datalink weather

XM and Sirius target aviation with low-cost satellite services by Stephen Pope

M Satellite has Oprah and the Opie & Anthony Show. Sirius Satellite Radio has Martha Stewart and Howard Stern. Now each is diving headlong into the market for aviation weather datalink services, and pilots couldn’t be happier. XM was first on the sceneX with its “always on” weather service for aviation, available over much of North America for monthly subscription prices start- ing at about $30. The XM WX service offers a comprehensive menu of weather data products, which are broadcast continuously–in five- or 12-minute bursts–and can be received in flight by a host of panel- mount and handheld avionics. Rival Sirius announced its service in February, saying it plans to link up with aviation weather specialist WSI to bring a suite of hardware and data products to market under WSI’s InFlight banner. And while XM’s weather service has been live for about two years, Sirius plans to catch up fast by activating its rival service later this year, after a full-out marketing blitz by WSI at EAA’s AirVenture fly-in and airshow in Oshkosh, Wis., this July. At least initially, the Sirius service will be available only to buyers of WSI’s InFlight data hardware. This puts it at a slight disadvantage to the XM offering, which besides arriving first can also be accessed using a broader range of receiver equipment, multifunction displays and handheld devices. Also a potential impediment to the Sirius service, current WSI InFlight customers must migrate from their present hard- ware to the new Sirius-enabled boxes, putting WSI in the uncomfortable position of having to convince subscribers to pay extra for something they already have in their airplanes. “We are absolutely concerned that we will lose customers in the transition,” said Jim Menard, general manager for transportation at WSI. “Obviously we want 100 percent of our current customers to come over, but we know we won’t get 100 percent.” Menard said WSI is being proactive with subscribers by sending out letters and creating special promotional offers to entice InFlight users to stay with WSI. On the plus side, switching from the current satellite that broad- casts WSI InFlight data to U.S. customers to the Sirius satellites will expand the service coverage area and allow WSI to move ahead with plans to roll out additional services in the near future. What else WSI has going for it is, well–it’s WSI. Apart from the cachet of being a sister company of The Weather Channel and counting among its clients CNN, Fox News, NBC, Amer- ican Airlines, Delta and FedEx, WSI’s Pilotbrief weather kiosks are a fixture at FBOs, well known to corporate pi- lots across the country. With the rollout more recently of the Pilotbrief Online service, WSI has made a strong push into the dispatch and flight-planning offices at many top corporate aviation departments as well, k weather

firmly establishing the company as a top player–if not the satellite radio company into a niche the top player–in the industry. provider of satellite weather data belongs to The move by Sirius into the weather arena had as XM president and CEO Hugh Panero and much to do with its burning need to keep up with XM chief programming officer Lee Abrams (who on all conceivable technology fronts as it did with owns and flies a Cirrus), who saw the benefit of WSI’s desire to find a better satellite platform on which XM’s unallocated satellite bandwidth being put to host its service. WSI currently uses the MSat II to another revenue-producing use. satellite, launched and maintained by a company called MSU, to broadcast its InFlight products. Besides being Rock and Roll and a Bolt of Lightning a better “pipeline” for data, the Sirius satellites have Like the proposed Sirius service, XM WX oper- highly elliptical orbits that allow them to reach farther ates by transmitting data over the satellites that into Canada and deeper into the Caribbean. carry the satellite radio content. XM’s satellites (one in A factor that could play into InFlight subscribers’ the East called “Rock” and another in the West named decision about whether to migrate to the Sirius-based “Roll”) provide redundant signal transmission in the S- service or consider other options is the current mix of band wavelength, which is impervious to weather. XM products WSI offers to datalink weather customers. WX data is broadcast continuously and can be received Co-developed with NASA, the graphical maps available anywhere over the continental U.S. and coastal waters. to pilots include WSI’s NOWrad mosaic, which uses XM offers two service tiers for pilots, Aviator and