and crew tested various aspects of the modular and customizable system, and it performed exactly as designed.”
“Honeywell Anthem is simple, smart, and intuitive, and it takes little to no time to feel comfortable with it,” he added. “Moving forward, flight tests on the PC-12 aircraft will focus on exercising the system in real-life operational scenarios that will provide critical feedback.”
The FAA recently issued Information for Operators 23005 reiterating a 2016 government/industry rotorcraft bird strike working group study and summarizing its recommendations. For example, helicopter operators should learn about the local bird population and use it to plan and fly routes. “Among the key considerations are seasonal migratory times and concentration patterns within the typical operating area.”
Other recommendations include “reducing airspeed and gaining altitude.” The study found that “77 percent of bird strikes occur at airspeeds greater than 80 knots, particularly at lower altitudes” and “there is a 32 percent decrease of bird strike likelihood for every 1,000 feet gained above 500 feet agl.” Birds fly higher at night, “so an increase in altitude may be needed even more at night than during the day.” A helmet and visor, at least for helicopter crewmembers, should be worn when practical.
Finally, the study recommends “using taxi and/or landing lights in a continuous mode during sunny conditions and at night when practical, and use a 2-Hz pulsed mode during partly cloudy conditions, and/or install lighting systems that provide the equivalent with white incandescent, high-intensity discharge or light emitting diodes.”
Following its 2016 investigation of numerous helicopter bird strikes, the FAA’s working group concluded that little information was provided to operators about bird strike hazards. Consequently, the working group made additional recommendations to reduce the likelihood of an injurious bird strike. Its findings and recommendations were published in December 2017.
Airbus’s H160 medium twin helicopter edged closer to FAA certification approval this month. On May 8, the FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for special condition approval of the helicopter’s main gearbox redundant lubrication system, designed to enable the helicopter to operate for more than 30 minutes after the primary system has failed. FAR Part 29 requires a helicopter to have the ability to fly for 30 minutes following gearbox lubrication failure validated via bench testing. The deadline for public comment is June 26.
The proposed special conditions cover validation bench testing of the Airbus system for up to 60 minutes “in some cases, depending on reduction factors.” This includes testing of any associated system such as oil coolers. Testing must end with a 45-second out-of-ground-effect hover to simulate a landing phase. Each rotor-drive gearbox system required for autorotation of safe landing must be tested for at least 16 minutes and 15 seconds following the most “severe” failure of the primary lubrication system.
Airbus first applied for FAA certification approval for the H160 in 2014 and applied for an extension in 2016. The helicopter received EASA certification on July 1, 2020; however, various novel design features outside the existing parameters of FAR Part 29 regulation have slowed the FAA approval process, which Airbus executives had hoped would be received as early as 2021.
Honeywell is introducing a solution for the production of low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and it has secured its first customer for the new technology. Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF) Global will be Honeywell’s first customer for its UOP eFining system. Houston-based SAF producer HIF plans to use it at its second commercial-scale eFuels facility in the U.S., which is expected to be the world's largest eSAF facility. HIF's refinery will be capable of recycling approximately two million tons of captured CO2 to make approximately 11,000 barrels of eSAF per day by 2030.
The UOP eFining system uses renewable resources to produce a type of synthetic jet fuel known as eFuels, or electrofuels. These eFuels combine “green” hydrogen—produced in electrolyzers using renewable energy and water—with CO2 to produce methanol, which can then be converted into fuels such as SAF, gasoline, and diesel. According to Honeywell, the UOP eFining system reduces life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 88 percent versus jet-A.
"As a leader in renewable fuel technology, Honeywell recognizes that creating technologies that use new feedstocks is vital to long-term decarbonization of the aviation sector,” said Lucian Boldea, president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies.
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San Francisco-based Portside has expanded its portfolio of business aviation software and service offerings with its acquisition of the Flight Operations System (FOS) hosting business line from Stellar Labs. Charter and corporate aircraft operators using Collins Aerospace Flight Operations System can now use Portside as their third-party hosting provider.
“We are confident our hosting customers will enjoy the same reliability, security, and service with Portside as they have for many years with Stellar,” said Stellar CEO Vicki Nakata. “Stellar will now focus solely on its charter pricing, quoting, and lead management solutions that work with any flight management system.”
