Welcome to our Website
Cartridge Drive Assy
| Catalogue Number | C0216 |
| Sub-categories | |
| Year of manufacture | Circa 1980 |
| Location | Grey Dexion Shelf Unit [Main Store] |
| Object Type | Data Storage |
| Division | Maritime Aircraft Systems [MASD] |
| Platform | |
| Manufacturer | |
| Part No | 035-10-A03 |
| Serial No | 0051 |
| Dimensions | Width (mm):145 Height (mm):178 Depth (mm):168 Weight (g):3240 |
| Inscription(s) | GEC Avionics Limited Cartridge Drive Assy. Part 036-1-0-A03 Ser 0081 DL Iss. 1 NSN 5845-99-760-8330 Code K0656 Mod. Record - |
| Notes | Mission planning was carried out with the aid of paper maps but modern military aircraft have sophisticated navigation and attack systems and film or digital map displays. An aircraft’s mission is planned on the ground at a workstation and a data loading device, a non-volatile memory cartridge, is employed to download the mission information from the mission planning workstation and transfer it to the aircraft systems. Apart from the route and waypoints information on threats, Radio/Nav settings, Weapons settings, terrain and flight profile are just some of the information a pilot might need for a successful mission. The data transfer cartridge system has another application to record aircraft data and enable it to be downloaded for ground crew and servicing. The data cartridge itself has to be rugged and reliable with a high data integrity and the ability to download fast. Unfortunately, we do not have a data cartridge. This digital tape recorder was made by GEC Nailsea, for the AQS 902 Acoutic Processing system, as delivered to the MOD for use on Sea Kings. It was used in MASD to record the lofargrams on the Acoustic displays. So, it is part of the AQS902 standard equipment. Dave Jenman spent a number of years in the early 80's getting the bugs out of the system with numerous visits to Nailsea. Although badged "GEC Avionics" it was likely manufactured by Vetco Cray Controls Ltd. |