Honeywell has offered India its latest engine technology to support the next generation of the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft. Powering IAF’s Jaguar fighters with the F125IN engine is hailed as another building block in the remarkable partnership between Honeywell and India.

Imagine an airliner shutting down its main engines and taxiing down the runway, powered just by its auxiliary power unit (APU)! Or an airliner built with super alloys that enable its bionic structure to mimic that of a bird, and equipped with seats that morph to adjust to your body shape. Or a jetliner with intelligent cabin wall membranes that not only control its cabin temperature, but magically turn transparent to give passengers breathtaking views of the wide blue yonder. Welcome to the world of futuristic features that aerospace companies are developing to make flying an entirely new experience. Leading the charge is Honeywell, which has been a leading partner of choice for Indian companies as the country vigorously bids to energise its aerospace industry. In a freewheeling chat with media persons recently in New Delhi, Honeywell’s Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (Engineering & Technology) Bob Smith, explained why his company is throttling up to strengthen “this unique partnership” and play a larger role in this effort.

“Modern aircraft do use a lot of space shuttle technology,” says Smith. Look at the glass cockpit design, for instance. Pioneered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the aerospace industry, the glass cockpit was introduced in 1982 and is now widely considered as the industry standard. State-of-the-art monitors show flight, engine and aircraft performance data in simple and easily understood displays. Flight crews no longer have to scan hundreds of gauges and switches. Instead, a handful of computer monitors provides them all the flight data they need.

“Similarly, fly-by-wire technology (FBW) is a spinoff from NASA’s space programme of the 1970s,” Smith recalls. It was put to spectacular use in Apollo 11’s lunar lander, Eagle. FBW translates the pilot’s actions into electronic signals that computers use to operate flight controls. A bank of computers constantly monitors pilot input and prevents the aircraft from exceeding its flight envelope, thereby increasing safety. And because FBW replaces heavy, complex mechanical linkages with lighter electrical wires, it is more efficient. Although it was initially used by fighter aircraft, digital fly-by-wire technology became hugely popular in commercial aviation when it debuted on the Airbus A320. The unique side-stick controller housed in the A320’s glass cockpit raised the bar on safety and efficiency higher than any technology in recent memory. In fact, all airliners designed since then have absorbed the glass cockpit and FBW technology.

“From writing databases into civil airliners and pilot data link communications, to tribology (the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion), Honeywell’s engineers are constantly innovating to touch the future,” says Smith. Take, for example, the 3-D primary flight display (PFD) Honeywell has developed. It is basically like a tunnel, which veers towards the direction of the flight plan while linked to the flight management system (FMS). The pilot of an aircraft flying along this tunnel would be able to see any turns ahead and decide on how the aircraft should bank by looking at the 3D PFD seen down the tunnel. “The idea is to ensure that an aircraft has the best possible avionics, using which the pilot can always go back to mom in an emergency!” quips Smith. “In an emergency, the system takes over and presents a simplistic picture as the reference point, so the pilot can take the best decision and in the minimum time frame.”

Using APUs for propulsion is another revolutionary concept that Honeywell has developed. “The electric motor-gear doubles as an electric taxi system,” says Smith. “Using this, an aircraft, say, a Boeing 737 can just shut off the main engines and taxi. A highly efficient surface management system could be developed using this as a model.” Although these are early days yet, he believes the technology could be as near as a couple of years away. “We just have to decide on whether it should be done for retrofit or forward fit movement.”

Considering the fact that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) wants to use performance based navigation system (PBNS) in the country, would Honeywell consider chipping in to help the effort? “Definitely,” says Smith. “PBNS is a great idea and we’ll be happy to help augment India’s air traffic management (ATM) system. For example, at certain points, you could have required navigation performance (RNP)—a type of PBN that allows you to fly a specific path between two three-dimensionally defined points in space.” An RNP of say 12, means a navigation system that is able to calculate its position to within a circle with a radius of 12 nautical miles. The level of RNP an aircraft is capable of determines the separation required between aircraft. RNP approaches with RNP values (currently down to 0.1) allow aircraft to follow precise 3-D curved flight paths through congested airspace, observe effective noise abatement procedures, or through difficult terrain.

Honeywell has offered India its latest engine technology to support the next generation of the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft. Powering IAF’s Jaguar fighters with the F125IN engine is hailed as another building block in the remarkable partnership between Honeywell and India. Responding to a question from Jayant Baranwal, Editor-in-Chief, SP’s Aviation, whether the engine deal would be based on foreign military sales (FMS) or direct commercial sales (DCS), Smith said, “The key factor here is reliability and the need to ensure it (the deal) is of great value to the IAF.” The F125IN is a high performance, low bypass-ratio turbofan engine that meets the most rigorous requirements of modern light combat and advanced trainer aircraft. “While I wouldn’t like to comment on the FMS/DCS aspect, what I do know is that the acquisition will happen sooner rather than later. As I said earlier, what is important is that you are getting a capability that is very necessary for the IAF, and as always we look forward to provide better value to our customers.”