Sat, Mar 15, 2025
Replaces Obsolete Avionics, Extending Aircraft Life For Bell 412 Fleet
Astronautics Corporation of America announced that the Royal Norwegian Air Force has selected its RoadRunner EFI to upgrade the legacy attitude director indicator (ADI) and horizontal situation Indicator (HIS) its Bell 412 helicopters as part of its upgrade program to extend the life of the fleet.
The upgrade program is a contract between the Norwegian Defense Material Agency and Konigsberg Aviation Maintenance Services with Astronautics dealer Patria Helicopters as the subcontractor to perform the aircraft mods and certification.
Each Bell 412 will be equipped with two RoadRunner EFIs, one for each side of the cockpit. The EFI is an easy to install, form-fit retrofit and combines the functionality of the two legacy instruments into one modern digital flight instrument. This eliminates the avionics obsolescence by enabling pilots to use modern navigation with GNSS and guidance indications not previously available.
Aymeric Larose, Director of Business Development for Astronautics in Europe said, “Astronautics is pleased that our RoadRunner EFIs were selected as part of the updated avionics for the Royal Norwegian Air Force Bell 412 upgrade program and are contributing to keeping this fleet operational and mission ready. Additionally with our European-based team, we can easily support our dealer Patria Helicopters AB throughout the life of the program.”
The RoadRunner EFI was designed for the retrofit market as a cost-effective way to avoid avionics repair costs and obsolescence of legacy instruments. It also adds nav capabilities such as LPV and RNAV approaches using GPS.
Patria Helicopters is also a Bell-authorized Service Center located at the Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport (IATA: ARN, ICAO: ESSA).
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