Avionics News October 2014 - 53

"The	expectation	by	pilots	and	passengers	alike	is	that	they	are	connected	
wherever	they	go,"	stated	Jim	Zanino,	vice	president	of	sales	and	customer	
support	for	BendixKing.	"Until	now,	the	aircraft	is	still	one	place	where	it	is	very	
expensive	to	do	that.	But	we	have	been	actively	developing	products	to	serve	
that	market	segment	-	smaller	jets	and	turboprops	on	down	-	and	we	are	now	
shipping	a	cost-effective	solution	for	these	aircraft.	Focus	groups	of	these	types	
of	aircraft	owners	said	that	$100,000	was	just	too	much	for	them	to	invest	in	
connectivity	for	their	aircraft.	They	needed	something	much	more	affordable."
John	Wade,	executive	vice	president	and	general	manager	for	Gogo	Business	
Aviation,	said,	"The	adoption	of	broadband	across	the	upper	markets,	both	in	
airliners	and	business	aviation,	has	been	phenomenal.	There	are	thousands	of	
airplanes	that	now	have	broadband	on	board	-	unfortunately,	it	is	all	in	the	supermids	and	above.	But	we've	recently	seen	that	inexorable	migration	of	capabilities	
downward.	You	now	have	guys	with	Beech	King	Airs	flying	around	with	airto-ground	connectivity.	I	think,	to	date,	the	smallest	aircraft	we've	installed	is	a	
Cessna	421,	but	we	see	that	even	extending	further	down	in	the	market	in	the	very	
near	future."
As	you	would	expect,	much	of	today's	capabilities	for	smaller	cabin	aircraft	is	
thanks	to	the	trickle-down	of	technologies.	
"We've	been	investing	in	cabin	connectivity	for	years,	and	what	we've	done	is	
leverage	some	of	the	higher-end	Honeywell	broadband	technologies,"	Zanino	said.	
"We've	been	able	to	bring	some	of	those	capabilities	into	our	new	products	and	
bring	the	costs	down	to	meet	this	segment's	needs	and	budgets."
But	before	you	start	promising	your	customers	high-speed	Internet	on	their	
C-90,	Wade	cautioned	that	while	both	air-to-ground	and	satellite-based	broadband	
connectivity	is	now	available	aboard	many	smaller	aircraft,	it's	not	on	par	with	
what	you	get	sitting	in	your	home	or	office.
"We've	discovered	that	user	experience	is	the	key	driver,"	Wade	said.	"If	you	
look	at	people	using	the	Internet	anywhere,	the	No.	1	thing	that	frustrates	them	
is	the	'are	we	there	yet	effect?'	If	anything	takes	too	long	to	download,	they	just	
move	on	to	something	else."
According	to	experts,	systems	in	this	price	range	will	typically	deliver	speeds	
of	what	you	experience	with	an	upper-end	3G	network	connection.	For	most	things	
like	email	or	texting,	it	gives	users	a	very	satisfying	mobile	experience.	But	for	surfing	the	
Internet,	not	so	much.	
Aside	from	speed,	customers	need	to	look	at	what	their	typical	missions	are	before	determining	which	type	
of	equipment	to	install	in	their	aircraft.
Wade	explained	that	it	all	comes	down	to	how	your	customer	uses	their	airplane.	
"If	they	spend	a	lot	of	time	flying	over	water,	then	they	need	a	satellite	system,"	he	said.	"If	they	predominantly	
fly	within	the	contiguous	U.S.,	then	they	may	do	well	with	ATG."

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Avionics News October 2014

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