Australian Flying - July 2018

R44

THE WORLD’S #1

SELLING HELICOPTER* http://www.robinsonheli.com

*GAMA 2016/17 civil aircraft shipment report

Cockpit technology
Helicopters can be notoriously
unstable machines, and pilots can use
all the help they can get in making
some phases of f light safer by
reducing the workload. It is to new
technology that they look to make
their lives easier.
“Bell would really like to see more
open avionics architectures where
we can customise applications for
particular customers in different
market spaces,” Drennan puts forward. “That’s
something that we’re working closely on with
our avionics partners, and it’s something that
they seem to be open to. We’re really excited
about that.
“Head-up Displays are terrific in military
applications, and I think that HUDs are part
of the solution in future cockpits. We’re also
seeing more intuitive interfaces in cockpits
now. We even venture to imagine an AR-based
[augmented reality] cockpit where an overlay
inside the cockpit environment could be used
to help you control the aircraft or interface
with the avionics.”
Robinson Helicopters’ prime market is a
much simpler one than those of either Bell or
Airbus. Hybrid power and morphing rotors
are not high on the list of priorities, which
means avionics and systems are their areas of
focus right now.
Kurt Robinson: “Right now, if you think
about it, with an aircraft of the weight of an
R44 or an R66, I can get up in the air and
literally take my hands of the controls. I can
dial in a GPS position and it will f ly me to it.
So you can see where things are going, and as
we go down the road here in the next three
to five years, it is trying to put more of those
systems in the aircraft to try and make f lying
easier and safer.”
The Garmin 700 system that was developed
especially for Robinson brings most of the
pilot information together in the centre
console, which is what the company is looking
for in future avionics. Touch-screen displays,
PFDs ... all shrunk down and placed in one
convenient location.
“It could encompass f ly-by-wire technology,”
Robinson offers, “but I don’t think it
necessarily has to. We’re going for simplicity,
reliability and lower cost. Right now a very
simple mechanical system is hard to beat. I’m
not saying that f ly-by-wire couldn’t be used in
the future.”
Bell, on the other hand, is determined that
f ly-by-wire technology is critical to achieving
some of the advancements that make up the
future of VTOL aviation.

australianflying.com.au 29

July – August 2018 AUSTRALIAN FLYING

“The 525 Relentless will be the first

civil-certified f ly-by-wire helicopter and we

certainly believe in it,” Scott Drennan stresses.

“We’re working on low-cost solutions for

smaller helicopters as well. The reason that

we believe in it is that it adds to the safety

of the aircraft. It lessens pilot workload and

is also the gateway to fully-autonomous or

optionally-piloted autonomous vehicles.

“Fly-by-wire is the first point in the

spectrum of autonomy where you start to take

away those dumb, dirty, dangerous and dull

tasks and move towards more autonomous

systems where, say, you and I who may not be

pilots can plug in our destination and take-off

in a full-autonomous aircraft. Fly-by-wire is the

backbone of that, and we believe it is the future

of all vertical take-off and landing vehicles.”