Esterline To Exhibit Latest Integrated Helicopter Avionics Solutions and Advanced Displays at 2017 Heli-Expo

(Heli-Expo, Dallas, Texas – March 7, 2017) Esterline Avionics Systems is showcasing its advanced displays and CMC Electronics brand integrated helicopter avionics solutions at this year’s Heli-Expo in Booth #3207.  On show for the first time, Esterline’s helicopter demonstrator will feature an extensive range of the company’s core capabilities and products.  

Don Paolucci, vice-president, navigation and integrated systems, Esterline CMC Electronics, said: “Our integrated helicopter solutions are highly flexible, allowing for multiple levels of modernization, from a minor upgrade to a full avionics suite.  Our goal is to optimize situational awareness for our commercial and military customers and ensure their mission success.”   

The core of the company’s Integrated helicopter solutions includes Smart Multi-Function Displays (SMFD), Flight Management Systems (FMS), TacView® Portable Mission Displays, Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors, Doppler Velocity Sensors(DVS), mission computers, Electronic Flight Bags and a wide range of high-quality display products.

The German Air Force selected the company’s Integrated Helicopter Solution for the upgrade of its CH-53GS/GE Sea Stallion helicopters. The upgrade features the Esterline CMC Electronics CMA-9000 Flight Management System and the MFD-3068 Smart Multi-Function Display, and will address obsolescence and enhance the CH-53GS/GE’s capabilities by providing a flexible, modernized cockpit with improved civil navigation features.    

Esterline’s CMC Electronics communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) aligned solutions extend the operational life of aircraft and rotorcraft. The CMA-9000 FMS is a field-proven, highly integrated and flexible product that is optimized for helicopter operations. It provides flight management and multi-sensor navigation throughout all phases of flight as well as radio management and many specialized functions that help reduce pilot workload during mission-critical applications such as SAR and offshore landing operations. The CMA-9000 supports both military and civil navigation modes, with compliance to the latest standards for Required Navigation Performance (RNP) and Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) approaches. The integrated radio management system offers savings in terms of size, weight, power and cost on the helicopter. Night Vision Goggle (NVG) capability enables night-time operations for police, SAR and EMS operators, making the CMA-9000 the FMS of choice for demanding helicopter applications.

On display for the first time at HeliExpo is the CMC Electronics CMA-6024 GPS Landing System Sensor that delivers a high-reliability Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) guidance, Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) approaches and Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) CAT-I/II/III Precision Approach Solution for all aircraft. Achieving precision CAT-II and CAT III landings at helipads or performing precise helicopter landings for offshore operations are excellent examples of why helicopter operators will turn to the CMA-6024 as their GPS Precision Approach solution of choice. The CMA-6024 aviation GPS/SBAS/GBAS sensor, featuring an embedded VHF Data Broadcast (VDB) receiver, is a complete, self-contained, fully certified, Precision Approach and navigation solution, certified to Design Assurance Level A (DAL-A). Designed as an easy-to-integrate solution for all aircraft and rotorcraft, the plug and play, standalone unit requires no specialized installation or integration support.

Also on display is the CMC Electronics CMA-5024 GPS Landing System Sensor that meets all the requirements for ADS-B out in addition to being an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), civil certified Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The CMA-5024 provides Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) SBAS GPS capability from departure to approach, including WAAS/SBAS LPV CAT-1 equivalent approach capability, which complies with published CNS/ATM navigational mandates. The CMA-5024 is provisioned for growth to the CMA-6024 GBAS capable unit with a built-in VHF Data Broadcast (VDB) receiver.

Esterline CMC’s CMA-9000 FMS and CMA-5024 GPS have been at the heart of retrofit and forward fit solutions for LPV and Performance Based Navigation (PBN) offered by several OEMs, including Airbus Helicopters’ retrofit of the French Sécurité Civile legacy EC145s for LPV; the German Navy’s NH90 helicopters; Avicopter’s new AC352 and AC312C/E; and many more. Moreover, Esterline CMC’s FMS and GPS provide the  PBN and LPV upgrade solution of choice to operators of legacy helicopters such as the AS365 Dauphin and AS332 Super Puma.

New to this year’s Esterline booth at Heli-Expo is the latest generation smart 6”x8” Multi-Function Display known as the MFD-3068.  The MFD-3068 smart display is designed as an open architecture platform, featuring next-generation MOSArt™ (Modular Open System Architecture) middleware built with non-proprietary industry standards for the partitioning of applications (ARINC 653) and the latest in Multi-Core Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS). The display is complemented by Esterline supplied software applications (PFD, Navigation, etc.), customer supplied applications or both. With an optical quality second to none, the display offers true 8-bit colour rendition with optical performance stabilized over its design life-time and its extended operating temperature envelope (+70C continuous). Its next-generation Light Emitting Diode (LED) illumination system supports multi-mode operations (day /night/NVIS) and provides up to 275 fL of illumination in day mode.

The CMA-6800 LCD Display, a form, fit and function replacement for Honeywell ED-800 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) displays, is on show in the DAC International booth #3908. This display is substantially more reliable and lighter, and offers operational relief to the Minimum Equipment List (MEL) over the ED-800s being replaced. The CMA-6800 has been approved for installation in more than ten (10) aircraft and helicopter types, including the S-76.

Manufacturing over 8,000 avionics displays annually, Esterline Avionics Systems offers an unmatched variety of world-class avionics display capabilities and technologies, in sizes that range from 3ATI to 8” x 20”. The product portfolio features display head assemblies; video displays; smart displays, including multi-function displays and CRT to LCD upgrades; certified avionics computers as well as avionics software and application services. The products are supplied to a wide range of customers, including Honeywell (Primus Elite, Pilatus PC-12NG and PC-24), Airbus Helicopters (Engine Instruments for the H225, mission displays for the H225 and H175), Lockheed Martin Rotary & Mission Systems (primary displays on the UH-60R/S Sea Hawk and S-97 Raider), and Thales (Control Display Management Systems for platforms such as the Lockheed Martin S-76D and the ATR-42/72-600).

Esterline Avionics Systems (www.esterline.com/avionicssystems) has achieved an international reputation for innovation and excellence in the design and manufacture of advanced displays and CMC Electronics brand products for the military and commercial aviation markets. The company’s focus is on delivering innovative cockpit systems integration, avionics and display solutions to its customers worldwide. Esterline Corporation (NYSE:ESL, www.esterline.com) is a specialized aerospace and defense company headquartered in Bellevue, WA, that employs over 13,000 people worldwide.