First customers receive Rockwell Collins Tailwind 550 multiregion satellite TV system on BBJ and B747SP

ORLANDO, Fla. (October 06, 2003) - Rockwell Collins announced today that two undisclosed Middle Eastern customers are the first to receive the Collins Tailwind 550 multiregion satellite TV system for VIP aircraft. Delivered to Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland, this is the first certification of a Boeing Business Jet and Boeing 747SP equipped with the Tailwind 550 system.

Collins Tailwind 550 system is the latest in the line of satellite TV products offered by Rockwell Collins. The advanced airborne TV system is capable of receiving TV pictures in low-strength satellite signal areas in the Middle East and other regions of the world. The Tailwind 550 is dramatically lighter, uses less power and improves performance while easily interfacing with Rockwell Collins or third-party cabin management systems.

“The new satellite system represents a significant breakthrough in airborne TV and we are pleased to offer it to our VIP customers,” says Rainer Albecker, vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation Basel. “What customers appreciate most about this system is the consistent and reliable reception and smooth transitions from one geographic service area to the next, especially in the Middle East where, until recently, satellite reception was difficult to achieve.

The Tailwind 550 is designed to mount on the fuselage of Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell-Douglas narrow- and wide-body VIP aircraft. The system incorporates a next generation antenna using a new horn-arrayed, sculpted polymer lens technology. The antenna has the ability to rotate 360 degrees while pivoting -10 to +90 degrees, allowing the aircraft to receive signals from satellites close to the edges of the earth’s curvature. This ensures that the antenna stays on the signal to allow maximum satellite reception and uninterrupted TV viewing when an aircraft is banking and climbing or during takeoff and landing.

Collins Tailwind 550 was designed for reception of signals from major Ku-Band digital broadcast satellites or digital video broadcast satellites with service available in the Middle East, Europe, Canada and the contiguous U.S. It is also compatible with the various subscription and free-to-air TV services available throughout those regions.

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