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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 1234.PDF
TERM OLOGIES Developing technologies for the air-transport market is a long-term business. GEC-Marconi Avionics believes that it has the resources and commitment to stay the course. an area in which GMAv has a world lead, are being combined with for ward-looking infra-red (FLIR) imag ing to give a landing aid in poor visibility. The debate over the replace ment for instrument-landing systems (ILS) has adding even greater impe tus to the technology. There are hopes that it could be used along side global positioning-systems (GPS) to increase the range of con ditions in which aircraft could land. Another piece of GMAv integra tion has brought a low-cost ring laser gyro, together with a GPS unit. The two systems work together to give much higher levels of reliability (laser gyros are around ten times more reliable than traditional mechanical systems), without add ing cost. Essentially, data from the GPS is used to correct the gyro drifts of the inertial sys tem, while the smooth navigation data en hances the capabilities of the GPS. The integrated unit has already been tested and flown. Terrain-avoidance techniques developed for low-flying military are also in the process of finding their way into civil markets. The technol ogy makes use of on-board digital mapping to warn the pilot of poten tial obstructions on the flight path (see box). The technology could be in service within five years. GMAv stresses that this new technology is backed by lifetime product support. The re-organised KEEPING CLEAR OF TERRAIN The technology which has opened the way for low-level covert flying by military fast jets such as the RAF's Panavia Tornado, is being applied to the civil air-transport sector by GEC-Marconi Avionics' display systems division to help avoid the risk of controlled flight into terrain. The Ground and Obstacle Collision Avoidance Technique (GOCAT) basically is designed to use terrain information from below the aircraft to fix its position on an on-board terrain map. The map database is then used to determine the height and position of the terrain surrounding, or in the line of, the projected flight path. A warning is given if that flight path is likely to infringe a pre-determined safe-clearance height above the terrain. Man-made obstructions, such as transmitter masts, are also stored in the database and will activate a warning. GOCAT has already been flight tested successfully. company has a support division employing 1,000, which almost cer tainly makes it the largest in Europe. The aim is to use the size and resources now collected within the company to follow programmes through, from initial design briefings to the end of a product's life, says Tucker. Given that the average airliner design could take ten years from conception to service and could stay in service for another 20 years or more, that is a long-term commit ment, he adds. GEC-MARCONI AVIONICS ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT 11
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