August 1, 1999 FAA and Industry Bring Datalink Services to the Cockpit

Email this article |Print this article

by	Carl Marbach

About the Author ... Carl Marbach is a co-founder of AVweb and its Publisher. Carl is a 4,000-hour pilot, and commutes between homes in Boca Raton, Florida, and Aspen, Colorado, in his 1978 Aerostar 601P. Carl was the founder and CEO of Professional Press which published five computer magazines including DEC Professional. After Professional Press was acquired by a venture capital firm, Carl founded Internetwork Publishing Corporation and now devotes himself to the emerging field of electronic publishing via the Internet. A lifelong resident of Philadelphia until 1994, Carl and his wife Helen now live in Boca Raton, Florida. Complete Coverage from AVweb (Links to Related Articles) Preliminary Reports: Monday & Tuesday, July 26-27 Day One: Wednesday, July 28 Day Two: Thursday, July 29 Day Three: Friday, July 30 Day Four: Saturday, July 31 Day Five: Sunday, August 1 Day Six: Monday, August 2

The FAA announced Saturday that it has chosen NavRadio Corporation of Golden, Colo., and ARNAV Systems of Puyallup, Wash., as industry providers for the Flight Information Services (FIS) datalink program. This service will allow pilots to receive displays of text and graphical weather, special-use airspace information and notices to airmen directly in the cockpit.

"This is a wonderful example of government-industry partnering," said FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. "It's a win-win situation for us all: government, industry and users."

Initial operating capability is planned within six months, with Alaska as the first site. The full national deployment schedule will occur in the following year. Users will need to equip their aircraft with a VHF data radio and a color multifunction display to receive the information. Text weather including METARS, TAFS, SIGMETS, AIRMETS, PIREPS and icons depicting surface conditions will be available free. Other graphical data including NEXrad radar images will be charged on a subscription basis.

Immediately following the announcement, AlliedSignal said it has agreed to acquire NavRadio and will begin developing the U.S. network necessary to transmit the FIS information. "Affordable graphic weather displays in the cockpit will be a major safety improvement for today's general aviation pilot," said Frank Daly, president of AlliedSignal Aerospace Avionics and Lighting.

ARNAV is currently providing its WxLink service, a low-cost datalink radio to its FAA-certified cockpit multifunction displays. "Cockpit weather delivery and display is the most important utility to impact aviation since long-range navigation," said Susan Hamner, ARNAV vice president of marketing. "We have hundreds of pilots using WxLink today and giving testimony to the effectiveness of this utility. I know of at least 10 situations where WxLink has contributed to a safe landing which might have otherwise ended badly."

Both providers will supply the radio link and optional multifunction display. Users can opt to use the radio's RS-232 communication link to power their own display or laptop computer display.

A large part of the United States will be covered by these links by AirVenture 2000, with full coverage sometime after that.