USCG Completes Successful HC-130H Test Flight

USCG Completes Successful HC-130H Test Flight After Avionics Upgrade

 

New Panel Incorporates ADS-B, RNP RNAV Functions On Multi-Function Displays

 

The U.S. Coast Guard recently completed a successful Functional Check Flight of an HC-130H aircraft enhanced with an advanced avionics upgrade under the Coast Guard's Avionics 1 Upgrade program.

 

The flight marked the completion of a significant cockpit and avionics upgrade managed by Rockwell Collins. The upgrade includes incorporation of four multi-function displays, a new digital autopilot, and a Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) equipment suite for compliance with the latest airspace mandates. Rockwell Collins had previously upgraded the Coast Guard's HC-130H fleet with its new Multi-Scan Hazard Detection Weather Radar. "Rockwell Collins and the Coast Guard have developed a strong relationship over the years and this most recent successful flight test adds another chapter to that story," said Troy Brunk, vice president and general manager of Airborne Solutions for Rockwell Collins. "We're continuing to add to our track record as the leading provider of cost-effective C-130 avionics upgrades, having completed more than 125 C-130 upgrades worldwide over the last decade."

 

The upgrade reduces pilot workload while improving situational awareness through enhanced CNS/ATM flight management capability, incorporating the MultiScan Hazard Detection Weather Radar system for aircrew situational awareness, as well as implementing Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), Required Navigation Performance Area Navigation (RNP RNAV) functions with digital takeoff and landing data computations, and providing key search and rescue patterns. In particular, aircrews will appreciate the fully integrated Class III electronic flight bag with digital map overlays on the cockpits new 6-inch by 8-inch multi-function displays

Article Provided by 12-07 Member William Goess

 

DCAPT David G. Porter, Sector NY/S
1st Southern Region
646-523-1213

NOAA Announces Free Nautical 'Booklet Charts' for Boaters

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20130128_freenauticalchartbooklets.html

One of NOAA's handiest navigation products, especially for recreational boaters, has been Coast Survey's experimental BookletCharts -- nautical charts that are easy to download and print from home computers. Coast Survey has now moved the BookletCharts from experimental stage into official production. Nearly a thousand newly updated BookletCharts are available free on the Web.

NOAA's new official BookletCharts cover the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and the Great Lakes. The BookletCharts contain most of the information found on NOAA's full-scale nautical charts, but it is presented as reduced-scale.

"It is especially appropriate that we unveil these easy-to-use nautical charts as recreational boaters begin to think about their boating adventures for 2013," said Capt. Jon Swallow, chief of NOAA Coast Survey's Navigation Services Branch. "NOAA's nautical charts help to protect lives and property, and boaters should take advantage of these free nautical products."

"Many boaters don't use nautical charts, trusting local knowledge or their memories. But that can be dangerous, as seafloors constantly shift, shorelines erode, and dangers to navigation are discovered," Swallow said. "BookletCharts will tell a boater about these developments, and will help ensure a safe voyage, whether it is around the bay or down the coast."

Since the Booklet Charts are easy to access from the Web, easy to print, and easy to carry in a pocket, NOAA officials hope that tens of millions of recreational boaters who may not normally use charts will use these.

Several years ago, the Office of Coast Survey introduced experimental BookletCharts as PDFs in an 8-by-11 inch format, to test public demand and use. The product has been tremendously successfully, receiving kudos by recreational boaters and boating organizations. Coast Survey has subsequently upgraded the chart displays and navigational information for the official product.

While BookletCharts are great for recreational use, they do not fulfill chart carriage requirements for regulated commercial vessels under Titles 33 and 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, originally formed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807, updates the nation's nautical charts, surveys the coastal seafloor, responds to maritime emergencies and searches for underwater obstructions and wreckage that pose a danger to navigation. Follow Coast Survey on Twitter @nauticalcharts, and check out the NOAA Coast Survey blog at http://noaacoastsurvey.wordpress.com for more in-depth coverage of surveying and charting.

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels at http://www.noaa.gov/socialmedia/.

On the web:

NOAA Office of Coast Survey: http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov

NOAA BookletCharts: http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/BookletChart.html

 

 

DCAPT David G. Porter, Sector NY/S
1st Southern Region
646-523-1213

MARPOL POST

A rule making effort is currently underway to revise the domestic regulations of 33 CFR 151 (APPS) to accurately reflect U.S. requirements under a revised MARPOL Annex V. The international MARPOL requirements go into effect on 1 January 2013, but domestic rule making will not be ready by that time. This rule making has been delayed probably to April 2013. A draft interim rule is changing the placarding requirements for domestic vessels even down to the placard size specifications (increased from 36 square inches to 40 square inches as minimum size). After 1 January 2013, and until the domestic rules are published and new placards are available, it will not be possible for vessels 26 feet and over to comply with the MARPOL Trash Placard requirement found as Item 11 on Form ANSC 7012.

Due to this inability for vessels 26 feet and over to comply with Item 11, Vessel Examiners are hereby instructed to consider Item 11 on Form ANSC 7012 as "N/A" for all vessels for the Calendar Year 2013, or until otherwise directed. Vessels otherwise satisfying all VSC decal requirements may be awarded the decal during Calendar Year 2013. This should give ample time for the domestic rules to be developed and published in the Federal Register and for new compliant placards to be developed, produced, and distributed throughout the Recreational Boating community. As funding becomes available, the Coast Guard may procure and distribute updated MARPOL decals for distribution via ANSC. This interim guidance for the VE program will be amended/superseded as new placards become available through commercial sources of supply or other means.

This interim guidance is not intended to encourage Vessel Examiners to totally ignore Item 11 on Form ANSC 7012 while conducting Vessel Safety Checks in 2013. Throughout 2013 Vessel Examiners and other members having contact with the recreational boating community will have an excellent opportunity to carry on instructional conversations about the new MARPOL placard requirements that are being developed to heighten awareness of recreational boaters about the need to understand and comply with the MARPOL requirements and to alert them to be aware that they need to procure and install new placards as soon as they become available. In the long run such conversations may enhance the effectiveness of the teaching opportunities available during the conduct of Vessel Safety Checks.

Thomas C. Mallison

National Commodore

12/19/