Development of a network of 19 global positioning system (GPS) instrument approaches has been completed for Tulsa, Oklahoma-based AirEvac, which operates an emergency medical service (EMS) Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopter.
The helipad-to-helipad instrument flight rules (IFR) network serving hospitals in eastern Oklahoma was designed by Satellite Technology Implementa-tion (STI), the first company to be authorised by the US Federal Aviation Administration to develop GPS instrument approaches.
Orange Beach, Alabama-based STI says it is now working on a network of 22 approaches for another EMSoperator. The company has also begun developing GPS approaches for corporate helicopter operators, and managing owner Stephen Hickok says interest has been expressed by customers in Europe, the Far East and South America.
Hickok says the EMS market was the first target for STI's GPS approach development service "...because they really need it." Limits on visual flight rules operations are more restrictive for helicopters than for fixed-wing aircraft, he says, so the benefits of IFR capability are greater. AirEvac says the ability to operate under IFR during periods of low ceiling or visibility improves safety and operational capability.
STI has developed its own software tools for designing GPS approaches, and Hickok says the time required to develop an approach and gain FAA approval has dropped from "around a year to about a month".
Source: Flight International
