Honeywell is at HeliExpo’09 with its Eurocopter AStar, which it uses to develop, test and demonstrate the company’s wide range of avionics for helicopters. During the convention, Steven Kilbourne, Honeywell chief pilot rotary-wing, is flying demos out of Fullerton Airport for interested customers and media representatives.
Though the helicopter is chock full of avionics displays, computers and boxes, the main focus of these flights is on a product Honeywell calls Sentinel, and secondarily on a related product named Observer. Both feature sophisticated mapping systems, but address different markets. Flying with Kilbourne to help operate, demonstrate and explain the products are Mel White, managing director of Skyforce Avionics, West Sussex, England (Honeywell’s design center of excellence for mission systems), and Dennis Martin, Honeywell application engineer. Martin, Kilbourne and the AStar are based at Honeywell’s facility in Everett, Wash.
