New Capabilities For Flight Services Products

ARINC Direct announced Monday at NBAA 2008 it has expanded its portfolio of flight services for business aviation with a new, fully-integrated Weight & Balance and Performance (runway analysis) application. Developed in cooperation with the Aircraft Performance Group, the program will enable ARINC Direct customers to perform Weight & Balance calculations on-line from any standard Internet computer connection.

Customers can obtain takeoff and landing limiting weights for specific airport and atmospheric conditions, as well as aircraft configuration. The takeoff and landing analyses will provide customers with V-speeds, takeoff distance required, runway length available, landing distance required, landing distance available, and the Safe Distance required per Federal Aviation Administration guidance.

"This is a very flexible and powerful program, with the features most corporate operators  want," states Bob Hanley, ARINC Vice President, Business Aviation Solutions. "Along with our Flight Planning, Runway Analysis, and Weather offerings, this Weight & Balance/Performance solution completes the whole package business operators need for flight planning."

Pilots and dispatchers who currently depend on manual calculations or stand-alone solutions will appreciate the Weight & Balance/Performance  program's full integration. They will have the ability to generate a correct, revised W&B load manifest that accounts for last-minute changes in flight plans, payload, or fuel required, while ensuring that no performance limit is exceeded. 

The new program also provides a means for customers to define fuel burn-off sequencing profiles if necessary. This allows operators to fine-tune their weight and balance envelope, taking both fuel economy and performance factors into account.

The new Weight & Balance/Performance application is available immediately to ARINC Direct customers through the ARINC Direct on-line portal. There is no additional charge for the program, but users must submit complete Weight & Balance data from their aircraft Flight Manual to start the service.

In addition to the on-line access now available, ARINC plans to offer Weight & Balance/Performance access through standard mobile devices and smartphones in the near future. An interface for standard cockpit avionics is planned for a later time, and this will allow Weight & Balance calculations to be run directly from the cockpit.

FMI: www.arinc.com