Sebastian_G wrote:
Has anybody here flown with one of the latest generation large bizjet radars? I have experimented quite a bit with the typical GA radars on the PA46 and Citations etc. seem to be not much different but from time to time I read articles claiming those things can detect wind sheer, run in constant 3D/volume scan mode, filter ground clutter automatically, detect lightning and can even detect other non transponding flying targets. To me it sounds more like military kit…
The Doppler stuff is very good. But below that the biggest thing is having a more focussed beam (antenna size) and knowing where to point it.
787 uses this.
Windshear, overfly protection etc…
Sebastian_G wrote:
Has anybody here flown with one of the latest generation large bizjet radars? I have experimented quite a bit with the typical GA radars on the PA46 and Citations etc. seem to be not much different but from time to time I read articles claiming those things can detect wind sheer, run in constant 3D/volume scan mode, filter ground clutter automatically, detect lightning and can even detect other non transponding flying targets. To me it sounds more like military kit…
Yes, this is mostly true apart from I haven’t heard of radar being able to pick up other traffic. Most of the modern ones have auto-tilt and ground clutter suppression so no manual set up is required. I’ve also seen predictive windshear in which the flight director provides escape guidance, similar to a TCAS RA.
The paradox with most business jets is that most of the time you’re above the weather so only really need to use the radar in the terminal area or in tropical regions with high CBs.
Roger wrote:
The paradox with most business jets is that most of the time you’re above the weather so only really need to use the radar in the terminal area or in tropical regions with high CBs
Yes, I think en-route at FL500 that is probably worthless and it will not tell you anything about the destination 
If they fly to decent terminals, ATC should have decent weather kit and other airliners will provide better feedback, no?
So, my guess only when they fly to private strips in Bahamas where they will need both: real-time ahead of the nose (from radar) and delayed global picture (from ATC or data links)
Roger wrote:
The paradox with most business jets is that most of the time you’re above the weather so only really need to use the radar in the terminal area or in tropical regions with high CBs.
Yes but in the terminal area is where it comes into its own.
Has anybody here flown with one of the latest generation large bizjet radars?
Clearly the answer to your Q, Sebastian, is “no” I have asked a friend of mine who flies bizjets.
How would a radar detect lightning? Presumably only by a sferics capability, which I have always been told (by airliner pilots) no airliner has.
The DA42 has always had a stormscope.
One airline pilot told me the sometimes see other airliners on their radar. I think that was a DC10!
@Salim roughly how much was this radar installation?
Peter
WX Radar can’t detect lightening but it can detect turbulence and you can assume that the two phenomenon are connected, I am lucky to fly with what is just about the best WX Radar on the market.
I was very fortunate to attend a lecture given by one of the manufacturers engineers who spent two hours telling us about the system, in short it has a brain the size of a planet with compensation for each 10 degree grid square for the rain drop size vs turbulence so the picture is constant for the severity of the turbulence world wide.
The punch line of two hours of talk was the system is best left in the auto setting except when about to start descent then set the Radar down a few degrees and then put it back into auto.
Snoopy wrote:
787 uses this.
Thank you for posting. That radar system seems to be far superior to what I have seen in GA aircraft. Real 320Nm range, auto calibration of installation errors, no ground clutter, probably close to 180 degree sweep, even radar in turns, turbulence detection…
While some publications focus so much on scanning whatever thread is at the current cruise level this video insists on the fact there is significant non reflecting stuff above a cell which should not be flown through (I agree). It is amazing that publications on radar use disagree so much on its proper use.
Looking at youtube videos, the GWX80 is closer to what big planes use with it’s auto tilt, volumetric scanning, ground suppression, turbulence detection and lightning prediction functions. Still limited by antenna size, but it’s an upgrade that I’d be happy to install. For me the GWX70 that I currently use is difficult to set up correctly and ground clutter makes it hard to read.
