navAero announced the issuance of Supplementary Type Certificate (STC) 10049061 by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for installation of portable Electronic Flight Bag system provisions on the Airbus A318/319/320/321 aircraft series. This includes dual aircraft-installed mounting structures for securing the iPad/Tablet devices, aircraft power provisions for device charging, and an aircraft interface device as a means for providing aircraft data connectivity.
The STC, executed by AERO Vodochody in cooperation with navAero, provides mounting and connectivity provisions for Apple iPad 3/4/Air or Samsung ATIV Tab 7 tablets. Mounting solutions for other tablet devices are available and more will be available in the upcoming months as new COTS pads are released. The navAero “Smart” Mount tablet holder is integrally equipped with the navAero Power/Data Interface Module that converts 28VDC from a non-essential aircraft bus to power that is appropriate for charging the tablet device. This system is also approved under the restrictive Apple MFi program.
The STC also includes deployment of the widely accepted and robust navAero Universal Aircraft Interface Device (UAID) to provide connectivity to the aircraft’s ARINC 429 and 717 data buses. The UAID also provides cross-connectivity between the two independent tablets for data sharing as well as bi-directional connectivity of the tablets to select avionic systems such as ACARS, printers etc. And with the storage and processing capabilities of the UAID, operators also can realize virtual QAR functionality…all from this one device.
navAero Group President, Mr. Simone Giordano, states “We are tremendously excited about this most recent EASA certification. This achievement clearly shows that our Tablet Electronic Flight Bag system meets all the European regulatory requirements to be a highly integrated part of a modern airline’s operations. As the adoption rate of our Tablet solutions continues to grow, we are very happy to be able to provide our European Airbus 318/319/320/321 customers with a cost reducing, environmental friendly and safety enhancing state-of-the art tablet EFB platform. Vueling, Iberia, Croatia and other navAero customers are pleased to have this certification completed so that they can advance their fleet deployments to meet their operational goals. Again, we are first in the industry to provide such a high-level certified system with an EASA STC.”