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Technological advances in satellite tracking systems are helping operators achieve both cost-savings and operating efficiencies, while still providing their original benefit: increased safety.

Systems to track people, vehicles and aircraft have made quantum leaps in the last decade, with both hardware and software advances achieved for aviation satellite tracking and communication products. 

The principles of GPS satellite tracking systems are quite simple. To begin, an aircraft is equipped with a tracking device (fixed or portable). Then, at its most basic, three-dimensional GPS co-ordinates are sent from the device at predetermined intervals as short-burst-data messages to ground stations and secure data servers via a satellite network. That information is typically accessed via software, which plots decoded data onto a mapping frame such as Google Earth to display a visual record of the aircraft’s flight path and other pertinent information. The client interface (which is generally proprietary to the system provider), allows the operator a near “real-time” view of aircraft positions.

Due to the technological advances in equipment and software solutions, as well as better satellite coverage and an increasing number of service providers to choose from, a helicopter operator’s investment in satellite tracking equipment not only makes safety sense, but increasingly it makes economic sense, too. Tracking systems provide operators in all sectors of the helicopter industry with improved functionality. They also help users with achieving cost-savings and increasing operating efficiencies that far outweigh their purchase and operating costs. Plus, satellite tracking has not only been accepted by many regulators as being compliant with regulatory flight following requirements, but automated flight following (AFF) is generally a contractual requirement on many government contracts in both the United States and Canada. 

Today, an increasing number of vendors offer worldwide satellite tracking solutions for most production helicopters. Numerous supplemental type certificates have been approved and product solutions are rapidly becoming as diverse as the operations they serve, fitting users in complexity and cost. And, due to the existing economic climate, providers have largely switched their development strategies to software solutions, with the aim of creating added value to end-users. Application programming interfaces; more capable, intuitive user consoles; and various add-on features, such as the ability to display devices from other manufacturers, all combine to support better fleet management and process automation — with the end result being an improved bottom-line for users. 

To give our readers a better idea of the flight following solutions that are available today, this review provides a brief overview of the offerings from eight different providers. 

An operator’s control of and communication with its assets, from any Internet-enabled computer, has long been at the core of Blue Sky Network’s strategy. Based in La Jolla, Calif., Blue Sky Network offers customers a range of hardware solutions, from the ultra-portable HawkEye personal tracker to the D1000 series for fixed installations. 

Blue Sky also offers customers a powerful, easy-to-use web portal in the form of SkyRouter 2 — a new and improved version of its pioneering SkyRouter software. According to Blue Sky’s director of marketing, Matt Casper, the increased functionality of SkyRouter 2 makes it simple for operators to not only track their aircraft, but to manage them and create reports, which can help achieve optimal productivity and safety. 

“Everyone has boxes; everyone’s able to capture data,” explained Casper. “It’s how SkyRouter helps easily construct a narrative out of that data that delivers the business benefits.”

With the ability to view multiple maps on the same screen, operators can see all of their aircraft at the same time. The geo-fencing function on Sky Router 2 allows operators to designate areas of interest (both circles of a specified radius and custom-shaped polygons) and receive alerts when their aircraft cross into or out of a geo-fenced area. Operators can also specify the events they’re interested in, and sort data by events and assets. 

While the original SkyRouter software is rich in data, said Casper, SkyRouter 2 offers “a lot more ways to share that data and report that data.” At press time, the software was being trialed; web-based and mobile versions (iPhone, iPad, Droid) are expected to be available for general release toward the end of the summer. “We are thrilled with SkyRouter 2,” said Casper, “and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”

Formed in 2010 from the combination of EMS Satcom, EMS Formation and EMS Sky Connect, EMS Aviation has said it is the market leader in airborne connectivity. The three entities that were combined to form this new business unit of EMS Technologies were acquired at two different points in history: CAL Corp., which formed the core of EMS Satcom, was acquired in 1993; while Sky Connect and Formation were both acquired in 2008.  

Among its business, military and commercial applications, EMS Aviation offers flight tracking, phone and in-flight email services for helicopters and corporate and commercial airplanes. Its Sky Connect tracking system solution (formerly called Fleet) has achieved a solid footing in the helicopter industry, having been adopted by four of the largest operators in the offshore market, as well as the Canadian Forces CH-149 Cormorant search and rescue fleet, reportedly for its reliable service and easy-to-use equipment.

The MMU-II mission management unit is the company’s combined dialing and text messaging interface, it was designed to minimize pilot workload. Compact and purpose-built for a helicopter’s limited panel space, and said to be easy to use even when wearing flight gloves, it can store a large number of pre-programmed numbers, text messages and mini-forms.