Portside’s software platform gives flight departments access to a range of products designed to streamline their operations, including a business aviation budgeting and planning suite and a reporting and analytics platform. Other products include the Portside Owner Portal, which allows for secure collaboration between management companies and aircraft owners, and the Portside Optimizer, designed to efficiently position crew and aircraft, reducing empty legs and optimizing revenue by large fractional, charter, and corporate operators.
Stellar describes itself as a developer of technologies and solutions for business aircraft operators, brokers, and their customers. According to the company, its technology platform drives improvements in efficiency, profitability, and customer experience. Portside said its cloud-based operating system incorporates a set of integrated software solutions addressing major “pain points” for the business aviation industry.
Boston-based private aviation solutions provider Magellan Jets has introduced a series of enhancements to its services and announced lowered pricing across its jet card programs and memberships. The company has added a Wi-Fi option to its Phenom 300 Jet Card service, lowered hourly flight rates for all jet card programs and memberships, and reduced initiation and renewal dues on membership programs.
It has also reintroduced its entry-level Light Jet Card, which provides access to a variety of light jets available through the Magellan Jets Preferred Network. As with the company's other jet card options, the service is available for purchase in 25-hour blocks with additional discounts and amenities, including complimentary in-flight catering and Wi-Fi, offered to customers who purchase 50 hours or more.
Magellan Jets was founded in 2008 and offers aircraft sales and management, jet card ownership, membership, and on-demand charter services. The company noted that it has seen "consistent profitability and continuous 35 percent year-over-year revenue growth” over the past decade, allowing it to pass along savings to customers.
"The private aviation market has opened back up, and Magellan's client-centric program and robust infrastructure enable us to make these pivots on behalf of our customers," said founder and CEO Joshua Hebert.
Washington Reagan National Airport (KDCA) has embarked on a two-year, $94.4 million runway rehabilitation program funded by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) capitol construction program budget and federal grants. It will focus on 7,170-foot Runway 1/19 and 5,200-foot Runway 15/33 and will involve replacing the asphalt and base down to eight inches on both and changing all runway lighting to energy-efficient LED systems.
According to the project engineers, the work will require 123,000 tons of asphalt on Runway 1/19 and 54,000 tons on 15/33. To accommodate this demand, a temporary asphalt plant is being set up at the airport.
The construction will take place on weeknights, weather permitting, and during most of the project’s span only one runway will be closed at a time. Under the construction plan, new pavement will be in place and ready for use in time for morning activity.
“This runway rehabilitation project is significant and necessary for the long-term safety and reliability of runways that serve millions of travelers each year,” said Paul Malandrino, manager of KDCA and MWAA v-p. “Our team at Reagan National has been working to minimize impacts and get the job done without unnecessary inconvenience to travelers.”
Bell has delivered seven of its 407GXi turbine single-engine helicopters to Australian customers in the last 12 months. Five were purchased by Nautilus Aviation for tourism and utility flights, with the remaining two going to a utility company and a corporate customer. There are now more than 20 Bell 407 helicopters operating in Australia.
Worldwide, Bell has delivered more than 1,600 model 407s, logging six million flight hours across the fleet on flight training, military, tourism, para-public, and other operations. The 407GXi is equipped with the Garmin G1000H NXi flight deck and its three-axis autopilot recently received certification from the UK CAA. The system is equipped with a stability augmentation system to automatically recover the aircraft to near-level flight attitude at all speeds in the event of adverse roll or pitch; stability engagement throughout all phases of flight; and envelope protection to prevent over- and underspeed.
Bell recently announced its intention to offer an armed version of the 407. The 407M can be fitted with a range of armaments and equipment to carry out reconnaissance, special operations, light-attack, anti-piracy, medical evacuation, combat search and rescue, and humanitarian aid disaster relief missions. Various levels of capability are available through the U.S. government’s foreign military sales program or direct commercial sales, depending on country requirements.
Aviation Safety Question of the Week
Provided by
What is the somatogravic illusion?
A. The incorrect feeling of a nose-up attitude caused by the aircraft rapid longitudinal acceleration.
B. The incorrect feeling of a nose-up attitude caused by the aircraft rapid longitudinal deceleration.
C. The incorrect feeling of a spiral dive when the aircraft turns a constant rate.
D. The feeling of vertigo during a constant speed descent.
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