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Aviation History
2004
2004-07 - 0031.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT IN BRIEF AVIONICS GUY NORRIS /LOS ANGELES ACSS unveils enhanced safety system package Avionics specialist also releases revamped datalink and communications product ACSS, the Phoenix, Arizona-based avionics specialist and developer of the combined terrain and traffic collision avoidance system (T2CAS), is expanding the concept further by developing a wider plat form of combined safety systems dubbed the Protector+. The basis for the new offering is a common computing platform that enables a range of surveillance functions to be hosted in the same "box" using common radio-frequency and processor com ponents. ACSS, an L-3 Com munications and Thales company, plans to offer a variety of functions under the Protector+ umbrella including T2CAS, a terrain aware ness warning system, Mode S transponder and its TCAS 2000. Protector+ is also designed as a "plug and play" upgrade for aircraft already equipped with either the TCAS 2000 or T2CAS, and will also house the MASS - a military TCAS that has been developed to aid for mation flying and station-keeping. "It's like having a personal com puter. Now you get to pick what software is hosted," says ACSS pres ident Joe Hoffman. "It means an OEM [original equipment manu facturer] can decide to have one, two or all three systems hosted within the Protector+. It's all about flexibility, and that's what is differ ent from the past." Hoffman says the integrated approach may also be useful in helping operators make block upgrades to meet impending requirements such as the European airborne collision avoidance sys tem mandate for aircraft weighing 5,700kg (12,5001b) and upwards. "When different functionality and development roadmaps con verge, as in this case, it will make major modification blocks easier. It will enable them to kill two birds with one stone," he adds. ACSS is also taking advantage of the Protector+ development to launch a repackaged datalink and communications system called Dlink+. Derived from a package co-developed with Pentar Avionics and already selected by Air Wisconsin for its fleet of Bombardier CRJs and BAe 146s, the Dlink+ is now formally part of the ACSS portfolio. The suite includes a communica tions management unit, VDL Mode 2 digital radio and control display unit, and, because of its small packaging, is being aimed mainly at regional aircraft. DELIVERY Austrian takes first A319 The first of seven Airbus A319s has joined Austrian Airlines' single-aisle fleet of eight A320s and six A321 s. The CFM International CFM56- 5B6/P-powered A319s are equipped with a two-class, 126-seat interior and will operate on Austrian's European network from Vienna. SURVEILLANCE Airservices in search of radar site Airservices Australia is examining suitable sites for deployment of a transportable radar to extend sur veillance. The radar is one of a number of solutions to address shortcomings identified with the National Airspace System (NAS) in a review of the programme prompted by a number of air safety incidents in the reclassified airspace. Airservices Australia acting chair man, Air Marshal Les Fisher says: "Airservices experts have under taken a review which has identified a number of safety enhancements for immediate implementation." The air traffic services provider says it already has a transportable radar, currently in Melbourne, and is looking at the most suitable site for it. In addition, new charts indi cating air traffic control frequencies will be issued. The frequency infor mation was removed from charts under the NAS Stage 2b changes introduced last November in a move that was opposed by many users of the system. Additional options, which Airservices declines to comment on, will be put to industry this week and tested over the next few months. BELGIAN START-UP A new Belgian charter airline, Belgiumexel, is being formed by the Exel Aviation Group of the Netherlands, to fill the void left by the demise of Sobelair. It will take over Sobelair's long-term contract with tour operator Thomas Cook Belgium to fly holidaymakers to Cuba, Kenya, Mexico and Zanzibar, using a Boeing 767-300ER. These flights have temporarily been taken over by charter airline Thomas Cook Airlines Germany using a Boeing 757. Exel, which owns KLMexel, Bonairexel and Hollandexel, will operate its new Belgian subsidiary from Brussels. FF-1080 ASSEMBLY American Utilicraft has announced a memorandum of understanding (Moll) with New Mexico-based Native American casino and construction firm TSAY for an $11 million equity investment to build a final- assembly plant for the proposed FF-1080 feeder freighter at San Juan Pueblo airport. Now based in Lawrenceville, Georgia, American Utilicraft says details of the MoU will not be released until negotiations have been completed. Earlier this month, the company announced it had reached a purchase agreement for the initial production lot of 36 FF-1080s with WSI Hong Kong, which is described as a private international trading company. AN-124-100 DEAL Aviant state aviation plant in Kiev, Ukraine, has been cleared by the Ukrainian government to sell a newly completed An-124- 100 Ruslan to the United Arab Emirates, according to Ukraine's ministry of industrial policy. The aircraft was assembled from parts originally produced during the Soviet era, before production was transferred to the Aviastar plant in Ulyanovosk, Russia. The UAE deal, valued at $38 million, is believed to have been finalised at the Dubai air show in December last year. The air craft had been destined for Russian airline Atlant-Soyuz, which failed to raise funds for the purchase. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2-8 MARCH 2004 29
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