MD Helicopters (MDHI) has changed course regarding avionics for its new twin-engine MD 900/902 Explorer helicopter, choosing Universal Avionics’ InSight display system, the companies announced on Tuesday at Heli-Expo 2020. This returns the helicopter to the Universal panel—MDHI selected InSight for the MD 902 at Heli-Expo 2013, but switched to Genesys Aerosystems avionics in March 2017.
Now, InSight will replace the MD 900/902 aging avionics with two 10.4-inch portrait, high-resolution LCD displays with LED backlighting. The system will be compatible with night vision goggles and provide the latest in synthetic vision, 2D topographical moving maps, electronic charts, checklists, system synoptics, engine instruments, and rotor data.
Tal Golan, UA rotorcraft business development manager, told AIN, “Insight will be a full solution and enhance the aircraft’s capability for IFR, VFR, and all types of operations. Insight is near certification, and then, of course, it will have to be STC’d and certified in the 902 Explorer. But the system as a whole is nearing certification."
The Insight suite will have head-up technology, as well as head-down, Golan continued. “We pay a lot of attention to situational awareness and safety enhancements. To reduce the pilot’s workload, we have a unique aircraft view combined with synthetic vision, which elevates the pilot’s situational awareness and reduces workload. The FAA is making big efforts to reduce the number of accidents in poor visibility with loss of situation awareness, loss of spatial orientation, or controlled flight into terrain. Our systems are designed with that in mind."
Insight does not require a lot of changes to the helicopter given the work previously accomplished, according to Golan. “We’re not changing anything significant on the aircraft itself, so there should be a relatively short time to the market," he said. "There will also be some decluttering of switches and knobs. Everything is much more simplified and user-friendly.”
One such user-friendly feature is with the cursor control, which is mounted on the primary flight controls, enable a "point-and-click" interface. "It's relatively easy and intuitive to just float over with the cursor and change the values on the display itself," he said, adding it sets the system apart from other suites.
In 2013, MD Helicopters and Universal Avionics Systems unveiled a new NextGen flight deck mockup, later dubbed InSight, for the MD 902 Explorer. The new avionics were to replace aging Bendix/King EFIS 40 cathode-ray-tube displays with high-resolution 10.4-inch Universal LCDs in landscape orientation. InSight made its first flight in March 2016. But in March 2017, MD Helicopters selected Genesys Aerosystems to provide the new flight deck for the MD 902, replacing Universal InSight at that time.