sophisticated computer algorithms and “on-the-fly” Aviator LT. The full Aviator package costs $49.99 a decisions by WSI meteorologists before the images month and includes Nexrad graphics, and are transmitted, ensuring that the graphics received in TAFs, airmets and sigmets, freezing levels, cloud the cockpit are as accurate and “clutter free” as possible, echo tops, storm tracks, surface analysis charts, according to the company. aloft, lightning strikes, satellite mosaics and TFRs. Additional InFlight weather products include For $29.99 a month, the Aviator LT plan provides graphical Metars and TAFs, graphical sigmets and Nexrad images, Metars, TAFs and TFRs. airmets, continuously updated pilot reports, winds and A variety of receivers and antennas are approved to temperatures aloft with hourly updates, lightning operate with the XM weather service. The Rockwell strikes and graphical depictions of the latest TFRs. Collins Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system on the WSI offers a number of InFlight service plans, with high end of the spectrum uses a Heads Up Technologies the mid-level Aviator package costing about $50 a XMD100 receiver and Comant antenna to display the month, and the full suite of products under the Corpo- weather graphics on an MFD. Avidyne also uses a rate package priced at $999 a year. The Aviator package Heads Up Technologies receiver and Comant antenna includes everything the Corporate plan does, with the for displaying the graphics on its Flightmax displays exception of TFRs, pireps and winds and temperatures and Entegra cockpit, while Garmin has developed a aloft, although the TFRs and pireps can be added a la receiver and antenna of its own. XM weather can carte for about $8 a month extra. also be received by Garmin’s GPSMap 396 hand- Pricing for InFlight services after the transition to held navigator and a variety of electronic flight Sirius has yet to be announced, Menard said, but sub- bag (EFB) tablet computers and even PDAs. scriptions are likely to run about the same after the The Sirius/WSI service, meanwhile, will be switch. Hardware needed to receive the Sirius weather accessible on panel displays from Chelton Flight feed also should be in line with current pricing, which Systems, Garmin, L-3 Avionics Systems, runs about $5,000 for the InFlight receiver and antenna. Sandel Avionics and Universal Avionics, as WSI plans to broadcast weather data over the MSat II well as on a number of portable EFBs. satellite until May 1 next year. Current AV100/AV200 Recent demonstrations of XM WX on a InFlight systems will be deactivated on that date. Garmin GPSMap 396 and in Piper’s Meridian Rebates on new AV300/AV350 hardware will be turboprop with the Avidyne Entegra cockpit offered to buyers turning in old equipment. Datalink Nexrad weather graphics are compatible illustrate why the service has proved so For many the logical alternative to the WSI/Sirius with a wide variety of cockpit displays, including popular so far with pilots. While competing service is XM’s weather offering. The team at XM MFDs from Chelton Flight Systems, Garmin products in the category of Bendix/ linked up with WxWorx in 2003 to make the service a and Avidyne, pictured above. One of the most King’s FIS (flight information services) reality. Robert Baron, president of WxWorx and an avid popular datalink weather services, XM WX, ground-station datalink weather offering pilot, said a good deal of the credit for transforming starts at about $30 a month. Continued on next page u

www.ainonline.com • May 2006 • Aviation International Newsaa23 package can be bundled with Anywhere Map software and “Pocket Plates” elec- NASA Turns Regional Airline Turboprops tronic charts, which satisfy Part 91 require- into Flying Weather Stations ments for operating paperlessly. Sure, XM and AnywhereWX are cool, Notwithstanding this spring’s violent (and the lower atmosphere, with the Mesaba experi- but the real point worth considering is that numerous) tornadoes, forecasters in the Midwest ment contributing 800 daily atmospheric the combination is usable in everyday op- are able to make more accurate local weather soundings. Contrast this with the data received erations. Where the Bendix/King FIS and predictions thanks to an airborne sensor being by a mere 70 weather sites in the conti- Echo Flight Orbcomm network’s graphics tested by NASA’s aviation safety program. Re- nental U.S. that collect temperature, and appear as blocky, poorly defined pictures searchers at the agency’s Langley Research moisture data from twice-daily atmospheric on a cockpit display, the XM graphics (as Center in Hampton, Va., leading a