Avionics

With whistleblower revelations and amassing safety incidents plaguing Boeing’s aircraft fleet, some travelers are taking the “If it’s Boeing, I’m not going” phrase to heart. Alternative Airlines, a booking tool, now allows anxious travelers to seek out routes and carriers that do not use the troubled Boeing 737 MAX. According to the company’s website, “At […]

The long-expected discontinuation of maintenance support for Garmin’s iconic GNS 430/530 series navigators has taken a big step. The company has posted a service advisory telling customers that “display repairs for the WAAS and Non-WAAS GPS 400, GNC 420, and GNS 430 are no longer available and have been discontinued.” In a statement sent to […]

Honeywell says it’s bringing more critical supply chain manufacturing home with an $84 million expansion of its Olathe, Kansas, plant. The company announced last week the new production lines will employ 156 additional workers and secure the availability of the parts it needs. “Expanding this facility will enable the development of a strong and resilient […]

The FAA is telling pilots to brush up on their old-school instrument procedures and use analog NAVAIDs where possible if they’re headed to areas where GPS spoofing is going on. In a Jan. 25 Safety Alert for Operators, the agency said GPS and GNSS disruptions are on the rise, particularly around war zones but also […]

Garmin announced today (Jan. 31) it has introduced a pair of “affordable” slim line comm and nav/comm radios. The GTR 205 comm-only (list price $2,695) and the GNC 215 nav/comm ($5,295) take up 1.3 inches of bezel height form factor and include full-color LCD displays. The GNC 215 includes VOR/ILS capability with localizer and glideslope […]

The Federal Aviation Administration recently granted approval for a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for AerSale’s AerAware headset device known as SkyLens HWD (head-wearable display)—an Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS) for pilots in low-visibility conditions. AerSale says its EFVS received approval from the FAA for the Boeing B737NG product line. “This achievement marks the world’s first commercial EFVS system […]

High-end avionics upgrades require real planning—from deciding where to place backup instruments to keeping tabs on the shop doing the work. A misstep in the project can send an otherwise good upgrade in the wrong direction. One recent flagship Garmin upgrade in a Cessna T210 went exceptionally well because the aircraft’s patient owner stayed involved […]

Earlier this month, Honeywell announced it is leading the DARWIN project under the European Union SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking. The goal of DARWIN (a painfully stretched acronym for “Digital Assistants for Reducing Workload and Increasing … collaboration”) is “to leverage artificial intelligence [AI] and advance single-pilot operations in Europe.” The research is designed to develop […]

A University of Texas student has traced the source of alarming GPS spoofing signals in the Middle East to the eastern outskirts of Tehran, but it would seem there is little anyone can do to stop the navigation interference. Todd Humphreys, who heads up the Radionavigation Laboratory at UT, said the grad student, Zach Clements, […]

Recently confirmed FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker has received his first assignment from the Government Accountability Office, and he should be familiar with the subject matter. The GAO says Whitaker should get cracking on the NextGen air navigation modernization program. Whitaker was in charge of the program as the assistant administrator from 2013 to 2016. The […]