WINTER 2013 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: NAVTECH | 29
Operator experience: Flybe UK NAVTECH
Navtech, Inc. is a leading global provider of flight operations solutions, serving more than 350 airlines and aviation services customers with aeronautical charts, navigation data, flight planning software, aircraft performance software and crew planning solutions. Many of Navtech’s products can be configured as part of an EFB solution and all are supported by Navtech’s AS9100 and ISO: 9001 quality certifications. Navtech supports millions of flights each year aiding airlines to maximize efficiency, reduce costs and ensure compliance with regulations.
GENETH DALEY
Navtech TODC Office Admin Dashboard
Research and Development2 is still ongoing and it is believed that in the future (perhaps) EFB solutions will be required to connect at some point, either due to regulatory criteria or for support of other applications used on the EFB infrastructure, for traceability, monitoring, data mining and updating. If this should occur, the result will inevitably be a decline in the market demand for offline performance software.
OTHER SOLUTIONS
ACARS equipped aircraft make feasible the possibility of a solution that offers essentially a ‘connected’ alternative to tablets and offers several advantages, including access to ‘live’ data.3 Although it may be slightly more expensive as a result of data transmission costs, the ACARS solution offers a ‘back-up’ plan in the event of failure for any reason of the EFB. Alternatively, if the ACARS solution is used as the primary solution, the EFB could then be used as the ‘back-up’.
ONE SOLUTION
The solution we have developed at Navtech is the new Navtech TODC Tablet, a connected application with an HTML interface. It is a hosted server solution where the client access to Navtech TODC is on a groundbased server from the tablet. Designed with pilots in
mind, the application can be used to perform single case take-off calculations along with a day/night mode to easily view information in various lighting situations. Navtech are also supporting operators with the Citrix Server solution for iPad. This online ‘remote desktop’ type installation allows airlines to use the Windows version of Navtech TODC EFB, which accessed from the tablet using a Citrix Server connection. n The problems with SCAPs on the iPad may be a thing of the past. An Aviation IT company has developed a method of creating iOS compatible SCAPs. The stumbling block for this solution is that it requires the aircraft manufacturers to make their FORTRAN source code available rather than the pre-compiled data that they currently provide. Navtech Aircraft Performance will be watching closely as this option develops with the hope of implementing these iOS compatible SCAPs into the Navtech TODC software 2 Navtech continues to closely monitor all Research and Development (R&D) being done in relation to aircraft performance, aircraft performance technologies, and regulations associated with aircraft performance. The company also conducts their own internal R&D. 3 Live data is defined as data which requires no pilot interaction to prompt the local data to be updated. 1
The Navtech Aircraft Performance team has been working closely with Flybe UK on unique aircraft performance software EFB project, for their Embraer 175/195 and Bombardier DHC-8-402. The airline requested a highly customized software configuration and they are using a Citrix server to seamlessly deliver the Windows-based aircraft performance software to their chosen iPad tablets. The airlines’ technical and flight operations department performed thorough trials of Navtech TODC EFB before confirming it was a practicable option for them, whereby they could utilize the fully optimized performance software for the iPad. As a result, the airline is experiencing higher payload, reduced fuel consumption and less engine wear. The airline has also reported a %N1 (measure of the engine thrust) decrease of 1%. Flybe UK estimated that this has resulted is a saving of US$85,000 per year based on their short sectors and 23 Embraer aircraft. They can also now eliminate the printing and distribution costs of paper performance charts, a further saving of US$95,000 per year for their Bombardier and Embraer operations.
DIRECTOR, AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE, NAVTECH Geneth has a wealth of academic, as well as hands on experience having gained a Bachelors Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Computation from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She also has 10+ years experience at Navtech in software design and the programming of take-off, landing and weight & balance software, and has been integral in the redesign of Navtech TODC take-off and landing software. Geneth has been involved in many EFB implementations.
ADRIAN FORBES
MANAGER, APS PRODUCTION, NAVTECH Adrian Forbes has more than 20 years experience in the aviation industry. He has held various positions in airline flight operations and holds a BSC in computer science from the University of the West Indies. He joined Navtech in 2011 in his current position of Manager, Aircraft Performance and resides in Waterloo, Ontario.
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