Engineering news
Meggitt’s sensing systems business has been awarded a $48 million contract for a health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) from Guangzhou Hangxin Avionics for its Avicopter AC313/SJ and AC352 helicopters.
The HUMS helps flight crew and maintenance staff monitor the health of engines, cabin, drive train and rotor gearboxes to minimise cabin vibration and detect impending failures.
The programme lifetime contract covers the design, development and delivery of on-board hardware – vibration sensors, data acquisition and processing electronics – and ground station software for detailed data analysis and after sales support.
The Avicopter SJ is the firefighter version of the three-engine, 13-ton class AC313, the heaviest helicopter developed in China. The AC352 is the Chinese version of the twin-engine, multi-purpose EC175 helicopter developed jointly by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and Airbus Helicopters.
Deliveries are due to start in 2019. Sales of up to 500 units of each platform have been forecast over the next 20 years.
The company said: “The win reflects Meggitt’s 60-plus years of experience in engine health monitoring and expertise in designing the extreme environment sensors and electronics needed to monitor modern aircraft engines and follows a recently announced contract from regional aircraft manufacturer, ATR, for an on-board propeller-balancing system.
“Using lightweight, modular electronic processing units and sensors, this distributed monitoring system can monitor more equipment, including auxiliary power systems, landing gear, avionics and air conditioning systems, more cost-effectively,” the company added.