Business aviation has always been at the forefront of progress, driving the development of technologies shaping aviation today. From pioneering GPS navigation and carbon fiber composites to leading the charge in advanced avionics and sustainable engines, the industry continues to redefine what’s possible in the skies. Modern innovations are simplifying flight operations, improving safety, and pushing performance to unprecedented levels. Breakthroughs like intuitive touch-screen cockpits and highly efficient powerplants are setting new standards for efficiency and pilot ease. As these technologies evolve, they’re not only transforming business aviation but also shaping the future of flight itself.
Business aviation continues to perform its traditional role as an incubator for innovative technologies that promise to improve safety, performance, efficiency and sustainability.
Since its birth, the business aviation sector has been a leader in helping to develop, foster and embrace effective and innovative new technologies for civilian aircraft, including GPS navigation, winglets and superstrong carbon fiber materials.
Currently, a dynamic developmental environment is raising the capabilities of key industry components such as avionics, powerplants and data management systems to new heights. Many of these emerging technologies are already poised to influence flight operations on multiple levels.
Improved Avionics Can Simplify Operations
“From my perspective, advanced flight deck technologies which allow us to reduce pilot workload, increase situational awareness and improve communications is a very good thing,” explained Jon Damush, president and CEO of uAvionix Corp. “Today’s technologies are great, but the pace of technology development will never be slower than it is today. What will be available in the next few years will dramatically help us all fly safer.”
Damush said touch screens offer a great example. “You operate it like your smartphone. Fewer knobs and buttons,” said Damush. “Some of the systems are smart enough to use the flight plan information for ATC sectors and frequencies ahead. You wait for the controller to tell you to change frequencies, and it’s done with the push of a button. This automation reduces pilot workload and lets pilots concentrate on flying.”
While most avionics innovations are in the panel, Damush talked about an innovation from uAvionix called Sentry, which has been co-developed with ForeFlight to bring data into the flight deck through ADS-B, as well as provide backup position and attitude information giving pilots some portable redundancy for IFR operations.
“It’s a product we’ve created with ForeFlight, it’s a battery-powered portable unit – about the size of a deck of cards – that has an array of internal sensors – ADS-B, magnetometer, barometer, gyros and GPS – that pilots can connect to their iPads,” Damush said. “For business aviation operators, the Sentry+ also provides g-loading and turbulence data and will soon alert a pilot to potential GPS jamming and spoofing.”
Damush believes that units like Sentry will be the next wave of innovations as aircraft and avionics manufacturers work to add redundancy and increase ease of operation.
“We have to look at ways to simplify things, if for no other reason than to lessen the burden and cost of flight training,” he said. “We can’t keep doing things the same way and expect a different outcome. It has to be easier and faster to qualify pilots without sacrificing safety. New technologies and automation tools provide an option.”
Engine Innovations Aimed at Enhancing Performance
Just when many people thought current turboprop engines were all they could be, GE Aerospace, in partnership with Italian subsidiary Avio Aero, which led the design and development, took the next step with its Catalyst engine. This past February, Catalyst became the first new centerline, clean-sheet advanced turboprop engine to earn FAA certification in decades.
“We saw the market need for new engine technologies. We started with what GE is good at – big, efficient jet engines – and looked at how to transition that experience into a smaller turboprop engine,” said Paul Corkey, general manager, Catalyst at Avio Aero. “Today, Catalyst is bringing game-changing performance and efficiency into the turboprop market.”
Corkey explained that the Catalyst team set some very aggressive targets for the engine, including a 15% reduction in fuel burn compared to the industry’s current “best” performance.
“What we achieved is an 18% increase in efficiency,” Corkey said. “Much of that is due to the new compressor design, which raises the high-pressure ratio from 10:1 to 16:1.
“We took our understanding of variable geometries and pressure ratios to optimize the compressor and then used new materials that allow us to run at hotter temperatures, which improve fuel efficiency,” said Corkey. “We also introduced cooled turbine blades into the high-pressure turbine, as well as a three-stage, low-pressure turbine.
“We used additive manufacturing for complex designs because it would have been complicated to make them using conventional technologies. We are very proud of what we have accomplished,” Corkey said.
Catalyst is also the first turboprop designed to work with full authority digital engine controls (FADEC). “Our two-channel FADEC automatically optimizes the fuel-flow and propeller pitch schedule,” Corkey said. “It also provides automatic protection for the engine from under-/over-speeds and temperature exceedances.”
The Catalyst will power the new Beechcraft Denali aircraft. A military version of the engine – the Avio Aero Catalyst 1300-EDI – was recently selected for the new Airbus Eurodrone. Corkey said that GE Aerospace and Avio Aero believe the Catalyst is perfect for other emerging markets, such as a hybrid-electric engine architecture.
“For example, the Catalyst can provide a one-megawatt powerplant, which is right in the sweet spot for many of the proposed hybrid solutions,” Corkey said. “We believe Catalyst positions us very well for existing and emerging markets, no matter what future architectures look like.”
