Bombardier has introduced a flight tracking and monitoring system available across its product line. The Smart Link system allows real-time data, monitoring and in-flight reporting to keep tabs on systems and to allow updates to navigation materials and other ground-to-air communications. “This is the wave of the future,” said Andy Nureddin, VP of Customer Services for Bombardier Business Aircraft. He said that depending on customers’ preferences for security and privacy, the system can keep track of all essential systems, spot anomalies and even suggest solutions to problems it spots. The system has been tested live on Learjet 70 and 75 aircraft over the past three months and will also be available on the Challenger and Global series.
A key component is engine health monitoring and Rolls-Royce has been working with Bombardier to create the system. Signals from engines in the air are monitored and analyzed at a data center that operates around the clock and symptoms of problems can be detected before they become expensive or dangerous. Engine monitoring is nothing new but the data transfer uses recent technology that allows the data packets to be compressed to the relatively low bandwidth available and reliably handle them. “It’s done in real time,” said Rolls-Royce spokesman Axel Voegl.
