Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

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In June, StandardAero, in partnership with Thales, will start providing kits and installations of the four-axis StableLight autopilot for the Airbus Helicopters H125. The StableLight autopilot is based on Thales’ compact autopilot system.
“StableLight brings transport category autopilot capabilities to this light helicopter,” according to Neena Gill, v-p and general manager for StandardAero’s helicopters business unit. “Most importantly, it improves safety with its built-in safety features that can help to mitigate inflight risks like inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions and controlled flight into terrain, while reducing pilot workload and fatigue during normal operations.”
The StableLight autopilot incorporates stability augmentation without feedback in the flight controls, according to StandardAero. Features include stabilized climb flight attitude recovery, auto pull-up terrain avoidance, auto hover, and other typical helicopter autopilot modes. The mode controller is a Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics Flex MD23 2-inch instrument but customized for the H125 application.

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StandardAero To Begin StableLight Autopilot Installs for H125 Helicopter

The autopilot is based on Thales' Compact Autopilot System for the Airbus H125

The StableLight autopilot incorporates stability augmentation without feedback in the flight controls, according to StandardAero.

StandardAero To Begin StableLight Autopilot Installs

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In this article

AS350/H125

StandardAero

Thales Avionics

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