The Leonardo TH-119 uses an Electronic Flight Instrument System by Genesys Aerosystems. Photo: Leonardo
Used for flight path accuracy and awareness in such operations as law enforcement, helicopter emergency medical services, and offshore oil and gas, the Genesys Aerosystems’ 3D Synthetic Vision IDU Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) has passed military standard qualification, the company said July 30.
The system includes IDU-680 smart displays, an Air Data, Attitude, and Heading Reference System (ADAHRS), and a GPS receiver. The Genesys system meets the requirements outlined in MIL-STD 704D for electrical and MIL-STD 810 for environmental conditions, according to the company.
Roger Smith, the CEO of Genesys, said that the company’s EFIS products “have been serving the military and special-mission markets for years under civilian certification standards.”
“While [the products] were not designed specifically for military applications, we have always been confident they would pass the tests,” he said.
The EFIS from Genesys Aerosystems “enhances safety, reduces pilot workload, increases flexibility, and lowers cost of ownership,” the company said. “The system provides future-forward technology that sets a higher standard for advanced, end-to-end avionics in special mission, jet/prop military trainers, commuter, light-, medium-, heavy-lift aircraft.”
A predecessor Genesys company, Chelton Flight Systems, helped develop early versions of ADAHRS. The latter Genesys system provides increased accuracy and has a “free” mode to permit aircraft to fly near the poles and in other high magnetic conditions with the same accuracy, according to the company.
A flight deck instrument display system that reveals flight data electronically rather than electromechanically, EFIS became standard equipment on mainline carriers with Boeing and Airbus jetliners in the late 1980s and on business aircraft a decade later.
The Genesys EFIS is used on such aircraft as the Aero L-39NG, Grob G-120TP, IAe CN-235, and Leonardo’s single-engine TH-119 helicopter, which Leonardo is bidding as the U.S. Navy’s new training helicopter. Genesys’ IDU displays and sensors “have been a popular choice in modernizing aging fleets like Dornier Do-228, CASA C-212, Sikorsky UH-60, Lockheed C-130, Bell 212/412, Mil Mi-8, and Mil Mi-17,” the company said.