AFI Flight Inspection - Flight Inspection Services

AFI Flight Inspection (AFI) is one of the leading flight inspection companies worldwide. With long-term contracts operating in 16 countries and the experience of calibrations in more than 20 countries, AFI is the company with the largest international customer basis worldwide.

Together with its partner company Flight Precision Ltd. (FPL) in the UK, AFI operates as part of a fleet of five flight inspection aircraft. Access to three further flight inspection aircraft is ensured through cooperation agreements with two further flight inspection organisations.

FLIGHT INSPECTION ASSIGNMENTS

AFI has flight inspection assignments at all German regional airports. Internationally, the company is mainly active in Central, South and South East Europe and the Gulf Region.

Established in 2001, the wholly owned Cobham subsidiary specialises in flight inspection services including the calibration and evaluation of all kinds of en-route and approach facilities.

CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSPECTION SERVICES

Our flight inspection services are handled in strict accordance with the ICAO guidelines and the company's own ISO-certified quality management system. The flight inspection personnel, calibration system (including the aircraft) and different types of surveying processes are licensed by the DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, the German ATC provider as well as the British Safety Regulation Group for all kinds of calibration.

ADVANCED FLIGHT INSPECTION SYSTEM

AFI's advanced flight inspection system allows the calibration of en-route and approach facilities. Working completely independently of the aircraft's primary avionics, the system features real-time onboard processing capabilities as well as positioning through laser tracking, inertial navigation systems and differential GPS. AFI's flight inspection system delivers the printed results right after the calibration has been finished.

Specifically, AFI uses the following combination of technical and procedural means to optimise the quality of its service and increase the satisfaction of the customer:

• Coupling of the autopilot to the flight inspection system
• Use of a central multifunction display for mission purposes
• Use of map-based run sheets as briefing documents for the ATC personnel

The combination of these technical features form an excellent basis to ensure high quality, safety and efficiency.

COUPLING THE AUTOPILOT TO THE FLIGHT INSPECTION SYSTEM

The coupling of the autopilot to the flight inspection system leads to a significant reduction in crew workload and to an improvement in accuracy and repeatability of the calibration results.

The flight inspector is able to define the patterns with all parameters for calibration in the flight inspection system. The pilot couples the autopilot at his discretion. This means the flight crew gain capacity for coordination with ATC and other traffic, and for watching the airspace more intensely.

Furthermore, the autopilot flies all procedures with constant performance. This leads to a constant accuracy and to an ultimate repeatability of the results, which are two main quality factors in flight inspection.

A CENTRAL MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAY FOR MISSION PURPOSES

The multifunction display shows a Jeppesen database (airports, navaids, routes) and also displays the flight inspection pattern defined by the flight inspector. This feature leads to a huge increase in situational awareness of the crew and facilitates the coordination with ATC (e.g. position reports).

It is an excellent means to optimise the decision process within the crew, in case changes of the mission have to be discussed and new procedures have to be defined.

MAP-BASED RUN SHEETS AS CALIBRATION BRIEFING DOCUMENTS

The map-based run sheets are distributed to the ATC personnel before the actual calibration flight. It helps to create a common understanding about the usage of airspace during the flight inspection mission and sequence of procedures. In case of changes, which always occur, both ground and flight crew have a common reference. This facilitates the communication during the mission, especially as it is via radio only.

With all these measures, AFI is able to increase the satisfaction of the customer's ATC personnel and in parallel increase the quality and efficiency of our flight inspection service.