team that soundings and the potential benefit of Tamdar well as WSI’s InFlight service) are smooth has installed so-called tropospheric airborne becomes clear. contours providing a highly precise pic- meteorological data report (Tamdar) instru- Since the Mesaba fleet was fitted with the ture of where the weather is–or, more ments on dozens of Mesaba Saab 340s, AirDat equipment in January last year, “Meteo- accurately, where the weather was 10 or are turning the regional airliners into veritable rologists at the have 15 minutes ago when the government flying weather stations. found the tropospheric airborne meteorological Nexrad site took its snapshot. The Tamdar instrument allows aircraft to data [from the Mesaba aircraft] to be useful in Garmin’s GPSmap 396 handheld navigator This last point is an important one to sense and report atmospheric conditions auto- forecasting severe , dense fog, features an integrated XM antenna and receiver. consider. Unlike the live views provided matically as they fly. A satellite transmits the the precipitation types of winter storms and by airborne systems and airborne, real-time observations to a ground low-level wind shear,” said National Weather Continued from preceding page u lightning strike finders, datalink weather data center that processes and distributes Service meteorologist Richard Mamrosh. or the Orbcomm satellite service through information received in the cockpit is al- up-to-date weather information to forecasters, AirDat’s goal is to expand the geographical Echo Flight provide adequate and afford- ways “old” information, with the age of controllers and pilots. coverage of the airborne sensor network, Ladd able options, XM’s and WSI’s services are the data dependent on how long it took for “Initial research shows the airborne sensor said. Horizon Air will soon be equipping its in another class altogether. the information to go from the radar site During the recent flight in the Meridian, on the ground to the National Weather makes a 10- to 20-percent improvement in regional turboprops with the 6.5-pound sensor a lone storm cell near the route of flight Service’s main computer network and then forecast error in numerical models, and that’s system, which includes both the sensor and a (in eastern Pennsylvania near Wilkes-Barre) out to the content provider. By the time just with temperature,” said NASA project two-way satellite communication/datalink sys- managed to sprout despite an area-wide the content provider turns around the data, leader Taumi Daniels. The onboard sensor also tem. Regional aircraft aren’t the only suitable high-pressure system that was otherwise it will be at least five minutes old and measures , pressure, wind, icing and platform for the airborne sensors, according to keeping the broken cumulus in check. On often five to 10 minutes older than that. turbulence, as well as GPS-derived location, Ladd. He cited fractional fleet aircraft and air- the Entegra MFD, the cell appeared pre- This is true for all datalink weather time and altitude data. taxi operations as possible candidates for the cisely where it should have on the moving services, which collect, analyze and dis- According to Jay Ladd, the president of Air- devices because such operations involve “a lot map, 20 or so nm east of the Meridian’s seminate information primarily from gov- Dat–which makes and supplies the airborne of landings and takeoffs.” In fact, Ladd said magenta course line. What’s even more ernment-operated sources. But as long as sensor system–regional aircraft are a desirable he’s talked with air-taxi start-up DayJet about impressive, however, is that this tiny storm pilots understand that the weather informa- platform for the sensors because they typically equipping its Eclipse 500s with the AirDat cell would have been visible on the flight tion they are receiving is more for strategic fly below 25,000 feet and have frequent cycles airborne sensor package. display 50 nm away, 250 nm away or clear planning rather than tactical decision-mak- each day. This application, Ladd said, dramati- The system can also be used for real-time across the country. ing, these tools can be invaluable. cally increases the number of observations in tracking of company aircraft, as an “ACARS- The FAA in particular is interested in like” communication system and to The Coolest XM WX Receiver datalink weather as a way to reduce the downlink maintenance data. Besides on the Planet GA fatal accident rate. A NASA study in adding no drag or weight penalty, the An option for datalink weather that 2001 pointed out that 85 percent of air- package’s communications system completely tips the