Aviationtoday.com: Beyond the Slogans

It’s not just corporate sloganeering: the aviation industry is truly in the forefront of "green" solutions to reduce air pollution. At the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference in October in Orlando, Fla., the business jet sector’s concerted effort to minimize its carbon footprint was apparent and authentic.

The same forces are at work overseas. Notably, the European Business Aviation Association is proposing the formation of a pool of business jet operators as an alternative means of compliance with the European Union’s emission trading scheme (ETS). Many business jet manufacturers and operators find ETS onerous and are seeking a compromise that places less of an administrative burden on smaller companies.

Regardless, an important point is sometimes lost in this debate: Avionics can play a major role in reducing aircraft emissions.

The deployment of new avionics technology to mitigate pollution from business jets was examined during Aviation Today’s latest Webinar: "Business Jets: Separating the Reality from the Hype," Oct. 27. This hour-long online event is available on the Web site www.aviationtoday.com/webinars.html.

Typically, when discussing green aviation, the spotlight falls on engine technology and the use of composites in airframe manufacturing. However, pollution control opportunities also emerge from the optimization of airspace. For airlines, that means more efficient route networks, timetables, flight frequencies, and airport approaches — all areas in which avionics can make a big difference.

The correlation between pollution and the cockpit was examined during another Aviation Today Webinar: "Aircraft Valuations in 2009: Making Sense of a Turbulent Year," recorded June 29 and also available for registration. I served as moderator for both webinars.

Below is an excerpt of the valuations webinar. It’s an exchange between Chris Baur, president, consulting and technical services, Hughes Aerospace, and me. Chris’s views carry considerable credibility and authority: He is a dual-rated ATP with more than 11,000 hours, a certified aircraft dispatcher and flight instructor.

Persinos: Chris, you have a keen grasp of avionics technologies. What are some of the new avionics innovations that will come to the fore because of the emphasis on green aviation?

Baur: Well, first I want to say thanks for that great compliment. I’ll try my best to live up to it. The aging GPS constellation will be replaced with far more capable satellites, giving aircraft more satellites in view, as well as better "mask angles" for airplanes that are terrain challenged. Also significant is the rollout of ground-based augmentation systems, or GBAS, on which we could conduct an entire webinar in and of itself. GBAS provides a signal in space augmentation at an airport that allows pilots to take a GPS GBAS-equipped aircraft and do CAT III landings for a fraction of the cost of an ILS.

When GBAS is combined with RNP technology, pilots are able to fly curved path approaches, which can get aircraft out of these 20-mile-long conga lines. Where overlapping airspace issues exist, as in New York City and many other metropolitan areas, just a simple runway change shuts down the airspace for hours on end while pilots turn the ship, so to speak. With curved path approaches, that’s no longer an issue. You don’t have this ripple effect throughout the NAS.

Avionics technology is a huge part of this solution because even the most fuel efficient airplanes, if they’re put into long, say 20 minute, holding patterns at 6,000 or 8,000 feet on vectors, the amount of fuel burn is just extraordinarily wasteful. There’s a big cost associated with this airspace inefficiency, which provides a huge incentive for airlines to go with newer avionics technology to not only improve their bottom lines, but to make flying passengers feel better about their ticket purchases, because they’re buying into a greener technology.

John Persinos is publisher and editorial director of Aviation Today. He can be reached at jpersinos@accessintel.com or 301-385-7211. You can access these panel discussions in their entirety, on demand, on our Webinar page: www.aviationtoday.com/webinars.html. You also can read John’s blog postings from October’s NBAA, archived here: www.aviationtoday.com/blog.html.