Avionics: Flying connected

Internet capability for turboprops and light jets

October 1, 2016 By Thomas A. Horne

Let’s face it. Many of us are hooked on surfing the web, obsessively checking email and gabbing on our smartphones. As a result, the market has been catering to in-flight communications needs for those flying business jets. While large-cabin airplanes have been the traditional users of satellite-based communications, Bendix/King by Honeywell has come up with a solution for smaller airplanes—ranging from larger piston singles to light and mid-size jets. It’s the AeroWave 100 system.

The Aerowave’s active low-gain antenna (top left) is the world’s smallest Inmarsat antenna, according to Bendix/King. The system’s Bias-T unit (bottom left) includes a power supply and GPS receiver. The main component, the high-speed data unit (right), contains the AeroWave’s RF and signal-processing capability.

The AeroWave 100 uses the Inmarsat satellite service to give crew and passengers access to the internet, plus voice and text capabilities. The current AeroWave offering is the second version of a service Bendix/King introduced 18 months ago. Compared to the large, heavy satcom installations used in larger turbine airplanes, the AeroWave is smaller, lighter, and less expensive, making it ideal for owner-pilots.

The $24,995 AeroWave consists of an antenna, a power box, a wireless router, and a built-in GPS receiver. A smartphone app connects users with the router, which in turn provides global coverage over Inmarsat’s L-band—although at high latitudes, such as those of Alaska and portions of the North Atlantic, coverage is unavailable. As for bandwidth, the system operates at 104 kilobytes per second. This means that your teenage passengers can’t do any heavy surfing, or download movies. Bendix/King recommends that no more than three phones access the system at once, as bandwidth must be shared.

The AeroWave is, however, ideal for checking weather or flight plans on, say, ForeFlight or Flightplan.com on your iPad, or texting and light internet use. Voice communications are supported either by voice-over-internet and Skype—which requires a $3,895 router—or via an optional, dedicated voice channel costing $5,895. Calls on the optional service are charged at $1.47 per minute.

The real draw is the AeroWave’s flat service fee of $40 per hour for the standard coverage level. Compared to the $3 to $8 per megabyte charges on larger systems moving at 200 kilobytes per second, that’s a bargain.

There are supplemental type certificates allowing the AeroWave’s installation on all the Citation jets, King Airs, Pilatus PC–12s, and many, many other models—including certain Beech Bonanzas. Installation costs run about $10,000, Bendix/King says.

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Thomas A. Horne

AOPA Pilot Editor at Large

AOPA Pilot Editor at Large Tom Horne has worked at AOPA since the early 1980s. He began flying in 1975 and has an airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates. He’s flown everything from ultralights to Gulfstreams and ferried numerous piston airplanes across the Atlantic.

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Avionics: Flying connected

Internet capability for turboprops and light jets

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