A key feature of EMS Aviation’s Sky Connect mapping solution is a “self-customizable” map that enables operators to manipulate landmarks and add specialized overlays according to their mission requirements. The software interface is capable of displaying flight plans on the map so that dispatch centers have complete clarity on the crew’s intentions. In fact, helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) provider EagleMed interfaced EMS Aviation’s Tracker system with additional third-party Flight Explorer software and Softtech LLC’s Flight Vector computer-aided dispatch software to enable full, real-time mission control of its HEMS assets from a single control center.

Guardian Mobility of Ottawa, Ont., offers two tracking solutions for helicopter and fixed-wing operators: the Guardian 3 (G3) and Guardian 7 (G7) flight following systems, both of which are approved by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

For increased flexibility, the compact G3 is available in a number of equipment configurations using the Iridium satellite network. It’s portability and “plug and play” design make the G3 well suited for independent government contractors or any fleet scenario where the tracking device is moved from ship to ship. 

The company’s web interface, Guardian web portal, is based on industry-standard mapping technology and allows operators to easily designate geo-fences and set up alerts via email or short message service. To meet individual operator requirements, the web portal is also accessible via an Android-based tablet computer that enables aircraft owners, operations personnel and ground crew to know where their aircraft are from anywhere they have cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Launched in early 2010, the G7 is a full-featured, expandable system designed to provide simplified air-to-ground communications. Using its own on-board tablet, the system adds text and data communications and can monitor and record a large number of flight and engine parameters to support flight data monitoring and engine trend monitoring. Exceedance messages can be sent in real-time. When combined with one of Guardian’s most distinguished features — an easy-to-use application programming interface — the Guardian 7 can easily communicate with a host of other applications, helping customers streamline their operations and reduce costs by automating processes such as invoicing, client reports, log updates and more.

For voice communication capabilities, Guardian has partnered with New Zealand’s Flightcell International. Flightcell’s DZM3 replaces the tablet to provide panel-mounted text messaging capability with the addition of voice communications. Another Flightcell alternative is to add the voice communications via a cradle-mounted satellite phone. In both cases, the voice calls can be routed through the existing intercom system. 

Mike Venables of Guardian Mobility told us that the company “is focused on continuing to add capabilities and sophisticated tools that give operators a significant edge in flight operations management, to improve their bottom line and safety.” 

As a fully integrated solutions provider, Latitude Technologies of Victoria, B.C., is said to be a leading innovator in satellite telephone, tracking and messaging avionics thanks to its strong engineering capabilities. Consequently, it offers both off-the-shelf and fully customized solutions to operators in every industry sector. Said president and chief executive officer Mark Insley, “We’ve been able to apply our core strengths in product technology and manufacturing and apply it in many different ways.”

Latitude’s SkyNode line of hardware ranges from low-cost tracking and messaging transceivers to more sophisticated ones, such as the UDG100 — which provides for autonomous data gathering and reporting for network-connected aircraft — and the Satellite Gateway SG11, which can be paired with Technisonic’s TDFM tactical radios for tactical operations. And, with Latitude’s Web Sentinel fleet management platform for desktops, dispatch centers and mobile apps, live and historic flight data from SkyNode equipped fleets can be reliably and securely displayed.

At Heli-Expo 2011, Latitude announced the new RC6000A and RC7000A control and display units, which interface to existing SkyNode products and offer the ability to send messages and manage customer-defined and aircraft systems management parameters. 

Overall, according to Insley, Latitude’s modular product line offers customers versatile and adaptable solutions in this fast-changing field. “The modularity of [our] system is such that our products don’t go obsolete,” he said. Indeed, as he further explained, “We’re always adding functionality to it. . . . Our challenge is letting our customers know how our products are growing.” 

This modular focus and structure also allows Latitude to engineer data solutions to meet customer-specific needs. Said Latitude’s vice-president of business development, David Thomas, “Our customers know of us as a firm that can deliver custom, high-quality solutions.”

Based in Wilmington, Mass., Outerlink Global Solutions is a provider of real-time tracking and two-way data messaging for the fleet management of ground vehicles, ships, aircraft and personnel. 

The Communiqué4 is Outerlink’s new multi-modal, satellite communications device for real-time, worldwide tracking, messaging and data exchange. It is an end-to-end solution that enables customers to communicate more efficiently in a small but powerful form factor. Designed to minimize operating costs, the Communiqué4 has proprietary compression algorithms that enable customers to send more data back and forth for the same connection charges, and has communications switching technology that always connects customers to the most reliable and cost-effective method of communication.

While Outerlink has a number of hardware solutions, the Outerlink “Console” and “Dashboard” provide customizable web-based management and reporting software that can be used to integrate and manage any communications device. This advancement in fleet management technology is said to allow true flexibility and fleet oversight. As Outerlink’s CEO, Steve Durante, told Vertical, “Now fleet managers can integrate all of their assets on one screen and see their archived data in a customizable dashboard to help manage the financial operation of their fleet.”

