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| Universal Avionics integrated flight deck in the MDHI MD 902. Photo: Universal Avionics |
[Avionics Today 03-01-2016] MD Helicopters (MDHI) MD 902 Explorer with the InSight Integrated Flight Deck has completed its first flight. MDHI is the launch Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) customer with the InSight Integrated Flight Deck for production and retrofit MD 902 Explorer helicopters. The flight deck features two or three large format high-resolution Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) backlighting.
“This is an important step in the development of the new avionics suite for the MD 902,” said Grady Dees, Universal Avionics director of technical sales. “Flight testing was conducted in multiple phases including ground run operations, ramp area hover/maneuvering, and airport area operations with speed and altitude buildups. It concluded with an up and away flight to a test area away from the airport traffic area.”
The flight deck will also be used to evaluate software releases during the ongoing flight test program, integration testing with other Line Replaceable Units (LRU), human factors evaluations, and training.