The aircraft maintenance professional's source for technological advancements, maintenance alerts, news, articles, events, and careers
Issue link: http://amt.epubxp.com/i/725823
BUSINESS AVIATION 14 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY Q Let's start with the basics. Aircra connectivity is a broad term. If I'm an aircra maintenance professional, what does it mean to me? A lot of people think connectivity is a back of the aircraft type of thing — that it's really like inflight entertainment — and they really don't pay it much attention because it's just for the pas- sengers. And while that probably was true five or six years ago, today it's different. Maintenance technicians need to have a proactive role in find- ing out what connectivity is because the next big thing that's going to happen in aviation will be powered by connectivity. Here's what I mean. People talk about automation in cars. Tesla has self-driving cars and all these big things are hap- pening. These types of technologies are arising and they will be adopted over time. Likewise, there's going to be more automation in the cock- pit and more automation in flight. And that only happens because of connectivity. Q So where should a maintainer's focus be in terms of the aircra? They need to look at the front of the aircraft. We're seeing applications where a maintenance technician will walk up to the aircraft with a tablet to download engine data, to get service logs, diagnostics and all of that. They can even make a logbook entry for the aircraft wirelessly or determine what parts are on the aircraft. Q When someone is buying connectivity equipment for a business jet, what are the factors they should be considering? Just as when you buy an aircraft, the first thing to think about is how you want to use the equip- ment — what do you want it to do for you? Do you need email? Do you want to browse the web? Send files? Is it important for you to stream Netflix? All of this will drive you to the best solution. Also, when you start looking at aircraft connectivity options, those tend to be more mandate driven. Maybe you need the ability to fly the FANS-1/A routes and satisfy those operational requirements. Or maybe you want to get rid of one of your HF radios and move to Satcom instead. Q From a maintenance standpoint, what factors would be important when you're considering a purchase of this type and when you're considering what it's going to take to maintain and support this connectivity equipment? You've got to understand what it is you're actually buying. I think that a lot of people end up buying a system and not really understanding what the capabilities are and what they want to do. But when you're thinking about the maintenance, it's really important to understand the complexity of the sys- tem. Does the maintenance technician understand the complexity? Understanding network systems is critically important. More and more we are working closely with our customer's IT technicians. So you've got a flight department technician looking after the aircraft parts, and the IT department looking after the networking. Also, are there any special tools that are needed, or can you maintain it with a laptop? What does the support from the manufacturer look like? Because a lot things can be supported over the phone and with software updates. AIRCRAFT CONNECTIVITY: NNECTIVITY: AIRCRAFT CONNECTIVITY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN OES WHAT DOES IT MEAN IT MEAN FOR AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE? RAFT FOR AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE? MAINTENANCE? Mark van Berkel, president and chief executive officer of TrueNorth Avionics, shares how technology is affecting the world of aircra maintenance By Barb Zuehlke