Rockwell Collins has been awarded a $28 million contract to provide avionics upgrades to 58 Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Black Hawk helicopter cockpits ordered by the Turkish armed forces.

The cockpit design features four 6 x 8-in multifunction displays (MFD), a dual flight management system with integrated flight director control, and an instrument panel that has been reduced in width to improve pilot field of view. It also includes weather radar that provides advance warning of turbulent weather conditions with flight path overlay.

The cockpit can be equipped with forward-looking infrared (FLIR), allowing the pilot to operate during both decreased visibility and nighttime conditions. It also features a moving digital map that displays the real-time aircraft position and surrounding information.

The company has also announced that its Pro Line 21 flight deck will be placed into operational service this spring on Cessna Aircraft Company's CJ1 business jet. The Pro Line equipment package on the CJ1 includes two 10 x 8-in high-resolution liquid crystal adapt- ive flight displays. The primary flight display and multifunction display provide pilots with the necessary flight information in an easy-to-interpret format. Improved situational awareness is provided by displaying weather radar and stormscope data, and through an optional enhanced ground proximity warning system and traffic alert collision avoidance system.

The avionics suite includes Collins solid-state weather radar, dual-channel automatic flight control systems, ADS-3000 air data sensor, and the AHC-3000 attitude heading computer. The AHC-3000 uses new solid-state digital quartz gyro technology to provide improved reliability and a lower cost of ownership.

Rockwell Collins also has entered into a strategic alliance with BFGoodrich Aerospace to provide airlines a range of equipment, parts, and maintenance services including "single-stop solutions" for avionics, instrumentation, and other aircraft components on a global basis. "The strategic alliance between Rockwell Collins and BFGoodrich provides our customers new valued-based options for a wide range of nose-to-tail aircraft maintenance unmatched in the marketplace," said Clay Jones, President of Rockwell Collins. "Collectively, we offer customers a single-service solution for the aircraft including avionics, in-flight entertainment, airframe, and aircraft component repair and service delivered with the reliability of two leading OEMs."

Frank Bokulich

Aerospace Engineering May 2000