Teledyne Brings Aircraft Information Management Into 21st Century

[Avionics Today 08-29-2014] Despite all of the new technology being packed into the data centric architectures of modern airplanes, many airlines and operators still use outdated technology for a crucial part of their operations — floppy disks. Believe it or not, the majority of Boeing 737 operators — the industry's best selling passenger jet — are still using floppy disks to load avionics software.   But that process will soon become obsolete, according to William Cecil, director of business development, wireless and data automation solutions at Teledyne Controls. Teledyne, which was awarded the single source contract to provide data acquisition systems for the Boeing Next Generation 737 and the 737 MAX in 2013, will demonstrate how airlines can bring their avionics software uploading process into the 21st century in a webinar hosted by Avionics Magazine on Wednesday Sept. 3rd.    "Most 737 operators today have a binder of floppy disks for all the software for all the avionics that they may need," said Cecil. "Right now today, that's what the majority of the airlines load their monthly Navigation Database with, they load it with the floppy disk and the databases are getting bigger. So sometimes one floppy disk is enough, it can be as many as eight floppy disks. Like the display electronics unit takes eight floppy disks, and it takes maybe an hour or more to perform that loading." - See more at: http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/topstories/Teledyne-Brings-Aircraft-Information-Management-Into-21st-Century_82966.html#.VAPoEcWSxkk