Avionics News September 2022 - 58

EIT AVIONICS PRESSES ON
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pilot situational awareness of critical flight parameters.
It can detect and annunciate rotor or engine overspeed,
excessive power clutch slippage and excessive sink rate
above 2,000 feet per minute. All ESAID functions are
either automatic or controlled by touchscreen.
" The whole idea for ESAID is a helicopter operator
has a recorder taking down all this data, but why not
tell the pilot some of the things it is sensing in real time
so that he can do something about it, " Byrd said. " The
bottom line is we do a lot of alerting to support the
pilots based on exceedances identified in the operating
handbook's performance charts. The pilot is often
approaching task saturation and can't think about any
new warning light, so it would be good to support him
like a good co-pilot would and call out parameters such
as a redline airspeed or a power limitation. There are
a lot of nuances, and many limitations involve three to
four interrelated performance charts. "
Before takeoff, a helicopter pilot enters the aircraft
gross weight and configuration such as doors off and
fixed floats. Then the information screen gives the pilot
an idea of current flying conditions while displaying
OGE and IGE limits, density altitude, hover limits and
max power.
Once engine and rotor speed are increased for takeoff,
the ESAID screen shifts to flight mode and stays there
until the pilot makes another selection. The display
shows real-time flight and operational data using
intuitive graphics. If indicated airspeed exceeds limits,
this will also be displayed in the alert zone of the ESAID
screen, and an aural alert " VNE exceeded " will sound.
At the 2022 AEA International Convention & Trade
Show in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the earlier HeliExpo
in Dallas, Texas, Byrd gathered industry feedback
on the EIT Avionics product concept before the company
freezes its requirements. The company is designing a
new, lightweight data recorder to meet the minimum
operational performance specification ED-155 for
lightweight flight data recorders. The data recorder
should be approved and available in 2023.
The International Civil Aviation Organization
published a recommendation in 2010 that all turbinepowered
aircraft with a certificated takeoff weight of
5,700 kilograms (about 12,500 pounds) or less with a
type certificate issued after Jan. 1, 2016, should have
58 AVIONICS NEWS * SEPTEMBER 2022
an ED-155 type flight data recorder. Byrd said ED-155
requires an appropriate level of crash worthiness less
stringent than that of flight data recorders on Part 25
airline aircraft.
EIT's new product is being designed to meet helicopter
flight data monitoring as well as flight data and cockpit
voice recorder requirements for Part 23 fixed-wing, Part
27 helicopters and to meet European Union Aviation
Safety Agency engine trend requirements. At the AEA
and HAI conventions, Byrd talked to potential launch
customers, distributors and operators who require special
parameters. A lot of fleet operators and maintenance
shops were asking questions about the system. It was
all business this year at Heli-Expo, he noted, with tire
kickers seen at previous shows not in evidence.
Maintenance operators look at the $5,995 cost of the
recorder (and no recurring costs) and try to figure out if it
could save them money. Byrd noted that if it helps prevent
a rotor overspeed that new blades can cost $45,000, so the
FODR system can pay for itself in one event.
The ED-155 flight data recorder will have 80 to 90
channels instead of just 21. " We wanted more detail,
especially on the engine parameters, " Byrd said. " And
we are picking up some secondary systems like the
position of flaps and leading-edge devices. So a data
recorder needs to be scaled and appropriate to the
aircraft it's on. The more complicated the aircraft, the
more likely it is going to be in commercial service
either as an air taxi, a helicopter air ambulance or other
things like that. " EIT aspires to design the new product
to facilitate real-time data downloads via satellite, a
technique now used by airlines for passenger jets.
While there are several data recorders on the market,
many helicopters use video recording systems instead.
" You really would prefer to analyze data by letting the
computers crunch through all that vast pipeline of data
that is coming in, " Byrd said. " And then let the computer
tell you where to start looking for problems or at least
flag the things that are outside a set of parameters. It's a
great way to identify trends and do risk management that
has advantages over analyzing hours of video. "
EIT opened a state-of-the-art 72,000-square-foot
electronics manufacturing facility in 2017 in Leesburg,
Virginia, next to the Leesburg Executive Airport. The
building has electrostatic discharge flooring, temperature
and humidity control and energy-efficient LED lighting.
The new headquarters combines operations formerly
at two other Leesburg facilities and supports EIT
Avionics News September 2022

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