AVIATOR® 200 provides airborne communications for small aircraft and is the latest addition to Thrane & Thrane's portfolio that is designed in accordance with Inmarsat's recently announced SwiftBroadband 200 service. Through utilizing a combination of proven avionics and antenna technologies AVIATOR 200 provides a compact, lightweight system that offers reliable, affordable connectivity to a wide range of aircraft. First customer shipment of the Thrane & Thrane AVIATOR 200 is expected for August 2010.
Thrane & Thrane's launch of the AVIATOR 300/350 (previously Aero SB Lite) in mid-2009 decreased the size and weight of the avionics required to utilize Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband service. AVIATOR 200 is continuing this trend by decreasing the antenna size, thereby again decreasing the overall system size and weight as well as the cost and complexity of aircraft modifications while maintaining a high level of service for the end user. This has been achieved by using the same avionics as Aero SB Lite and re-using a small jet blade antenna which has been used for more than 15 years.
Since the installation of AVIATOR 300 aboard the Victoria SAU aircraft at the end of 2009, the organization has experienced a significant increase in the amount of data and the speed in which data can be transmitted to incident control centers, which directly affects how quickly the fire can be controlled, minimizing the impact to human life.
And the AVIATOR® 700 (previously Aero SB+) SwiftBroadband solution has received Inmarsat Type Approval and Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The approvals will enable AVIATOR 700 users to take full advantage of the Inmarsat SwiftBroadband service, as well as allow Thrane & Thrane to commence shipment of the system to its customers. AVIATOR 700 is a cockpit and cabin communication solution, providing cockpit and safety data functions together with office in the sky IP data and voice services. The system offers five channels for simultaneous voice and data and speeds up to 432kbps, which makes it suitable for an extensive range of applications within business, government and military aviation.
As part of the Inmarsat Type Approval process AVIATOR 700 was installed and tested aboard the NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) 'Miss Piggy' hurricane hunter aircraft. One of three NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft, 'Miss Piggy' is used for critical hurricane and storm research and reconnaissance, and is equipped with highly advanced and sophisticated radar and sensor technology used to gather valuable data about the hurricane to assist forecasters in predicting the path and intensity of the storm. The speed at which this information is communicated to scientists on the ground is often critical to the success of mission.
AVIATOR 700 combines 'office in the sky' services and critical cockpit safety and data functions offering users an extensive range of benefits including:
Cabin
- Use of BlackBerry® or other WiFi devices during all phases of flight to send and receive email
- WiFi Internet access to the aircraft cabin for VPN access, web surfing and file transfer at up to 432kbps speed
- Enhanced voice options with the addition of the low-cost, high quality voice service included with SwiftBroadband
- Enhanced Cabin data capabilities for professional purposes
- Cockpit data capabilities enhance flight efficiency and safety by reducing pilot workload. The system is FANS/1-A prepared
- Cockpit voice dialing from MCDU