Tech Bytes

Condition Reporting

• Common Operating Environment. Passur has announced that ten major North American airports have contracted for or completed the process of managing their entire field condition reporting process. The enhancement allows for more effective decisions in operational areas with significant financial and environmental impacts - such as push-backs, cancellations, deicing, diversions, and fuel burn, according to the company. The network provides a common operating environment on the PASSUR OPSnet collaborative operations platform.

Display solutions

• Video Wall System. The Huntsville International Airport in Alabama recently installed a video wall system in a newly renovated waiting room to display flight information, news programs, and community information. The new video wall is made up of 21-Clarity Matrix LCD displays from display solution company Planar Systems. With minimal installation space, Planar met Huntsville’s requirement of a curved video wall by leveraging the Clarity Matrix’s shallow LCD video wall depth, 4.5 inches from screen-to-wall, and unique mounting system. The EasyAxis mounting system features six-axis adjustments for perfect alignment in any array for all types of installations and is particularly ideal for space-constrained public venue and control room application that demand large format video wall solutions, the company says.

Environment

• Renewable Jet Fuel. Nevada-based company Biojet and Great Plains Oil & Exploration have agreed to jointly develop integrated Camelina cultivation and associated refinery projects for the purpose of producing renewable jet fuel. It is estimated that within five years, Camelina production from currently planned team projects will yield approximately 200 million gallons of renewable jet fuel per year. Great Plains has contracted some 85 percent of the Camelina acreage currently planted in North America, and plans to rapidly expand its acreage in 2010 and beyond.

Flight Tracking

• Portable Device. Blue Sky Network, a leading, global provider of GPS tracking and communication solutions for land, sea, and aviation assets, announces its newly launched ultra-portable D410A flight-following and messaging transceiver has operated on its first flight spanning two continents. Despite its small form factor, the Iridium satellite-powered D410A capably tracked the location of a jet traveling from Brazil to the United States January 6th, 2010. The pocket-sized D410A additionally includes key features like an integrated antenna and optional Blue Sky Messenger software for Windows Mobile PDAs.

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