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A look back at Europe's largest general aviation event, which just celebrated its thirtieth anniversary: Aero Friedrichshafen. 

We were delighted and proud to welcome our customers, partners and service providers to this not-to-be-missed event, which is considered by many to be one of the most prestigious air shows in Europe.

Every year we participate with the ambition to show our APIBOX a little bit more. This year, however, our flight data recorder has already made a name for itself in the aisles of the show... The interest in our system marks a new stage in its development. After 20 years of existence and more than 1000 flight data recorders installed worldwide, our APIBOX is undeniably gaining in popularity. Today, our focus is not so much on convincing people of its benefits and usefulness, but on presenting the installation and maintenance process.

But look beyond our actions to the bigger picture. What we're seeing is a shift in thinking. To put it bluntly, we are seeing a shift from a sometimes epidermal and caricatured perception of a "coping" function to an awareness of the real benefits of proven safety equipment.

Our parameter recorder, with its debriefing software and complementary video and now audio equipment in the cockpit, increasingly reinforces the feeling that it's more protection than surveillance, more investment than cost. 

We are delighted by this observation, which gives us even more energy and enthusiasm to continue our mission: to help manufacturers, operators, maintainers, owners, schools and pilots to fly in complete safety.

The APIBOX Guardian Angel is iAero's signature product. We're proud of it. And we'll always be committed to serving the safety interests of General Aviation worldwide.

Fly safe 🙏,

Gérald Ducoin

iAero Managing Director and Test Pilot

Our orange APIBOX is also a black box!

That's for sure... We've always emphasized the benefits of consulting recorded flight parameters and navigation data, for example, to get the most out of debriefing a pilot training flight or to ensure the proper performance of engine equipment. 

But it's also invaluable in the event of a crash.

Did you know that? Designed for light aircraft and helicopters in accordance with the ED-155 standard, our black box is both shockproof and fireproof (1100°C for 15 minutes). 

The French "Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses" (BEA) recently used the APIBOX to determine the causes of a dramatic aircraft accident on foreign soil. The analysis of the data recorded by our APIBOX confirmed the hypothesis of a human error during the flight exercise of the training crew. 

Our contribution in such circumstances is essential to understanding what happened. However, it is not an end in itself, as our primary mission is to help you fly safely. 

So let's work together to make sure we always choose orange over black.

Fly safely 

No, these are not new emergency numbers! 

Nor are they new radio frequencies!

So, could this be the number of parameters that can be recorded on our APIBOX?

In fact, we're going to tell you about the standard that governs the installation of a parameter recorder. Rest assured, there's nothing boring about it... on the contrary!

As a reminder: 

• ED-155 = Standard recommended by ICAO since 2016 for the installation of parameter recorders (data, audio, video...) for light commercial aircraft between 2,250 kg and 5,700 kg. It is the reference standard for our APIBOX recorder.
• ED-112 = the original standard for heavier aircraft, here called commercial aircraft.

What are the main differences?

• Fire resistance: for commercial airliners, this is a bit longer because the amount of imported fuel is greater...
• Internal software: the higher the safety level, the higher the requirements for software development... For the ED155, these requirements are slightly less stringent, as they are adapted to the use and risks of light aviation.
• Data transmission: for our recorder, access to the data is immediate after the flight via the GSM network, whereas for ED112 recorders, the device must be returned to the manufacturer to extract the data, or expensive add-on modules must be added to benefit from this possibility.
• Data requirements: very little difference between ED155 and ED112. In fact, the data recorded by APIBOX are much more complete in terms of sampling frequency and diversity, far exceeding the strict normative requirements (this is one of our added values...).

In conclusion, the virtues of APIBOX outweigh those of a "classic" black box, whatever the standard. No opposition, no power struggles, just added value!

For example, the airline CHALAIR has installed our recorder on its Beech 1900s alongside its traditional ED112 black box equipment. The main motivation: live data retrieval to optimize their maintenance program... 

As you can see, APIBOX is not a competitor to ED112 systems, and it's no longer just an additional "black box" for light aviation. Quite simply, it's a complete safety system, and one that can even be complementary!   

That's the difference...

That's it! It's up and running. APIBOX is "talking" to you!

In our October 2023 newsletter, we announced a forthcoming innovation. 

From now on, we'll be offering you a voice alert in the cockpit, to warn you live of a performance limitation, a parameter overrun or an action not taken.

In flight, we can be momentarily distracted or even unfocused. An overshoot of VNE, a landing gear not lowered or an overspeed can occur and take us by surprise.

