Bristow Academy Inc., a division of Bristow Group Inc., on Aug. 8 announced that its first four R44 Raven 1 training helicopters with the Garmin 500H electronic flight display have been introduced into service.
Bristow Academy trainees flying this R44 aircraft will be using dual 6.5-inch LCDs, mounted side-by-side in the bezel, with both Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Multifunction Display (MFD) capabilities directly in the field of view to help streamline instrument scanning. Real-time True Airspeed calculations and selectable Winds Aloft data – as well as aircraft ground speed, GPS active waypoint, distance-to-waypoint and desired/actual track are just a few of the features available in the cockpit. On the left-hand side, the PFD consolidates all primary situational information regarding the aircraft’s position, speed, attitude, vertical rate, altitude and flight progress. For added visual orientation, a scaled version of Garmin’s SVT Synthetic Vision Technology will also be fitted creating a 3-D “virtual reality” perspective view of flight and en route terrain features. In place of sensitive gyro instruments, the G500 uses Garmin’s super-reliable GRS 77 Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS). Combining inputs from GPS, magnetometer and air data computer, the Garmin AHRS provides an accurate digital referencing of the aircraft’s dynamic orientation in space.
Matt Rhodes, Offshore Operations Manager for Bristow Helicopters based in Aberdeen, UK, says, “With North Sea clients now favoring the latest technically advanced helicopters available for the transportation of their personnel to the offshore platforms, the Bristow European Business Unit has invested heavily in the introduction of types such as the EC225, S-92 and more recently the AW189. All of these aircraft are fitted with the latest and safest glass cockpit technology. Training on the R44 with the G500H cockpit will afford students the opportunity to become familiar with glass-cockpit operations and make the transition from training helicopter to the main operational fleet a smoother process if they decide to pursue a flying career.”
Nick Mayhew, General Manager of Bristow Academy’s Titusville Campus, adds, “You will find this glass cockpit technology in most new operational helicopters. The G500H replaces maintenance-intensive mechanical gyros with dual 6.5² LCD screens; it allows for more effective mission planning, greatly reduces pilot workload and is an important component of our training capability.”
A recent Safety Study by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB/SS-01/10) reported that a review of accidents involving (light) aircraft equipped with glass cockpits found that pilots’ experiences and training in conventional cockpits do not prepare them to safely operate the complex and varied glass cockpit systems being installed in light aircraft today. Further, the lack of information provided to pilots about glass cockpit systems may lead them to misunderstand or misinterpret system failures. As a result, there is a need for new training procedures and tools to ensure that pilots are adequately prepared to safely operate aircraft equipped with glass cockpit avionics.