A product such as the Console comes from Outerlink’s recognition that software applications are becoming increasingly important in the continuing quest by operators to achieve better fleet management and return on their investment. Outerlink will even create a solution that marries its products with a competitor’s. According to Ron Finlayson, a director of Outerlink, “Customers want flexibility in their options with respect to communication nodes and device type. At Outerlink, we are very proud of our equipment and satellite services, but there will be times when another company’s equipment is right for the job. In that case, we will find a way to tie it all together via Console software so that fleet controllers can have the right equipment in an easy-to-use representation.”

SkyTrac of Kelowna, B.C., currently has the widest range of product offerings for portable and fixed-installation flight following solutions. The company is one of the oldest in the field, with clients in all market sectors. Known for its customer service, SkyTrac has developed supplementary type certificate approvals in the U.S., Canada and Europe for most helicopter types, as well as a number of fixed-wing aircraft. And, according to Steve Fuhr, SkyTrac’s VP and director of business development, “SkyTrac is focused on moving data, and being a conduit to other aircraft systems. We have multiple interfaces on our ISAT [SkyTrac’s full-featured flight following and satcom system] that allow connectivity to gather a wide range of aircraft parameters and other data. We also have the ability to host data from other vendors on our SkyWeb mapping program, which is important as many operators lease machines that already contain competitors’ flight following and satcom equipment. These operators wish to view all their aircraft on one map.”

SkyTrac’s flagship SkyWeb software is a powerful system for mapping, analyzing, reviewing and reporting aircraft position information and other details. SkyTrac told Vertical that SkyWeb (included with any hardware purchase) is one of the most intuitive and capable software solutions in the industry, with features that allow the operator full control of hardware behavior. With its SkyWeb mobile version, the company has been able to bring tracking, email and satcom voice direct to users’ smartphones, including BlackBerry, iPhone and Android platforms.

SkyTrac also has developed a diverse set of application programming interfaces, including integrated solutions for emergency medial service providers, asset management and situational awareness systems, real-time weather overlay, and interfaces to airline integrated software solutions. This has helped operators increase their return on investment, while streamlining and automating processes for cost control.

Based on New Zealand’s North Island, Spidertracks has solutions that fit operators looking for portable devices. It offers some of the smallest AFF products on the market — solutions that are both simple and effective. “Most importantly, we’re a safety system first — we’re about people, not assets,” said Rachel Donald, Spidertracks general manager. 

The Spidertracks system offers a choice of two robust tracking devices, which are completely self-contained. They are powered by the aircraft, and while they are portable, they can also be hard-wired. Combined with a web-based user interface that allows the viewing of real-time and historical data on either geographical maps or exported to Google Earth, the system is an effective platform for tracking any number of air/ground assets on the same screen. While simple notification reports such as aircraft landing, takeoff, speed, etc. are standard, simple buttons on an add-on keypad make this portable system particularly attractive. Pilots can easily switch between various modes according to their mission requirements. The system also has an automatic SOS function, which, because it is system- and not hardware-based, has virtually 100 percent reliability. Text messaging via satellite can be integrated using a Blackberry or PDA phone.

Most recently, Spidertracks launched its new “Aviator” website for the general aviation market. In addition to live flight tracking, the website offers social functions to allow pilots to share their love of flying with family, friends and other pilots. This is in addition to the company’s Fleetpro fleet management software for businesses.

Based on New Zealand’s South Island, TracPlus Global is a next-generation tracking service provider that integrates competing brands of tracking terminals, networks and software interfaces to offer seamless tracking across different platforms. Consequently, Trac Plus’s solution is particularly useful for government agencies that must regularly manage contracted air assets on large projects. However, even small operators benefit from the company’s wide range of supported tracking equipment and claimed 99.999 percent server uptime guarantee. 

The TracPlus solution is also scalable, allowing operators to introduce new technology as budgets allow, as information from both old and new technologies can be viewed on the same screen. Plus, the company works with customers to identify the devices, networks and software that are ideal for their operations.

TracPlus2 is the company’s software solution; it features high-resolution maps, split screens and user-customizable trails. TracPlus2 also allows users to share their tracking with clients and others on an as-needed basis, simply by switching permissions on and off. 

Finally, TracPlus offers the handheld Shout nano, a pocket-sized satellite tracking device with two-way text messaging and distress alerting. It is said to be ideal for operators who may leave the vicinity of their aircraft for remote fieldwork.

With such an array of providers and tracking solutions, it can become difficult to choose the right product. With no technical standard orders providing a consistent benchmark for the flight following industry, the burden falls on customers to research and compare solutions in the context of their operations. Ultimately, the best advice is to shop around and discuss your requirements and wish lists with a number of vendors to find the hardware and software solution that best matches your needs.