Associated Air Center Completes FAA STC Certification for Installation of CPDLC/FANS System on BBJ

Associated Air Center , through its in-house Organization Designation Authorization delegation, has obtained a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the installation of a Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) System — as part of the requirements for Future Air Navigation System (FANS) — on a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) VIP model aircraft.

The STC was completed at AAC’s FAR-145 FAA Repair Station at Dallas Love Field and delivered to the customer on December 23, 2015. The CPDLC/FANS system was installed and certified during a regularly scheduled aircraft maintenance event.

The project workscope included the installation of a new FANS compliant Flight Management System (FMS), a new FANS compliant Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), an upgrade to the existing Inmarsat satcom system, a new FANS compliant Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) equipped with a back-up battery, a new VHF communications antenna, a new Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna and a new Inmarsat satcom communications antenna.

“Our in-house, technicians provided all the technical support for mechanical, stress, electrical/avionics and systems engineering and developed the engineering data package to support the installation and integration of this system for this out-of-production, private VIP BBJ aircraft operator,” said James Colleary, President of AAC.

The new STC will provide BBJ customers an FAA approved solution that supports VIP customer missions, including international destinations that require CPDLC/FANS compliance, for better flight planning along heavily congested direct routes and flight levels that help to optimize fuel burn/range for these operators.

In June and July of 2015, AAC’s In-house engineering and ODA team obtained similar STCs for the certification of CPDLC/FANS compliant systems for Boeing 757-200 and 737-Classic aircraft.