AlliedSignal Aerospace to supply avionics for CASA aircraft
By John McHale
REDMOND, Wash. — Engineers at AlliedSignal Aerospace in Redmond, Wash., are providing Spanish aircraft manufacturer CASA with avionics for new C-295 and CN-235 twin turboprop transport aircraft, as well as for or retrofits of in-service CN-235 aircraft.
AlliedSignal officials say they expect the contract to generate as much as $100 million in sales based on the equipment of 300 new C-295 and CN-235 aircraft and 200 retrofits of CN-235 aircraft in operation worldwide.
AlliedSignal Aerospace designers will provide their Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EPGWS) among other avionics components for the Spanish-made air transports.
The includes a map-like display of nearby terrain, and warns the pilot by sound one minute before the aircraft`s flight path takes it into contact with the ground. Other GPWS equipment typically sounds a warning about 12 seconds from terrain, says Ron Crotty, manager of media relations at AlliedSignal Aerospace.
The EGPWS uses a worldwide digital terrain database. This became practical after the end of the Cold War when governments began to release previously secret terrain information, AlliedSignal Aerospace officials say.
AlliedSignal designers bought most of the information from Russia, Crotty explains. Company experts had their own data and terrain information on the rest of the world, he adds.
The new system does not rely on the landing gear or wing flap positions to determine if the aircraft is landing. The EGPWS database contains the locations of airport to determine if the airplane is actually approaching a runway.
Other components in the avionics for CASA include:
- Color Weather Radar System, which detects bad weather, as well as other aircraft, ground vehicles, and surface ships;
- Enhanced Traffic Collision Avoidance System, which gives pilots a real-time display of surrounding aircraft and, when necessary, gives the flight crew visual and audible alerts and maneuvering instructions to help them avoid colliding with other aircraft;
- Solid State Flight Data Recorder, which records hundreds of parameters of aircraft and systems data, and preserves the data in a crash-survivable memory unit to help investigators determine the causes of accidents;
- Solid State Cockpit Voice Recorder, which records conversations among the flight crew, radio, air traffic controllers, and other sounds audible in the cockpit and preserves them in a crash-survivable memory unit for use by accident investigators; and
- Identification Friend or Foe Transponder, which not only provides an electronic signal to identify military and commercial aircraft, but also that helps prevent collisions by spacing aircraft.
The C-295 is to be simple, sturdy, and easy to maintain. It also will come with improved operative performance and with a 50 percent increase in cargo capacity over the aircraft models it replaces, AlliedSignal Aerospace officials say.
The Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System from AlliedSignal Aerospace will fly on CASA`s C-295 and CN-235 aircraft.
