2008 - Whats new?

Lots! Helios has gained new staff whose skills and experience boost the services we offer (see HOT AIR!). Our Navigation team is working on new applications for SatNav to improve safety at sea, as well as exploring how new satellite-augmented navigation services can improve airport capacity across Europe. Our infrastructure experts have just returned from Asia where they provided guidance on new surveillance infrastructures (but more about that in the next issue) and the same team have continued their work on the Future Communications Infrastructure (see back page). The main air traffic control exhibition ATC Global (the new name for ATC Maastricht) takes place at a new venue this year, Amsterdam (11-13 March). We will be there as usual, and are looking forward to catching up with old friends as well as making some new ones! You can read about some of the events we are organising inside this newsletter. Wishing you all a happy new year!

CONTENTS
e-NAVIGATION

Avoiding collisions at sea

AIRPORT SAFETY AND ACCESS

The benefits of a new approach

ATC GLOBAL

Helios & partners offer free workshop

FUTURE COMMUNICATIONS

Crossroads to convergence
HOT AIR!

Our news section

OFF AIR!
Mike Shorthose, Managing Director

Puzzle competition

e-Navigation
WINTER/SPRING 2008

Avoiding collisions at sea

n the early foggy morning of 14th December 2002 the

problems with current maritime collision avoidance technologies and techniques, and their dependence upon minimally staffed bridge crews. In response to the deficiencies of current collision avoidance the concept of e-Navigation has arisen. e-Navigation involves the automated integration of information from various sources (radar, charts, etc) and its consolidated presentation to the mariner to improve situational awareness. One of the keystones of e-Navigation is likely to be the Automatic Identification System (AIS) that allows the reception of the position, identity and status of nearby vessels and Aids to Navigation (AtoN). The General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland (GLAs) have a significant role to play in the

M/V Tricolor carrying its cargo of 2,862 cars from

Zeebrugge to Southampton was in collision with the containership Karibe and sank in the midst of the busy English Channel. The wreck of the Tricolor sat just below the water line and was even exposed during low tide. Two days later the wreck, now marked, was hit by the coaster Nicola. Two weeks later and the wreck was now marked with five lighted buoys, one of which carried a Racon to increase its visibility to ship-board radar. VHF broadcasts warning of the wreck were also being made on an hourly basis. However, that still did not stop the tanker Vicky running into it at full speed.

News and Information from Helios

The fact that such a well-marked wreck could still be hit on two separate occasions highlighted the

News and Information from Helios

design, implementation and operation of e-Navigation. They have also recognised that future collision avoidance technologies could significantly impact their current AtoN infrastructure. To help the GLAs understand better the future requirements for their infrastructure and services, Helios was commissioned to develop a picture of emerging

technologies and traffic trends to provide clear indications of the need for and effectiveness of collision avoidance systems. The study was completed in November 2007 and results will be presented at the forthcoming ENC-GNSS conference in Toulouse. For more details about this project, contact steve.leighton@askhelios.com.

Airport safety and access

The benefits of a new approach

Colm Thornton Colm joined Helios' growing Navigation Team in 2005. In addition to working on the aviation benefits of EGNOS, Colm is involved in several of our Galileo related projects. Colm has recently returned from secondment with the Galileo Joint Undertaking in Brussels and now supports the Galileo Supervisory Authority from our offices in Farnborough. Satellite navigation is enabling many industries, from precision farming to road haulage, to re-invent how they deliver their services. Colm plays an important part in ensuring that Helios has the knowledge to help you do the same.

would allow some airports with multiple runways to continue to treat approaches as independent enabling a maintenance of capacity at times when the ILS is unavailable either due to maintenance or equipment failure. Helios has already estimated the initial value of these improvements as part of a preliminary study for EUROCONTROL. This work will take advantage of a newly produced software tool for calculating the different decision heights for each of the potential RNAV approach types at an airport. Helios will also be conducting case studies at selected airports to evaluate the potential cost/benefits for the various airport types. These will include:

elios has recently been awarded a contract by EUROCONTROL to develop an updated business case for

busy airports (both with and without parallel runways) small airports (even without any published approach procedure but having the capability of upgrading to instrument flight rule procedure operations) airports where existing procedures are impacted by the surrounding terrain. Says project manager Colm Thornton: "We will

