With two new laboratory aircraft, the Special Flight Inspection Group (GEIV) completes six months since the arrival of the first Legacy 500 – known in the FAB as IU-50. During this period, there have been more than 450 flight hours and 50 navigation aid inspections.
Among the inspections, four of them refer to procedures that GEIV could not perform before the arrival of the Legacy 500: the airports of Maringá (PR), Londrina (PR), Navegantes (SC) and Caxias do Sul (RS) were certified for performing the RNP AR APCH procedure, for performance-based navigation. This makes it possible to land even when weather conditions are unfavorable.
According to the Group's operations officer, Major Bruno Michel Marcondes Alves, in addition to the new procedure, the crew has already noticed other gains for inspection missions with the arrival of the Legacy 500. “There are three main aspects. Firstly, the use of the onboard laser camera, making it not necessary to land to install measuring equipment at airports, mainly in the inspection of ILS [a system that allows landing by instruments].
The process of renewing the laboratory planes is part of the IX project. The first of the six Legacy 500s, acquired from Embraer, arrived at GEIV on September 23rd. Until then, the fleet of aircraft that carried out in-flight inspections consisted of four Bandeirantes and four Hawker 800XP.
The Special Flight Inspection Group tests, in practice, whether the data provided by navigation aid equipment – installed inside and outside airports – is reliable. These pieces of equipment send information to the aircraft, indicating the path to be followed. They guide pilots for takeoffs and landings not only under normal conditions, but especially when the weather is unfavorable.
Source - Brazilian air force
