MD Helicopters is expanding its vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities as it prepares to return the MD 902 Notar-equipped twin helicopter to the market. The company has selected a Universal Avionics InSight flight deck, which will be single-pilot IFR capable and feature the Universal SkyLens head-mounted head-up display.
“That contract is signed and the project is ongoing,” MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton said on Tuesday at Heli-Expo 2020. “We hope we will have that aircraft with that cockpit for sale by the end of 2021.”
At its Mesa, Arizona headquarters, MD has adopted a three-line layout for single-engine helicopter manufacturing, with two lines for military ships and one line for commercial products. The MD 902 will be built on a separate twin-engine line, as will the MD 969 military version. “We are working on our manufacturing process innovation, as well as product innovation,” she said.
MD’s new COO, Chris Doran, is responsible to “get my 902 line up and the fuselage built,” Tilton said. “One of the things I should have done better was to get the 902 back on the market. I think a little bit of the delay is going to make this aircraft a much better aircraft, because we wouldn’t have had the Universal system in it, which is really state-of-the-art and safer and has more capability than anything we had considered before.”
Russian Helicopters subsidiary VR-Technologies has selected the Thales FlytX avionics system for its VRT500 light single. For this helicopter, FlytX will feature a single 15-inch touchscreen display, split into two halves with a primary flight display (PFD) on the right and multifunction display (MFD) on the left. Avidyne’s touchscreen IFD540 GPS navigator provides navcom functions, and the new Thales Compact Autopilot is also part of the suite.
A unique feature of FlytX is that it can be connected via hardwire to any tablet or smartphone, including Apple iOS, Android, or Windows, and apps that run on those devices are mirrored on the MFD side of the FlytX display. The connection’s universal adaptor feature is secure and ensures that connected devices are properly registered. With a tablet connected, the pilot can place the tablet elsewhere and actuate the tablet app on the MFD, eliminating the need to mount the tablet or attach it to a knee.
The PFD side of the display has limited touchscreen features, mostly changing settings such as baro, minimums, and altitude selection. On the MFD side, the pilot can manipulate the screen using multitouch gestures.
This week at Heli-Expo, Thales is displaying its new Alexia instructor station, which allows simulator instructors easier setup of flight scenarios and variables, including adding sling loads to a student’s helicopter, other airborne traffic, and obstacles.
Industry experts agree that electric drive motors and slower propeller tip speeds will enable eVTOL aircraft to have a significantly lower external noise signature compared to helicopters, but that does not necessarily translate into instant public acceptance.
Juliet Page, a scientist with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation System, said it is important for eVTOL manufacturers to avail themselves of the variety of integrated, simulated, and dual-use aircraft noise models that have been developed over the years by the FAA, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as the latest advanced acoustics models, in fashioning their aircraft to be as quiet as practicable. Page said data is required to develop consensus standards and best practices for the industry.
“Noise is a key area that needs to be addressed in the eVTOL community in order to scale up operations and make [the industry] economically viable,” she said. This involves “operational noise, the physics and mechanics of the vehicle and how you fly it, and community engagement.”
Page stressed the importance of the latter: “There are noise challenges in various areas of the country when it comes to helicopters and it is often difficult to put the genie back in the bottle.” She said industry groups, including HAI's “Fly Neighborly Committee,” can assist eVTOL OEMs and other industry stakeholders with community engagement.
Erickson Bringing Sikorsky’s Matrix Tech to Firefighting Fleet
Erickson and Sikorsky Aerospace signed a development agreement to incorporate the latter’s Matrix Technology into Erickson’s fleet of S64 Air Cranes, providing supplemental autonomous flight capabilities to enhance pilots’ firefighting capabilities, the companies announced at Heli-Expo on Wednesday.
“The Northern and Southern hemisphere fire seasons are starting to merge, and we're also seeing the fires intensifying,” said Hayden Olson, v-p and general manager of Erickson Aerosystems. “We need to be able to fight fires at night and in reduced visibility conditions. This technology is going to give our pilots that ability, so they can focus on the mission.”
As for choosing Sikorsky to help craft a solution, Olson said, “The Air Crane was a Sikorsky type certificate at one point in time. We have a shared DNA, and Sikorsky’s number-one value is safety.”
Sharing the podium with Olson in what was billed as a “fireside chat” to announce the agreement, Sikorsky Innovations v-p Chris Van Buiten said, “We've been developing autonomy technology for 10 years, and not for small drones, but for big airplanes and helicopters: 12,000 pounds and up.” He noted Sikorsky is now flying an optionally-piloted UH-60 Blackhawk outfitted with a similar system at its West Palm Beach, Florida facility.
A demo flight of a Matrix-equipped S64 is expected sometime next year, the companies said.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists on Wednesday presented a preview of the upcoming Mars 2020 mission that included a comprehensive account of the Mars Helicopter Scout (MHS) drone that will be deployed on the Red Planet. The mission is designed to help determine if life ever existed on Mars and help prepare for humans coming to the planet by investigating available resources, NASA JPI systems engineer Matt Musynski told a packed room at Heli-Expo 2020.
The MHS is designed to test technology that could be used on future Mars missions to find interesting targets for study, as well as help plan the rover’s route. MHS is expected to fly no more than five times during its 30-day test campaign, which is slated for 2021. The flights will each last no more than three minutes at altitudes ranging from about 10 to 33 feet agl, with a maximum range of about 2,000 feet.
With two contra-rotating carbon fiber blades some four feet in length, the four-pound MHS is equipped with a high-resolution, downward-looking camera for navigation, landing, and survey terrain. It will use autonomous control, and after each landing upload data to the Mars 2020 rover for transmission to earth. Solar panels will recharge its batteries.
Mars 2020 is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sometime between July 17 and August 5.
French light-helicopter manufacturer Guimbal unveiled a new glass panel flight deck and advanced payload mount for its Cabri G2 light trainer this week at Heli-Expo 2020.
Dubbed the “Cristal Panel,” the new all-glass instrument configuration is built from Garmin's G500TXi integrated primary flight/multifunction display (PFD/MFD) for helicopters with a Mid-Continent Instruments SAM backup PFD. Company CEO Bruno Guimbal termed the new panel “the shortest way to modern, large IFR commercial helicopters.” According to Guimbal sales head Marion Pelligra, most new Cabri G2 customers have selected the $23,800 option.
Moving the Cabri beyond its primary mission as a light IFR trainer, Guimbal also announced a new carbon-fiber multi-purpose payload mount for the helicopter. Designed for light-to-medium size gimbals, the new mount replaces the lower-left observation window and can accommodate a wide range of applications, including cinemaphotography, infrared and mapping cameras, and lidar sensors.
Guimbal intends to deliver the $4,500 mount soon, pending EASA certification. The company added there's no weight penalty for the lightweight mount, and its Plexiglass window can be replaced in 10 minutes with just a screwdriver. Guimbal reported “about 10 orders” for the mount kit this week at the Heli-Expo show in Anaheim, California.
Thirty-eight Cabri G2s have been delivered to U.S. customers to date, with Guimbal reporting 25 deliveries for 2019. The Guimbal fleet has more than 260,000 flight hours in 34 different countries.
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