scale for its coolness craft accidents from 1990 through 1996 antenna provides a double benefit factor alone is the PDA-based Anywhere- involved light general aviation airplanes. since it can also be used as an WX system pioneered by a company called Weather was a factor in nearly a third, antenna for satellite (XM or Sirius) Control Vision. And while weather data on equating to approximately 11 weather-re- graphical weather services. a Pocket PC might seem out of place in lated GA accidents per week, with four of Ladd added that the package is the button-down world of business avia- the 11 involving fatalities. tion, Control Vision’s AnywhereWX and The figure paints a stark picture of the not limited to the above-mentioned Anywhere Map suites of products are ab- need for better cockpit weather tools for uses because the AirDat system can solutely worth a second look depending aviators, especially those who fly small obtain and process any data flowing on an operator’s needs and budget. The GA airplanes. Still, the need for strategic over the Arinc 429 busses, in addi- reasons are the data delivery method (XM and tactical weather information in the tion to data from the airborne weather sensor. WX), the system’s wireless receiver tech- cockpits of business jets and turboprops is This, he said, makes for a flexible system that nology (Bluetooth) and the display options equally important. In an era when The can handle almost any data-gathering or data- (everything from PDAs to tablet EFBs). Weather Channel and -spe- processing request. –C.T. Oh, and then there’s the price. On the cific Web sites are available to passengers low end of the hardware spectrum, for in the cabins of modern business air- NASA researcher Taumi Daniels checks the about $1,700 buyers get a complete Any- planes, it’s obvious that the pilots in the weather sensor installation in a Saab 340, left. Mesaba’s fleet has been fitted with the devices. whereWX system, including the satellite cockpit should have access to equally receiver, antenna and PDA, good information. all wirelessly connected using cockpit-safe (according to Global Weather Requires circles for its trip support services, Uni- live support from trip-planning specialists chip maker Intel) Bluetooth a Global Approach versal Weather & Aviation has been offer- and even staff meteorologists, Universal technology. On the high end, Thankfully, satellite and ing in-flight weather for years through its Weather & Aviation remains among the Control Vision offers Any- VHF datalink technology UVdatalink service. Designed to operate most popular sources for datalink weather where Map Pro EFBs, ranging has matured to the point that over a standard ACARS or satcom link, and related trip-planning service for busi- in price from about $2,900 to weather data can be streamed the service was revolutionary for its time, ness aviation customers. $4,300, including the wire- to the cockpit pretty much allowing pilots to upload color weather Besides the usual color weather maps, less GPS and XM antenna/ anywhere the airplane might maps to the flight deck for display on a Metars and TAFs, Universal’s In Flight receivers. The AnywhereWX be flying, even over the poles Universal Avionics FMS CDU screen. Alerts service, launched earlier this year, thanks to the Iridium satellite That’s not to say UVdatalink is past its allows the flight crew to keyboard free text Weather images can also be constellation. A name well prime. Quite the contrary, for access to e-mails to staff meteorologists. The pilots shown on many EFB computers. known in corporate aviation global weather information backed by Continued on page 26 u

24aaAviation International News • May 2006 • www.ainonline.com uContinued from page 24 com communications, international flight could have questions about weather at the planning, graphical flight following, text destination airport in Italy or they might and graphical weather and access to GDC need to divert to Greece. Once an e-mail is staff 24 hours a day. sent, the pilots will receive an acknowl- Subscribers to Honeywell’s premium edgment in three to five minutes and an package service pay about $100 a month for answer to their question minutes later. AFIS graphical weather. If the aircraft flies Another big advantage of UVdatalink outside its basic VHF area, the cost is an is its ability to supply international extra $12.50 a chart. For many subscribers, weather maps using an onboard ACARS the base area includes all of North and link, Inmarsat satcom link or even Iridium’s South America, according to Honeywell. low-earth-orbit satellite network. Maps are Honeywell’s datalink weather services