Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 27, 2008, Bailey Lauerman - (Page 3) OCTOR IntuVue radars provide vertical profiles of thunderstorm cell development presents only thunderstorms (rainfall) by using the terrain database to subtract ground returns. Secondly, IntuVue can display only ground returns; this shows pilots a good extended map of a coastline, a large body of water or other terrain features. Honeywell developed the all-new, “clean sheet of paper” radar technology for use on the Airbus A380, and named the system the RDR-4000 for that application when it was introduced at the Paris air show in 2004. Now the same technology is being scaled down for smaller business jets; a version may even be made for piston-powered aircraft. Before the National Business Aviation Assn. convention in Orlando, Fla., this month, Honeywell said it would have radars with 18- and 12-in. antennas, in addition to a version with a 30-in. antenna for the A380 and a 24-in. one for the G650. The technology will be available on yet-to-be-introduced radar products for light jets and for retrofit on business aircraft. IntuVue is the first radar to offer predictive wind shear detection and alerting for aircraft with smaller antenna sizes, a feature not previously available on most bizjets, according to the company. In August, this Aviation Week & Space Technology pilot observed the radar on a Honeywell Convair 580 testbed piloted by Markus Johnson. He is director of flight test operations for Honeywell at Paine Field, Wash. Extensive thunderstorm activity occurred that day over southern Florida. While on the ground at Orlando Executive Airport, the radar presented weather up to 10,000 ft. off the end of the runway. Michael M. Grove, Honeywell’s senior technical manager for IntuVue, was in the cabin, where a repeater display showed the radar’s view of the situation ahead. Once airborne, we could see a line of storms “painting red” (above 40 dB. of reflectivity—nearly 0.45 in. of rain per hour) at a distance of about 40-80 naut. mi., with a particularly big red cell at 160 naut. mi. This storm also had red embedded in the vertical view. I knew that a pilot would start comparing information in the plan and side views to scope out how much trouble he would likely encounter at his flight-plan altitude; he then could decide whether to divert left or right. At first I thought it might be difficult to correlate the information presented on the two views. But during our brief flight, after I became more comfortable with the displays, I decided it wouldn’t take long to adjust to the novel twoview combination. One noteworthy feature of the computer memory is that the pilot can select a plan view at a constant altitude. As we cruised at 20,000 ft., Grove used a constant scan at 26,000 ft. to show how high the storms were. “It’s a tool to help you find the top of the cell,” he explained. Thus, a pilot can determine the vertical extent of a storm cell with AviationWeek.com/awst just the plan view in an aircraft that can’t accommodate Honeywell’s vertical display option. But it’s also possible to see a top-down view of the weather along the flight path, with the storms shown at a variety of altitudes.` Another interesting plan-view feature is that a cross-hatch pattern can be superimposed on any storm activity that’s far enough above or below the aircraft’s flight path so as not to be a hazard. And the side view can be manipulated to show a knifelike “cut” of the thunderstorm cells down the centerline straight off the aircraft’s nose, or left or right of the nose at any angle chosen. As an alternative, a side view can be selected that follows the flight plan’s path over the ground. For IntuVue shows the vertical extent of thunderstorm cells in a side view. Using this type of digital display, a pilot can plan a climb or turn to stay out of trouble. HONEYWELL CONCEPT AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/OCTOBER 27, 2008 3 http://www.AviationWeek.com/awst
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