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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 0092.PDF
Cf VII AVIONiCS VHF datalink to receive local-area differen- tial-GPS (DGPS) corrections. The approach sensor will use wide-area (Cat I) or local-area (Cat II/III) DGPS signals and a database of approach-path waypoints to gener ate guidance cues identical to those produced by the present instrument-landing system, Collins says. Ultimately, the company plans to upgrade the sensor to provide Cat III automat ic-landing capability, Savold indicates. A key element of the Collins strategy has been to provide for growth from a GPS sensor to an approach sensor within the same box, achieved by adding cards, or modules. The basic 2 MCU-sized GPS sensor consists of a single module, plus the power supply, with space for three additional modules: precision- approach integrity monitor; GLONASS receiver; and local-area DGPS datalink. A 3MCU version has space for a flight-manage ment computer. SIGNIFICANT MOVE In a significant move for Collins, the com pany's general-aviation (GA) and air-transport divisions will use the same AVSAT hardware. Planning for the business-aircraft and region al-airliner sectors is more advanced and a core range of four GPS-based flight-management systems (FMS), using the GPS-4000 sensor and APR-4000 approach sensor, has been announced. The AVSAT 6000 Series is a sophisticated FMS for long-range business jets. Functions include navigation and performance manage ment. The 5000 Series is intended for medium and light business-jets and turboprops. Functions include navigation and avionics management. The 4000 Series is intended for regional airliners with 30 to 100 seats. These three systems are all part of Collins' Pro Line 4 integrated-avionics line and con sist of the GPS sensor, a cockpit control/dis play unit (CDU) and a flight- management-computer module which plugs into the Pro Line 4 integrated-avionics processor. Differences are mainly in the level of flight-management capability and in the CDU operation. The AVSAT 5000 CDU centralises control of avionics, to save space in smaller cockpits, while the AVSAT 4000 CDU is tailored to airline operations, says The heart of the AVSAT family is the "CAGE" GPS engine satnav product manager Steve Belland. The fourth member of the family is the AVSAT 2000 Series and this differs in that the flight-management computer is consolidated with the sensor, resulting in a slightly larger box which Collins calls a navigation processor (NMC-2000 with GPS sensor; NLC-2000 with approach sensor). This stand-alone sys tem is designed for retrofit into existing corpo rate and regional aircraft which lack an FMS, and includes a variety of CDU options. The first AVSAT application is Canadair's new Challenger 604, which has Pro Line 4 integrated avionics with an FMS-6000 FMS. Flight tests of the GPS-4000 sensor in the Challenger 604 are scheduled to begin in April and Collins plans to start production deliveries in October to coincide with certification of the long-range business jet. Savold says that he APR-4000 approach sen sor is scheduled to become available in October 1996. This will allow use of local-area DGPS landing systems certificated to Special Category I, which governs privately owned installations. Upgrades to give AVSAT systems Cat III automatic-landing capabilities are scheduled to become available in June 1998. Deliveries of the NMC-2000 stand-alone navigation processor are due to begin in March 1996, with precision-approach capa bility (NLC-2000) becoming available a year later. Collins plans to introduce a GPS-based Series 100/200 system for smaller aircraft and helicopters, combining flight-manage ment and precision-approach capabilities, in June 1997, Savold reveals. AIR-TRANSPORT FAMILY Product planning is less well advanced at Collins' Air Transport division, although its approach is to build on the GA products, says executive vice-president Dave Mineck. The aim is to produce a family of AVSAT products which will enable airlines to add functions as they become available within the future satel lite-based ATM system. Air-transport products will be built around two basic offerings, he says: the GLU-900 GPS sensor for aircraft equipped with an FMS and the GNU-900 with embedded flight-man agement computer for "non-FMS" aircraft. Planned precision-approach derivatives have been dubbed the GLU-90X and GLNU-90X, respectively. These are direct equivalents of the GPS- 4000/APR-4000 and NMC- 2000/NLC-2000 GA systems. Airliners which lack FMS make up the largest part of the air-transport fleet, Mineck says. Of some 16,000 non-FMS aircraft in service, around 12,000 are expected to remain in use for the next ten to 15 years, he esti mates. Carriers, many operating six to eight different airliner types, are looking for a consistent, fleet-wide, approach to equipping their aircraft which will give them a rapid pay- A VSAT 6000 allows creation of active flight plans back on the investment while allowing them to add functions as they become available, Mineck says. The cost of fitting a GPS-based FMS will be repaid within one to two years, Collins gauges, as FMS-equipped aircraft are allowed more direct routing. GPS/FMS- based non-precision approaches to runways lacking instrument-landing systems (ILS) also offer rapid payback, Mineck says. As a result, the company expects the non-FMS retrofit market, principally that for the Boeing 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9, to be the first to materialise. Collins does not offer its own air-transport FMS. Instead, it plans to embed a derivative of its general-aviation FMS-4000, with addition al airline functions, in the GPS sensor. A range of CDUs will be offered. In addition, three approaches are being pursued through the company's relationship with FMS-supplier Smiths Industries, Mineck says: upgrading Smiths' FMS to operate with the stand-alone GPS sensor; integrating Smiths' software into the Collins' box; and joint development of a fully integrated GPS/FMS product. Mineck points out that the basic AVSAT GPS sensor will allow airlines to take advan tage of the FAA's WAAS. Modules could then be added to the same box for local-area DGPS and for GLONASS, if required. The approach sensor could be substituted for the existing ILS receiver, he says, noting that the AVSAT architecture has been designed to meet the flight-critical requirements of an automatic-landing system. Collins is working closely with Daimler- Benz Aerospace (formerly Deutsche Aerospace) on development of a local-area DGPS ground-station using a 20-channel ver sion of the CAGE receiver, says manager for advanced systems, Thomas Foster. Daimler- Benz's ground station and Collins' airborne equipment will be tested by Boeing in a year long GPS landing-system (GLS) evaluation programme scheduled to get under way in June. Flight tests of four competing systems in NASA's Boeing 757 are planned to develop requirements for the design and certification of a GLS, he says. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 11 - 17 January 1995
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