Tue, Feb 01, 2011
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.
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