Case Study: Identification Of Business Jet

1. Identification of Business Jet

a. Description

Pilatus PC-24

Pilatus PC-24 is a twin-engine business jet which is developed by a Switzerland company called Pilatus Aircraft. The jet was unveiled to the public in Geneva on 21 May 2013 at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE). The Pilatus PC-24 is inteded to be capable of operation from unpaved runways & grass strips.

b. Cost

The Pilatus PC-24 cost approximately US$ 9 Million .

c. Cockpit

The Pilatus PC-24 uses Pilatus’ Advanced Cockpit Envicronment (ACE) as the technology for the cockpit. This technology sets a standard for high-tech simplicity as it is capable & offers a wealth of functionality. It includes a Synthetic Vision System, Autothrottle,

Cost

i. VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR)

Cost: US$20,000 – 25,000

ii. Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)

Cost: US$13,740

3. Why These Systems Are Necessary

a. VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR)

VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) is necessary since it helps to determine the aircraft’s position during flight. It is also reliable and very accurate since it is not susceptible to interference. Thus this will assist the pilot in making sure that the aircraft is flying towards the correct direction and not end up in undesired places.

b. Enhanced Ground Proimity Warning System (EGPWS)

Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System(EGPWS) is necessary as it helps detect if the aircraft is heading into any terrain and it also detects the distance of the aircraft from the ground. This system will assist the pilot in making sure that the aircraft does not head to any incoming terrain, allowing the pilot to plan a route to steer around any terrain in the area.

4. How These Systems Functions

a. VHF Omnidirectional Range

However before anything happens, the VOR must be tuned according to the respective frequencies (108MHz – 117.95MHz) and also must be identified with a Morse code identifier which are represented by a certain sequence of dots and dashes. The VOR signals are received by the VOR receiver in the aircraft and it helps to provide azimuth (direction of an object from the observer and it is expressed in bearings in relative to true north) information for the pilot (E.G. radial straight East is 090 degrees).

Thus in order to determine an aircraft position, two VOR stations and a VOR receiver is needed. Firstly, the frequency of VOR 1 has to be set and its radial is to be noted. Then a radial line of the aircraft to/from the VOR 1 has to be drawn. Secondly, the frequency of VOR 2 has to be set and it’s radial also to be noted. Then draw the radial line of the aircraft to/from VOR 2 on the same platform as the previous one. The intersected lines are the aircraft’s position. The figure below is an example of how a VOR