Innotech Installs Premiere Challenger 604 Satellite TV

In a world-first for the Bombardier Challenger 604 business twinjet, Innotech Aviation of Montreal, Canada, is installing and certifying a Honeywell OneView satellite TV system as part of a larger work package for an undisclosed European customer.

Installation involves a Honeywell tail-mounted antenna that will be integrated with the existing inflight entertainment system. The live, direct-broadcast (DBS) TV programming capability is the latest in a long list of Supplemental Type Certificates developed by Innotech over the past 47 years.

Says Rob Brooks, Innotech vp and general manager, "We can offer the customer the option to install up to three dual-channel receiver modules configured to meet the viewing requirements of the operator. This will provide independent selection possibilities for passengers to allow them to select their TV channels."

Meanwhile, Innotech has opened an Execair facility in Toronto to represent Cessna Aircraft Co. through a new Authorized Citation Service Center, the only such unit in Canada and one of 24 around the world. The 35,000-square-foot covered area includes business and communications facilities for visiting crews, as well as complete technical services: maintenance, inspections, parts, repairs, modifications, equipment installations, refurbishment and non-destructive testing.

Innotech is a major provider of aviation services, with an annual capacity of more than 220,000 man-hours. The company provides interior and airframe warranty work for Bombardier and Raytheon, and can research older aircraft components, since its records on the Challenger go back to 1980 and on the Hawker line to 1965. "Other companies come and go, but we stay the course," declares Brooks.

By Paul Jackson