Helos Need Help Staying Out Of The Weeds... Sandel Provides It

The concept of terrain avoidance is a serious one for anyone that flies... as the saying goes -- The Meek May Inherit The Earth... But Pilots Are Trying To Put THAT Off As Long As Possible...

This is particularly true of those of us who fly helicopters. The fact that helos have vertical take-off and landing capability means we spend a lot of time doing both... and loitering a little closer to the ground (than the average fixed-wing) in the process. When operating in reduced visibility or at night, this becomes a really tricky proposition... and we need all the help we can get. Enter Sandel's HeliTAWS ST3400H system -- a marvelous piece of engineering that may be the best way to "Look Out Below."

Sandel Avionics received FAA TSO approval for the HeliTAWS helicopter terrain safety system, last summer... which adds Sandel's TrueAlert nuisance-alert elimination technology, off-airport landing capability and high-resolution 3-D terrain display capabilities to basic Class A HTAWS functions. HeliTAWS is a ruggedized, self-contained system with a high-resolution display that retrofits by removing and replacing an existing Radar Altimeter indicator.

Sandel's TrueAlert technology increases pilot confidence in terrain technology by eliminating nuisance alerts, a significant problem with all existing terrain warning products that limits their usefulness in helicopter operations. With TrueAlert, pilots can safely take off, cruise, hover and land at off-airport locations without triggering nuisance alerts, while still receiving the established benefits of Class-A terrain warnings during the entire flight. The system is completely automatic and does not require pilot management of the phase of flight.

In a single 3-ATI enclosure, the HeliTAWS system incorporates an HTAWS computer with TrueAlert algorithms; terrain and obstacle databases; highly adaptable interfaces for digital and analog avionics; and an ultra-high resolution 3-D terrain display. In addition, it is capable of acting as primary Radar Altitude indicator (with a built-in Minimums setter) compatible with virtually all radar altimeter systems, to vastly simplify retrofit installation. It can also display traffic input from TCAS, TAS or TCAD systems, allowing it to become the central safety display in the helicopter. HeliTAWS is also available with Sandel's proprietary on-demand MIL-STD-3009 Class B NVIS optics.

FMI: www.sandel.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews