FLARM and LX instruments

Presented by

Erazem Polutnik

Uppsala, November 2007

LX Navigation history30 years of experience in gliding instrumentation

• 1982 - EV-82

• 1986 - LX1000 (Avionic Dittel)

• 1988 - LX2000

• 1990 - LX1000A

• 1992 - LX4000 (Filser Electronic)

• 1994 - LX5000

• 1995 - LX20

• 1997 - DX50

• 1998 - Colibri (LX Navigation)

• 2003 - LX7000

• 2004 - LX7007

• 2008 - LX8000

FLARMMid-airs do happen

20 mid-air events per year world-wide in GAIn every 3rd event gliders are involved50% fatality rateEvery 3rd fatality in gliding caused by mid-airs making it #2 accident causeMany more near-misses than mid-airs,many of those remain unnoticedTerrain structure irrelevant

ASK23 slashed by Mirage jet

Reno / Nevada 2006

Stuttgart

Munich

Frankfurt

Zurich

Koln

Dusseldorf

Nurnberg

Berlin

„Thermal Airways“ in Germany

Limitations of Human Vision

‘‘... the physical limitations of the ... the physical limitations of the human eye are such that even human eye are such that even the most careful search does not the most careful search does not guarantee that traffic will be guarantee that traffic will be sighted.sighted.’’Australian Transport Safety Australian Transport Safety BureauBureau

Colors

How does it workBroadcast own GPS-derived flight-path prediction over license-free radiohighly selective aircraft-aircraft warnings, 2-3 km rangeobstacle warnings based on internal databaseflight recorder in IGC-formatNMEA-interface with configurable traffic datasimple user interface

RF protocol

Dataportprotocol

Horizontal Prediction

Vertical Prediction(take into acount aircraft energy)

min speed

max speedfast

min speed

max speed

slow

Situation in Gliding

Pilot

FLARM

Situation

+

++

opposite

-

++

opposite

+--+++

circling / straight

-

++

opposite circling

+

-

identical circling

Pilot Testimonials

„FLARM works great, the indication usually appears before you see the other aircraft. FLARM supports the imperfect human vision. For me, FLARM represents the only available option to reduce one of the biggest dangers in flying. I assume FLARM will save more lives than parachutes do, despite being much less expensive and quite unspectacular.“Wolfgang Janowitsch (multiple World Champion)„I had many opportunities to test FLARM in the extreme conditions of record mountain wave flying in Argentina. FLARM's performance was impressive in all flying situations: thermalling, lateral approaches and high-speed opposite traffic. Warnings issued were clear and intuitive. I hope most aircraft will soon be fitted with FLARM, and I expect the number of collision events to dramatically fall.“Klaus Ohlmann (multiple World Record holder)„I was flying in the Austrian Alps when FLARM automatically switched form traffic to caution mode. A loud beep is issued while the display shows a target at 11 o'clock slightly below my own flight path. Some seconds later, FLARM switches to warning mode. Despite an intense lookout for the opposite traffic I do not see the target, so I pull up a bit with a bank to the right side. Now the target on my display moves to the left, as expected, and I see the other aircraft passing by closer than 100m away. Without my intervention, we would have been very close.Quite low on the ridge I was able to find small lift; after my second turn FLARM issued an obstacle warning. Although I was not able to see the obstacle, I paid attention to stay away while climbing slowly. Once I was above the ridge I could see the small transport aerial railway close to a hut.“Hans Fitterer (Weekend Warrior)

Flarm by LX Navigation

Redbox FLARM Minibox FLARM Colibri FLARM

LX7007 Flarm LX8000 Flarm

Flarm Graphic display

LX16

LX160

LX1600

Colibri

LX7007

LX8000

Thank you!