science

Future Air Navigation System

Future Air Navigation System is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Future Air Navigation System rather than just read about it. In short: The Future Air Navigation System (FANS) is an avionics system which provides direct data link communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller. The communications include air traffic control clearances, pilot requests and position reporting.

Key takeaways

Future Air Navigation System belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Future Air Navigation System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Future Air Navigation System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Future Air Navigation System (FANS) is an avionics system which provides direct data link communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller. The communications include air traffic control clearances, pilot requests and position reporting. In the FANS-B equipped Airbus A320 family aircraft, an Air Traffic Services Unit (ATSU) and a VHF Data Link radio (VDR3) in the avionics rack and two data link control and display units (DCDUs) in the cockpit enable the flight crew to read and answer the controller–pilot data link communications (CPDLC) messages received from the ground.

Overview of FANS The world's air traffic control system still uses components defined in the 1940s following the 1944 meeting in Chicago which launched the creation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This traditional ATC system uses analog radio systems for aircraft Communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS). Air traffic control's ability to monitor aircraft was being rapidly outpaced by the growth of flight as a mode of travel. In an effort to improve aviation communication, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management ICAO, standards for a future system were created. This integrated system is known as the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) and allows controllers to play a more passive monitoring role through the use of increased automation and satellite-based navigation. In 1983, ICAO established the special committee on the Future Air Navigation System (FANS), charged with developing the operational concepts for the future of air traffic management (ATM). The FANS report was published in 1988 and laid the basis for the industry's future strategy for ATM through digital CNS using satellites and data links. Work then started on the development of the technical standards needed to realize the FANS Concept. In the early 1990s, the Boeing Company announced a first generation FANS product known as FANS-1. This was based on the early ICAO technical work for automatic dependent surveillance (ADS) and controller–pilot data link communications (CPDLC), and implemented as a software package on the flight management computer of the Boeing 747-400. It used existing satellite based ACARS communications (Inmarsat Data-2 service) and was targeted at operations in the South Pacific Oceanic region. The deployment of FANS-1 was originally justified by improving route choice and thereby reducing fuel burn.

A similar product (FANS-A) was later developed by Airbus for the A340 and A330. Boeing also extended the range of aircraft supported to include the Boeing 777 and 767. Together, the two products are collectively known as FANS-1/A. The main industry standards describing the operation of the FANS-1/A products are ARINC 622 and EUROCAE ED-100/RTCA DO-258. Both the new Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 have FANS-1/A capability. ATC services are now provided to FANS 1/A equipped aircraft in other oceanic airspaces, such as the North Atlantic. However, although many of FANS-1/A's known deficiencies with respect to its use in high density airspace were addressed in later versions of the product (FANS-1/A+), it has never been fully adopted for use in continental airspace. The ICAO work continued after FANS-1 was announced, and continued to develop the CNS/ATM concepts. The ICAO standard for CPDLC using the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN) is preferred for continental airspace and is currently being deployed in the core European Airspace by the EUROCONTROL Agency under the LINK2000+ Programme. Mandatory carriage of the ICAO compliant system is now the subject of an Implementing Rule (for aircraft flying above FL280) issued by the European Commission. This rule accommodates the use of FANS-1/A by long haul aircraft. All other airspace users must be ICAO compliant. Several vendors provide ICAO ATN/CPDLC compliant products. The Airbus ICAO compliant product for the A320 family is known as FANS-B. Rockwell Collins, Honeywell and Spectralux provide ICAO compliant products for Boeing aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 and 767, and the Boeing 787 will also support ICAO ATN/CPDLC compliant communications. The main standards describing the operation of ICAO compliant products are the ICAO Technical Manual, ICAO Docs 9705 and 9896, Eurocae ED-110B/RTCA DO-280B and Eurocae ED-120/RTCA DO-290.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Future Air Navigation System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Future Air Navigation System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Future Air Navigation System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Future Air Navigation System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Future Air Navigation System

In research: Future Air Navigation System appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Future Air Navigation System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Future Air Navigation System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Air traffic control, Telecommunications-related introductions in 1988, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Future Air Navigation System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Future Air Navigation System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Future Air Navigation System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Future Air Navigation System out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Future Air Navigation System in simple terms?

Why does Future Air Navigation System matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Future Air Navigation System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Future Air Navigation System.