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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2436.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL Australia defies union and rolls out NAS system The Australian government says that it will go ahead with the next stage of implementa tion of the controversial National Airspace System (NAS) on 27 November, despite a campaign led by Australian air traffic controller union Civil Air to delay imple mentation due to safety concerns, writes Emma Kelly. Implementation of the next stage, which includes air space reclassification, will go ahead after the changes passed safety assessments conducted by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia. "CASA has accepted the design and implementation of safety cases after rigorous scrutiny," says transport minister John Anderson, adding that a comprehensive training and education package will now be launched. Implementation of NAS, which was devised by former CASA chairman Dick Smith, started in March. The ele ments that are causing concern, including Class E airspace replacing Class C airspace, are set for introduc tion next month. Last week new airspace charts were released as part of NAS, which Civil Air has criticised on safety grounds as they do not include radio frequencies or frequency boundaries. Approval for the next stage follows the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Associations (IFATCA) entering the debate. IFATCA's board says that the "improvement in safety claimed to be inherent in the changes has not been proven", adding that other states have reduced or elimi nated Class E airspace. AVIONICS GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Head-up display market expands as LCDs develop Liquid crystal displays set to replace cathode-ray tubes as technology advances Suppliers expect liquid-crystal dis plays (LCD) will begin replacing cathode-ray tubes (CRT) in head-up displays (HUD) within the next two to three years, as key technical issues are overcome. Thales Avionics is demonstrating an LCD HUD and FedEx Express has selected a Honeywell LCD HUD to be installed on its widebody fleet from 2007 as part of an enhanced vision system (EVS) (Flight International, 14-20 October). CRTs are becoming difficult to source because of obsolescence, says Kevin Young, Honeywell direc tor, air transport display systems, adding: "The mean time between failures [MTBF] for CRTs is fairly low, because the phosphor wears out." But the main driver behind the move to LCDs is the develop ment of EVS and the resulting need for higher image quality. In an EVS HUD, a CRT has to steer the same electron beam to generate the infrared image by raster-scanning like a television then superimpose flight symbology by stroke-writing like an oscillo scope. This limits resolution and brightness. An LCD has fewer limi tations, and can generate symbol ogy and imagery simultaneously with a higher contrast ratio. "An LCD's capability is driven by com puting power," says Young. Flat-panel LCDs are also more compact, lighter and more reliable than CRTs. "MTBFs are four to five times those of CRTs," says Young. LCDs began replacing CRTs in head-down displays some years ago, but HUDs posed a greater chal lenge. "The problem with using LCDs in HUDs is getting enough light through them. That issue has been solved," he says. The HUD market is also expanding, and dis plays will soon be available on most business and commercial aircraft. Under FedEx's Magic Window programme, Honeywell's LCD HUD will be certificated on the Boeing MD-10 in 2006, followed by the MD-11 and Airbus A300 and A310, with fleet installation begin ning in 2007. Working with Airbus, Thales plans to have an LCD HUD avail able for flight testing by the end of next year, and expects certification less than a year from then. The French manufacturer says US low- cost carrier JetBlue is looking at LCD HUDs for its A320s. SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT/ LONDON R-R investigates Trent uncontained failure on Edelweiss Air A330 The A330's wing and fuselage was damaged by uncontained debris such an event for the Trent series. The engine manufacturer com pleted an initial inspection of the Trent 700 engine last week at its Derby, UK, plant, and confirmed that the aircraft's wing and fuselage Rolls-Royce says it has not estab lished the cause of the Trent 700 uncontained failure that occurred on an Edelweiss Air Airbus A330- 200 during the climb out from Miami, Florida, on 6 October. It says that it was the first example of had been damaged by uncontained debris. R-R says it does not yet know what caused the failure. The three-year-old A330's No 1 engine failed about lOmin after the charter flight had taken off from Miami carrying 175 passengers bound for Zurich, Switzerland. It landed safely back at Miami 30min after the failure, and the passengers were disembarked normally. R-R says no debris appears to have entered the cabin and no-one was hurt. The US National Transport ation Safety Board, which is inves tigating the incident, confirms that the fuselage damage was below deck level. According to R-R, the failed engine entered service in 1995 - five years before the A330-200 it was powering - and had completed 15,200h in 2,350 cycles. The A330 was delivered in November 2000 on lease from CIT Aerospace. 16 28 OCTOBER - 3 NOVEMBER 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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