the implementation of RNAV approach capability at airports throughout Europe. EUROCONTROL is investigating the use of RNAV to provide increased navigation accuracy over conventional Non Precision Approaches, enabling APV (Approach with Vertical Guidance) operations where previously not possible. The effect is normally to lower the decision height of an aircraft, reducing the possibility of a missed approach. This means that a greater number of aircraft could land in instances where weather conditions would otherwise have forced a 'go-around' or diversion. A key element of APV operations is that the aircraft receives vertical guidance throughout the approach - this guidance can, for example, come from EGNOS or a barometry system. The use of EGNOS will also provide improved lateral track keeping (providing an Instrument Landing System (ILS) like lateral accuracy) as well as providing the vertical guidance. This

examine these operational benefits for different airspace users, taking into account weather data local to each airport. This will deliver a unique and comprehensive view of the potential operational benefits for stakeholders throughout Europe." The study will include a review of the implementation costs for both airports and airspace users and the team will then assess the optimum APV level and implementation methodology. Helios is working with DW Int in the study, which is expected to be complete for the end of 2008. For more information on this project, contact colm.thornton@askhelios.com.

News and Information from Helios

ATC Global 2008

Helios & partners offer FREE workshop
Surveillance Techniques for Engineers: Mode S, ADS-B & Multilateration techniques will all be covered in a week-long series of training courses taking place at the RAF Club, London from 31 March 4 April. For more information or to book online visit: www.askhelios.com/sur-training.

elios has teamed up with leading industry organisations to deliver an informative new

Strategy Workshop: ATM Today & Tomorrow our highly rated workshop for aviation decision makers on air traffic management, impending change and impacts on business is taking place again at the RAF Club on 3-4 April. Places are limited, so book early! For more information or to book online visit www.askhelios.com/atmworkshop. New recruits Welcome to the following people who have joined us over the last few months Predrag Vranjkovic is an air transport specialist having worked with the European Commissions Directorate-General Energy and Transport (DG-TREN). He has also worked for the Air Navigation Division of the Civil Aviation Department of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was involved with the development of Trebinje International airport. Predrag has a Masters in Civil Aviation from the University of Belgrade. Helena Vernon is our new Office Manager. She has had a varied career in office management, marketing and event management. She previously worked for Zurich Municipal and has even run her own fashion business. As part of her many responsibilities Helena has successfully risen to the challenge of getting our new offices ship-shape! Paul Christiansen has extensive experience in aviation consulting, building on his operational and commercial experience with Airways NZ. He has advised on the development of institutional and aviation business structures,

workshop for visitors to the ATC Global exhibition taking place in a few weeks' time in Amsterdam. SES, SESAR & the changing world of STANDARDS is a two-hour briefing organised jointly with EUROCAE and the European Commission. As the SESAR definition phase comes to an end, it is clear that a new generation of technologies will need standardising for ATM. This event is designed to help engineers and technical managers understand the new standardisation processes required by the Single European Sky legislation. It will focus on the development of Implementing Rules and Community Specification processes and who's doing what. It will also update attendees on expectations from SESAR and the implementation of performance-based ATM. The workshop is free to attend and takes place from 10:30 - 12:30 on Tuesday 11 March. Readers can register for the event at www.atcevents.com. Helios will be present at the exhibition on Stand D108 with new briefings, guidance materials and the results of the latest ATM Industry Survey. Do come and say hello if you are there!

Participate now for a chance to win a digital photo frame!

The ATM Industry Survey is now live at www.askhelios.com and you have until 18 February to provide your feedback. Each year Helios takes the pulse of the ATM industry to find out how confident we are of the future, and who (or what) will be at the forefront of political and technical developments.

and the implementation and evaluation of new technologies and operating concepts. Paul has managed the development of feasibility studies, master plans and business plans for airports. He has also undertaken due diligence on acquisitions in airports and ANSPs for major investors. He has extensive experience in all areas of Human Resource management and has designed and implemented major change initiatives for aviation entities. Tamara Pejovic reinforces our environmental expertise with her PhD thesis entitled "Implications of Climate Change for the UK Air Transport Sector", obtained at Imperial College, London. Tamara holds an MSc in Aviation Safety and Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a BSc in Transport Engineering from the University of Belgrade. She has worked as a safety specialist for JAT Airways and has more recently worked on modelling risk of fatigue with aircrew. Finally Richard Womersley joins Helios as an Executive Consultant and we will introduce him in a future issue of ON AIR!.

