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Project EVA

May 13, 2015

As pilots we are all taught the importance of maintaining a good visual look out at all times.

With the advent of ADS-B amongst general aviation there’s a growing population of light aircraft equipped with traffic surveillance technology. This has the potential to positively improve flight safety – alerting a pilot of aircraft that are beyond visual range or conflicting aircraft that have simply been overlooked.

Widely known as ‘traffic technology’ this electronic equipment uses ADS-B surveillance to provide ‘real time’ traffic information in the cockpit. Audio warnings and visual depictions of local airspace can be created using a cockpit display. A traffic system improves a pilot’s general awareness and gives vital seconds to avoid otherwise unseen traffic.

In the past the benefits of traffic technology has only been available to TCAS equipped, commercial aircraft – but this is about to change. A European wide initiative has been launched called Project EVA and Trig are active partners.

EVA stands for ‘Enhanced Visual Acquisition’ – improving aircraft visibility in the air by electronic means – allowing you to see and be seen

Trig has been a full participant in Project EVA, we have designed and developed a range of Traffic Flight Test Units that have been subject to flight evaluation during 2016.

NATS has organised this initiative and SESAR funded flight trials that Trig has led. Our technology has been tested in real world conditions. Aircraft participating in the trials with Trig prototype units used both a pilot and an observer. Only the observer knew the flight profile and potential conflicts en-route. This maximised the value and realism of each test flight whilst ensuring safety. Different variations in equipment configuration and test conditions helped provide NATS with hard data to inform future ADS-B policy.