Rotorcraft
Esterline Wins Contracts for Chinese New-design Helicopters
Canadian company also secures deals on German military rotorcraft

Esterline CMC Electronics (Booth 2206) has announced that its CMA-9000 flight management system (FMS) and its CMA-5024 GPS landing system sensor will become standard equipment on Chinese-designed and -built Avicopter AC312C and AC312E rotorcraft. The -E model is slated for certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in 2017, with the -C model to follow in 2018. Esterline CMC president Greg Yeldon said, “The helicopter market in China is expected to undergo tremendous growth over the next few years, and Avicopter is well positioned to capture an important share of this fast-growing market.”

The twin-engine AC312C and -E models target the law enforcement, search-and-rescue (SAR), emergency medical services (EMS), VIP and executive transport missions. “Our CMA-9000 and CMA-5024 systems will bring the most advanced civil navigation capabilities to these new Chinese-designed helicopters,” Yeldon said, “and will also provide exceptional hover-hold performance using our innovative GPS Velocity Sensor technology.” The relationship between Esterline CMC and Avicopter dates back to 2013, when the two partnered on equipping the latter’s AC352 helicopter.