Tue, Sep 09, 2008
It is, undoubtedly, the world's most popular civil piston
helicopter... but the R44 has never sported something that seems
all the rage these days... and for a number of reasons. Yup; the
R44 is bereft of a glass panel cockpit. For the moment, Heli-Boss
Frank Robinson is sticking with steam gauges... which leaves a
forward-thinking helo pilot with just one way to get the panel of
their dreams... retrofit.
Enter Sagem Avionics, a major international avionics behemoth...
and their recent unveiling of a $65K Glass Panel retrofit package
that not only fits well into the conventional R44 cockpit layout --
but shaves some 10 pounds off in the process. The Sagem panel is an
imposing creation... sporting an 8" Primary Flight Display PFD, an
8" Multifunction display MFD, Engine Monitor Module EMM, Attitude
Heading Reference system (AHRS), Tach Gen Interface Unit TGI,
Temperature Senor Interface unit TSIU, Air Data Controller, and an
OAT Sensor. The 40 hour installation results in an all new
panel/pedestal unit and can be installed no matter which variation
you have had in the machine you are retrofitting. The entire Glass
Panel/pedestal system is modified by disconnecting the old one by
removing it the hinge, and replacing with the updated console.
The Sagem Integrated Cockpit Display System (ICDS) utilizes two
large screen 8” LCD displays in portrait orientation, one for
Primary Flight Display (PFD) and one Multi Function Display (MFD).
The MFD can display various layouts and can quickly be switched to
a large format moving map with terrain and traffic awareness TCAD
or Cameras – both regular NTSC and FLIR to the default
composite screen which features half engine monitoring and half
moving map.
Sagem has now completed several installations of the R44 glass
panel system with excellent results and anticipates a strong market
once they can prove themselves in the field.
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