Sandel Avionics is concluding certification flight testing of its helicopter-specific terrain awareness warning system and plans delivery of the $18,950 H-Taws shortly after TSO issuance and certification, expected by early April. Sandel president Gerry Block told AIN that with radio altitude and air data computer inputs the panel-mounted H-Taws will meet or exceed performance of any current Taws for helicopters. Like previous Sandel instrumentation, it is form and functionally interchangeable with existing 3-ATI indicators, including radar altimeter displays in rotorcraft panels.
On a recent flight in a Eurocopter AS350B2 AStar from Palomar-McClellan Airport, near Sandel’s Vista, Calif., plant, the H-Taws demonstrated versatility and a variety of display modes with the bright color, high image resolution, direct sunlight viewability and wide viewing angle that have become Sandel panel instrument hallmarks. Afterward, Block said “development software” contributed to the system’s impressive performance. He added, “We’re still tweaking and refining it.”
He said Sandel has been testing newly developed software to provide discrete guidance for both terrain awareness and preparation for intentional landing on uneven ground at remote sites.
More In Avionics
