Rockwell Collins Views Growing Role in Helicopter Avionics Market

The first avionics equipment for the Bell Agusta 609 tiltrotor test rig was recently delivered by Rockwell Collins, and the aircraft's flight control system "is fairly well along," according to Bruce Thigpen, manager of global field sales at the avionics manufacturer.
"We have really been successful in developing tools to do the job quickly with rapid prototyping," he told Show News. "We've already put a lot of investment into tooling."

Thigpen described the choice of Collins' Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system for the tiltrotor as "our springboard into the rotary wing market from the fixed wing market." Until the 609, Collins had settled for a limited helicopter presence as a supplier of radio sensors, EFIS and other equipment, The 609 represents its first challenge to develop a complete, integrated system for a rotorcraft.

"The helicopter market is very exciting, with potential for Collins," Thigpen said.

The tiltrotor cockpit will have three 10- by 8-inch, active-matrix liquid crystal flat-panel displays, two of which will show primary flight data while the center will be dedicated to engine indication and crew alerts. Options will include a single FMS-3000 flight management system.

Collins was chosen when Boeing was still involved in the tiltrotor project. "Boeing liked our display technology and maturity of our LCDs," Thigpen said.

"They were looking for an integrated system as the 609 demands good man-machine interface," he said. "We could also adapt the EICAS display to integrate customized information regarding the engines and systems, and to change the data when necessary for different phases of flight and different nacelle angles."
The most interesting challenge has been integrating the flight control system with the flight director, Thigpen said.

By John Morris