The APIBOX "voice" in the cockpit is now there to alert you if you don't take action... 

Our APIBOX's mission as guardian angel has been expanded thanks to this standard option in all modification files. It will be systematically proposed to you.

It's up to you to adopt it, but it would be a real shame not to...

Flying in China is an unusual adventure. Airspace restricted by the military, an aero language inaccessible except through a Chinese/English translator, appalling weather conditions... so many obstacles that make the adventure of flight testing singular but rewarding.

This is the testimony of Daniel Muller, consultant and test pilot for iAero, who spent a year in China just before the Covid pandemic put a definitive stop to his Asian adventure.

"My experience in China will stay with me for a long time," says Daniel. "Flight testing a GA20 prototype under construction in the skies over China was a truly special adventure...".

Some local specificities and anecdotes..:

Airspace: everything is entirely controlled by the military. "In other words, very procedural," says Daniel. It's hard to operate in a flight test environment with no room for maneuver...

Altitude: "First of all, we had to relocate from the factory, which was located between Hong Kong and Shanghai. We moved from the brand-new Yaohu airport to the small Hengdian airfield near Shanghai, with an 800-meter runway but no traffic, and with everything we needed on site. Our altitude limit was still 900 ft, but we were authorized to fly up to 6000 ft not far away, a 30-minute flight. Except that the military would force us to return in 12 minutes! Quite a challenge for a prototype," says Daniel.

Navigation: low-altitude Jeppesen maps didn't exist in China. Oops!

Autonomy: for flight demonstration purposes, Daniel flew the aircraft to a huge air meeting more than 500 km from its base, without having the necessary autonomy or any guarantee of arriving at the end. "There were over 100,000 visitors at this event! I rubbed shoulders with Swedish and South African pilots who moved around the country like circus performers, obliged to dismantle and reassemble their aircraft and equipment to get from one meeting to another...".

Reliability: "Coming back from this incredible encounter, we had a fuel leak on the exhaust. It was a miracle that it didn't catch fire in flight..." confesses Daniel.

In early November 2019, it was the end of Daniel's flight mission to China. An intruder, named COVID-19, invaded the whole of China in a world preview and brought everything to a halt.

Daniel would have no further contact thereafter. He later learned that a Chinese pilot had resumed testing...

From his tribulations in China, Daniel will remember that nothing happens there like anywhere else: everything is specific, atypical, under control and gigantic!

With SolarStratos, we're embarking on the adventure, the dream, the ultimate challenge: to fly to the stratosphere without fossil fuels, using only the energy of the sun. 

And the flight tests continue. FL 150 reached!

We told you all about it in October 2022 in our newsletter no. 9. We told you the story of this crazy project to conquer the highest point in the sky with electric batteries recharged in flight by the sun's rays. 

"Gérald Ducoin has become the 3rd highest solar pilot".

Raphaël Domjan, test pilot for SolarStratos, a pioneer in solar fuel and totally committed to preserving our planet, tells us about his adventure with iAero and its Managing Director and test pilot Gérald Ducoin, who is accompanying him through the crucial phase of flight testing.

"Gérald has just reached FL 150 alone on board. It's an intermediate step before the altitude record we're aiming for this summer," Raphaël tells us. "It's the limit we can reach without importing certified oxygen. 

"Our collaboration with iAero and Gérald is an undeniable, reassuring and comfortable support. We alternate flights, each alone in the cockpit. I'm learning a lot from him," says Raphaël. 

"I myself was able to climb to FL 130. The sensations are fantastic", says Raphaël. "I flew for 2 hours, above the cumulus clouds, with the sun at its zenith, with lift that prevented me from descending, and with silence as my only company. And I came back with 50% of my battery still!

Reconnect with the legend of Icarus, but...

...without burning our wings! That's the crazy wager of SolarStratos, a European project based in Switzerland, led by a team of enthusiasts entirely dedicated to this virtuous adventure. "Our ambition is to make our young people dream, in the hope that we'll be able to fly without fossil fuels," says Raphaël. "And Gérald is the ideal partner: he's got an adventurous spirit, he's sensitive to environmentally-friendly general aviation and he's got a good temper! 

A perfect tandem to take the two-seater solar airplane to the stars!

Further flights are scheduled, with more recordings to come. 

The story of SolarStratos is told and retold on the ground and at high altitude!

iAero
12B route de Troyes
21121 Darois
Phone: +33 (0)3 80 73 60 26
info@iaero.fr
www.iaero.fr

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