Jet Aviation Basel, St. Louis, Perform Avionics Firsts

Jet Aviation Basel has signed an agreement to perform the first installation of a Ka-band satcom system on a Boeing 747-400, using Honeywell’s JetWave fuselage-mounted MCS-8200 antenna. The completions and aircraft engineering specialist will develop a Ka-Band supplemental type certificate (STC) for the 747-400 installation. Jet Aviation is located at NBAA Booth N5131.

Ka-Band connectivity enables high data transfer speeds while supporting expected future growth in data traffic. The Ka-band satcom will ultimately interface with the existing local area network system on the Boeing widebody.

Honeywell’s JetWave Ka-band GX Aviation satcom terminal provides global broadband service via the Inmarsat’s new GlobalXpress network, and supports both commercial global spot beams and high-capacity commercial spot beams, without reconfiguring the system, transitioning networks or changing providers. Ka-band connectivity is also available on business aircraft via Honeywell’s tail-mounted MCS-8000 antenna.

“With all of us having enjoyed nearly limitless high-speed Internet on the ground for so long, we are thrilled to help bring this experience to our customers up in the air,” said Johannes Turzer, senior vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation Basel.

FANS For Challengers

Meanwhile, Jet Aviation St. Louis, having received an STC for a FANS 1/A installation in a Bombardier Challenger 604, is performing the first follow-on installation. “We can complete the fully integrated FANS1/A upgrade with minimal downtime and cost, all during a scheduled or unscheduled maintenance event,’ said Blake Hogge, senior manager for avionics sales at Jet Aviation St. Louis. The upgrade includes ADS-C and controller-pilot data link communications capability, giving equipped aircraft access to preferred, wind-efficient transatlantic routes.