Gulfstream has clinched US supplemental type certification (STC) for its Future Air Navigation System (Fans) 1/A+ on the out-of-production GV business jet, and is now working on similar approvals for its GIV and GIV-SP stablemates.
Fans 1/A+ is required over some North Atlantic and Pacific routes and helps air traffic controllers handle growing levels of air traffic by reducing spacing between aircraft and ensuring a specific level of navigation accuracy.
“After 30 January 2020", Gulfstream explains, "aircraft without Fans 1/A+ will not be allowed to operate in Minimum Navigation Performance Specification [MNPS] airspace – which extends vertically from flight level 285 [28,500ft] to FL420". MNPS airspace includes the heavily-travelled North Atlantic tracks, which stretch from western Europe to North America.
Gulfstream says the installation requires a Honeywell Mark III communications management unit, a Rockwell Collins VHF-4000 transceiver, an L-3 Aviation Recorders FA2100 solid-state cockpit voice and flight data recorder and an AstroNova ToughWriter flight-deck printer.
The General Dynamics-owned company is targeting owners and operators of the 190 in-service, ultra-long-range GV. To date it has outfitted one of the Rolls-Royce BR710-powered twinjets – produced between 1997 and 2003 – and says further retrofits are in the pipeline across its eight-strong US service centre network.
Source: Flight International
