Story ID: 
Genesys Displays Approved for AStar Upgrades
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: The FAA has certified the Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 and IDU-450 EFIS displays for AStar helicopters.
Word Count: 192
Owners and operators of Airbus AS350/355 AStar helicopters can now upgrade their avionics with the Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 and IDU-450 electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) displays with 8.0K software. 

The FAA supplemental type certificate for the AStar upgrade includes the 10.4-inch IDU-680 and 6.4-inch IDU-450 as well as satellite-based augmentation system GPS, allowing RNP and LPV approaches. The new software-defined Genesys Digital Radios, which received FAA Technical Standard Order approval in early November, can integrate with the IDU displays, as can certain other radio types along with traffic systems and datalink weather. Genesys’s new IDUs are certified to the highest Level A software standards.

A number of features are included with the new IDUs, such as 3D synthetic vision, highway-in-the-sky navigation cues, geo-referenced hover vector, H-TAWS, graphical FMS, night-vision compatibility, and Mil-Std qualification.

“The AS350 and AS355 are highly utilized, and operators depend on them to be ready when they need them,” said says Jamie Luster, Genesys director of sales and marketing. “This avionics upgrade not only adds capabilities of a modern EFIS but removes the weak link in the panel, mechanical gyros.”