available for any region of the world. provide a comprehensive menu of prod- Because of the slower data rates of ucts, including historical Nexrad replay, ACARS, full-color maps take a couple of significant weather charts, winds aloft, minutes to download, but the extra time is area forecasts, notams, pireps, Metar/TAFs a small price to pay for the information the and other data. With the Flight Sentinel worldwide charts contain. UVdatalink is service, GDC staff provide continuous compatible with Universal Avionics’ UNS- monitoring of all customer flights, and can series flight management systems, Tele- notify crewmembers of new TFRs and dyne Controls’ TeleLink system on the severe weather, and provide alternate rout- Boeing Business Jet and Global Express, ing to circumnavigate storms or turbulence. Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line 21 cockpit or As far as additional datalink-weather- any other open-architecture ACARS unit. only options are concerned, XM and WSI Brian Allen, marketing and sales man- have really put a stranglehold on the mar- ager for Universal Weather & Aviation, ket, so much so that the rival services that said the company has an advantage over showed early promise are fading today, at those that provide strictly weather data for least in bizav circles. The Honeywell its ability to provide customized informa- Bendix/King FIS service uses a nation- tion to pilots. “Our customers are often looking for route-specific information not only relative to weather, but also for new notams, rerouting around tropical events, volcanoes or for security situations,” he said. “We also monitor the airplane’s departure, destina- tion and alternates, and our meteorologists and trip-planning specialists can free-text the airplane an e-mail message if there’s something the crew needs to know about.” Universal’s UVdatalink services range from about $5,000 a year on the low end The datalink service broadcast by Sirius will to about $13,000. For that price, depend- use a WSI InFlight receiver and antenna. ing on the service options a customer chooses, the flight department has 24/7 ac- wide network of FAA-maintained ground cess to trip support, fuel orders, flight stations–which cover most populated planning and other services. The price a areas in the continental U.S., but when particular customer will pay is based on flying beyond the range of the FIS ground a menu approach, where additional serv- stations or at lower altitudes in some ices raise the yearly price. areas, the coverage gaps mean having to More than 450 airplanes are equipped do without data. On the plus side, as part with UVdatalink hardware, and about 400 of Honeywell’s contract with the FAA of those are business jets, Allen said. The text weather reports are provided free of company has 60 full-time meteorologists charge. Nexrad and other maps are offered on staff and is adding new services to its in tiers priced at $49 and $69 a month, weather menu. One is a traffic flow man- based on an annual subscription. agement bulletin service that can keep the Echo Flight, operating over the Orb- crew apprised of airport delays, which are comm low-earth-orbit satellite network, often caused by bad weather. The com- provides good coverage, but unfortunately pany is also in the process of designing suffers from a data pipe that can shovel new types of weather map, one of them a only 980 bytes per packet. What that vertical chart that can show multiple means in layman’s terms is that the Echo weather phenomena simultaneously, in- Flight data stream simply can’t come close cluding winds aloft, turbulence for a given to matching XM or WSI/Sirius in terms of altitude and icing. richness of detail. Other datalink weather services for The company, down to just four em- business aviation are tailored around full- ployees, is struggling to survive, but con- service airborne communications packages. sidering that Echo Flight has about 1,500 Honeywell Global Data Center (GDC) pro- current subscribers it may be able to live vides AFIS and satcom flight support serv- on for some time. Several service plans are ices, including Flight Sentinel, designed to offered, from a $49.99 a month subscrip- provide business jet operators with the tion providing the full menu of Nexrad latest information about weather and ATC maps and text reports to a pay-as-you-go delays. Like Universal Weather, Honeywell service, in which maps and Metar sum- offers multiple service plans providing air maries cost $1 each after subscribers pay a traffic services, worldwide VHF and sat- quarterly fee of $29.85. J

26aaAviation International News • May 2006 • www.ainonline.com