w w w. a s k h e l i o s . c o m

News and Information from Helios

Future communications
Crossroads to convergence T
he findings and recommendations of the joint US/European study on Future Communications Infrastructure (FCI) were presented at ICAO in October 2007. The FCI is the entire suite of communications equipment required to support the end-to-end communications requirements of ATM in the 2020+ timeframe, including avionics systems, airground data and voice links, and the essential elements of the ground infrastructure. This activity was closely coordinated with SESAR and NextGen to ensure alignment with European and US plans. Overall, the study found that none of the candidate technologies is capable of meeting all requirements of the future ATM environment on its own. The study concluded that the future system will have to be a system of systems, with each component serving an appropriate operating environment (for instance airport surface, en-route continental and oceanic airspace). To ensure the overall system is feasible from cost and implementation perspectives the component systems must comprise the least number of technologies in each band. The study focused on a core set of the most promising technologies, some based on legacy systems to different extents and others custom-designed from the ground up. It was not possible to adopt Commercial-Off-The-Shelf technology directly as a new component of the FCI, but the goal remains to re-use existing technology and standards as much as possible to reduce risk, costs and to shorten development time. Because spectrum congestion is expected to remain a long-term constraint in the VHF band, the technology investigations focused in large part in the L-band. The study investigations found that the L-band spectrum environment, already inhabited by several navigation and surveillance systems, presents considerable challenges with respect to compatibility. This is an important consideration given the
Helios is a technical and business consultancy working in airports, air traffic management and navigation markets. We help our customers solve problems and implement technical and operational solutions that will improve corporate performance. Our team has a range of expertise covering research, planning, simulations, feasibility studies, cost benefit analysis, procurement support and safety studies. Our knowledge covers all of the technologies that support air traffic management, as well as satellite navigation and advanced communication systems.

outcome of the recent World Radio Conference. As part of this study Helios was contracted by NATS to carry out extensive simulation work and spectrum analysis on two of the leading candidate technologies called P34 (Project 34) and AMACS (All-purpose Multi-channel Aviation Communication System). Now the team is assisting NATS by extending the modelling analysis to B-AMC (Broadband Aeronautical Multicarrier Communications system) to provide an independent confirmation of its performance. Says Helios Project Manager John Micallef: The results of this independent study will feed into the future technology decision process that will be discussed in ICAO in March. P34 and B-AMC share similar operating principles, so the possibility of focusing the development, standardisation and certification efforts in coming years on one system in the L Band is now being evaluated. The goal is to enable a timely decision by 2009 to realise the target deployment date of 2020. For more information on FCI and simulation studies please contact john.micallef@askhelios.com.

Testing the waters

Alex was paddling his canoe upstream at a constant rate. After 6 miles, the wind blew his cap into the stream. Thinking that he had no chance to recover his cap, he continued upstream for 6 more miles before turning back. He continued rowing at the same rate on his return trip and overtook his cap at exactly the same spot where he began his journey, 8 hours earlier. What was the velocity of the stream? Please provide a brief explanation with your answer. The answer will be published in the next edition of ON AIR!. Please send your solutions to zoe.buswell@askhelios.com. All entries must be received by 30 April 2008. As usual, we will give a bottle of champagne to the first correct answer drawn at random after this date. Good luck to everyone! And the winner is Jim Thomason who came up with no less than 54 words made up from AEROPARK, our new address! Well done to Jim who will be receiving a bottle of champagne.
For further information, contact Mike Shorthose by email: mike.shorthose@askhelios.com, telephone: +44 1252 451 651 or visit our website www.askhelios.com. This newsletter has been written for the interest of our clients and colleagues. We believe the facts are correct at the time of printing, but cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Please send change-of-address details to info@askhelios.com. Helios, 29 Hercules Way, Aerospace Boulevard, AeroPark, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 6UU.