Bombardier Aerospace is looking to tap the power of airborne connectivity to more effectively maintain its global in-service fleet. At NBAA 2015, the airframer rolled out
Smart Link, a new in-flight air-to-ground aircraft performance and operations monitoring and reporting service.
“Smart Link service is a game-changer for maintaining the aircraft in our fleet,” said Andy Nureddin, vice president and general manager, customer services with Bombardier Business Aircraft. “It will provide customers with real-time insight and significantly improve the way they manage their maintenance activities.”
In-flight fault notification service testing on the Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 aircraft verified that the data captured helped to improve service reliability for the aircraft, and even get out ahead of potential issues, according to Nureddin.
“Smart Link is now standard on the Learjet 70 and 75, and will be progressively rolled out for the rest of the Learjet fleet, as well as the Challenger and Global fleet, starting mid-year 2016,” he said. The Global fleet with Global Vision avionics will have Smart Link enabled as part of a software upgrade to the suite in mid-2016.
The two-way connectivity of Smart Link makes use of ACARS data links. “Compressed small packets of data move swiftly enough,” said Mike Blackman, manager of systems for Smart Link.
The service also uses Rolls-Royce Engine Health Monitoring (EHM) technology, which was in the past manually downloaded on a schedule by maintenance personnel. With Smart Link it will be relayed in real-time to the customer’s maintenance facility or to Bombardier’s customer service (SmartFix Plus) and/or Rolls-Royce’s CorporateCare engine monitoring and maintenance program for action. The customer owns the data, Bombardier was quick to point out, and the customer designates where it is downloaded.
“Operators can receive text messages when faults are generated, and then consult with the maintenance program of their choice to troubleshoot and begin the process of proactively procuring any needed parts and having them meet the airplane at its landing point,” said Nureddin. “And if it turns out to be an item that can be re-dispatched under MEL we can help the flight and maintenance crews onsite, even airborne, with those decisions, too.”
In the back of the airplane Bombardier and Honeywell are completing validation of their WAVE technology. WAVE stands for wireless connectivity virtually everywhere, and that is precisely the goal of the project–to connect passengers on the entire Bombardier fleet of Global jets to the world by leveraging Honeywell Aerospace’s JetWave hardware and Inmarsat’s Jet Connex high-speed Ka-band satcom.
“Our Global aircraft can link virtually any key city pair worldwide, non-stop, at close to the speed of sound, and the WAVE system is intended to match this performance with its exceptional speed, reliability and reach,” said David Coleal, president of Bombardier Business Jets.
In other news Bombardier also announced that more than 60 technicians employed at its five North American service centers are now authorized to perform programming, annual inspections and battery replacement operations for ACR Electronics emergency locator beacons.
