Rotorcraft
Rogerson Kratos Flies Black Hawk Upgrade at Heli-Expo 2017
The helicopter is the first fully digital cockpit modernization upgrade of a UH-60A to fly.
This cockpit upgrade from Rogerson Kratos gives Sikorsky's Black Hawk increased utility and safety. The company provided demonstration flights at this week's Heli-Expo show in Dallas. (Photo: Rogerson Kratos)
This cockpit upgrade from Rogerson Kratos gives Sikorsky's Black Hawk increased utility and safety. The company provided demonstration flights at this week's Heli-Expo show in Dallas. (Photo: Rogerson Kratos)

At this week's Heli-Expo Rogerson Kratos gave demonstration flights in its in-development UH-60A Black Hawk (N683DN), the first fully digital cockpit modernization upgrade of a UH-60A to fly. The aircraft made its first flight on January 27 from Fort Worth Meacham field, flying for two hours. “We have attempted to look where Sikorsky is going in the future and taken some features that Sikorsky has recommended and gone from there,” explained Michael Rogerson, founder and CEO of Rogerson Aircraft. “The equipment itself is a heritage of equipment we certified on the Bell 412EPI, which is used in a number of missions, and prior to that the Bell 429.” The ultimate lineage is a program started in the early 2000s for the Saudis and the Turkish coast guard.