Avionics News March 2021 - 35

needs to be for that phase of flight. If you advance the
simple solution is a better solution " philosophy.
throttle to a point where it will over-temp or over-torque,
" Our LCD flat panel upgrades for the PC-12, Citation, and
the system will automatically push the power to a safe
King Air are basically the Avio avionics from the Eclipse 500
zone. ThrustSense also provides electronically controlled
- 10-inch on the right and left sides with a 15-inch display
detents and a PCL brake.
in the middle for the engines and radar, " Hedrick explained.
" It's the same if you're on approach and slow the
" It's a very nice upgrade. I think we've done about 250 of
airplane down too much. It will automatically sense the
them so far, and we expect to see a lot more.
loss of airspeed and advance the throttles to maintain
" In some systems, we can also integrate our new
a safe maneuvering speed. The Autothrottle will also
ThrustSense Autothrottle to have full 4D navigation
maintain IAS, Mach, or torque and take speed commands
capabilities. Vertical and lateral navigation, RNP (required
from the FMS for integrated VNAV. "
navigation performance), LPV
(localizer performance with vertical
Hedrick also explained that while he
ACCORDING TO
guidance), as well as the required
and his team were initially developing
THE COMPANY, ITS
time of arrival. It's quite a valuable
the ThrustSense Autothrottle, they
PATENTED THRUSTSENSE
and safety-enhancing upgrade for
also looked into developing a fully
FULL-REGIME AUTOTHROTTLE
these aircraft. "
autonomous landing system for the big
PROVIDES AUTOMATIC POWER
Pilatus single.
MANAGEMENT FROM TAKEOFF
" When we started looking at
Innovative solutions
TO TOUCHDOWN, INCLUDING
autoland
for the PC-12, we realized
for safety
GO-AROUNDS. IN ADDITION, THE
Along with providing costthat the reality of it is that very few
SYSTEM PROTECTS THE ENGINE
effective and capability-enhancing
fatal accidents are actually due to
AGAINST OPERATOR-INDUCED
upgrades for a wide array of aircraft,
the incapacitation of the controlling
SPEED EXCEEDANCES, ENGINE
the company has also channeled its
pilot, " he said. " It's a much smaller
OVER-TORQUE, AND OVER-TEMP.
considerable resources on developing
number than the catastrophic loss
ALL OF WHICH GREATLY ENHANCE
THE SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL
the aforementioned full-regime
due to pilots getting too slow. The
VALUE
OF
THE
AIRCRAFT.
autothrottle system for the Pilatus
Autothrottle guards against that. "
PC-12 and Textron King Air series of
With the success of the
turboprop aircraft.
ThrustSense system for the single " Right after we purchased the Pilatus, I decided then
engine PC-12, the company turned its attention on using
to develop the autothrottle system, but it was a lot easier
the technology to aid multiengine pilots.
said than done, " Hedrick said. " For the next several
" Our new ThrustSense Autothrottle with LifeGuard
has been created to solve the ongoing problem of
years, we worked on it until we came up with a very
catastrophic upset that can occur when you lose an
simple, retrofittable actuator that is truly fail-safe. We
engine on a multiengine turboprop, " Hedrick explained.
put it on our airplane, and it works perfectly. "
" It solves the VMCa problem. "
According to the company, its patented ThrustSense
As a refresher: VMCa stands for velocity-minimum
full-regime Autothrottle provides automatic power
control (airspeed). That happens when a multiengine
management from takeoff to touchdown, including
aircraft suffers the failure of one engine. While trying to
go-arounds. In addition, the system protects the engine
maintain altitude, the pilot pulls back on the yoke, dropping
against operator-induced speed exceedances, engine
the airspeed to the point where control of the aircraft is lost.
over-torque, and over-temp. All of which greatly enhance
" We bought a King Air to use for that program, " he
the safety and operational value of the aircraft.
added. " We found that faced with this situation, pilots
" We pride ourselves in delivering truly innovative and
can inadvertently pull back on the yoke resulting in a
unique solutions to problems, " Hedrick explained. " For
drop in airspeed below VMCa. "
example, the Autothrottle features our patented Guard
Mode that lets you manage the power manually, but
the system will automatically keep the engine where it
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Avionics News March 2021

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