Professional Pilot, May 2018

Astronautics RoadRunner C oming out of HAI 2018 this year was a wide range of new products for workhorse helos a sign of a stronger market and demand with many products to choose from But searching in a sea of new widgets for various upgrades and fixes to meet the coming mandates can always be a challenge Astronautics Corporation of America brings clear thinking and practicality to upgrade decisions with its Road Runner Electronic Flight Instrument EFI This well packed drop in unit replaces Attitude Direction Indicator ADI and Horizontal Situation Indicator HSI instruments with a modern device for your helicopter This EFI is a high end replacement unit with modern functionality for older mechanical synchro instruments The RoadRunner EFI has an easy path to upgrades that includes Synthetic Vision System SVS and Terrain Awareness and Warning System TAWS for helicopters It also brings a clear and distinct message to the helo aftermarket segment expect modern affordable and lightweight flight instruments from a dedicated company 72 PROFESSIONAL PILOT May 2018 Astronautics latest products have targeted the challenge of a literal swap and replace for the large number of workhorse aircraft that still have many useful years remaining They recognized that a replacement instrument needs to have added value to interest a buyer and thats where this new EFIs functions come into play The RoadRunner EFI is a new display that benefits from the processor power of today It provides highly sought after functionality in the very small space of the instrument itself totally self contained rather than requiring an additional avionics box or Line Replaceable Unit LRU The SVS and TAWS integration of RoadRunner EFI along with many other functions provides further market attraction RoadRunner EFI The RoadRunner weighs in at only 8 lbs But the key to the magic of a true swap and replace is that all the connections are included such as ARINC 429 differential analog discrete synchro and even a USB for software updates and more Sizes are 463x5x693 inches for the unit and 521x973x155 inches for the display Everything fits into the same instrument space designed for the original mechanical instrument When replacing the old instruments 2 cylinders of spinning mechanical stuff are taken out and the whole RoadRunner EFI unit electronics processor system software and connectors fits into just 1 of these boxes A thin LCD panel covers the empty space of the old ADI and HSI and provides new representations of these instruments Installation is simple unscrew the old instrument from the panel unplug the cables and plug in the RoadRunner EFI At the top of the RoadRunner EFI are basic display controls and to the left theres a tab covering a USB port This port enables software updates for future designs rather than replacing the complete instrument And at the bottom of the RoadRunner EFI are a few well marked buttons for menu selection NAV modes and soft keys for additional features and functions that include terrain weather map traffic and TCAS displays depending on what options have been added The knobs let you control heading and course selection along with other items such as DH The RoadRunner EFI as a flight instrument is very well designed with the basics for attitude heading and navigation Several other stan HELICOPTER AVIONICS New drop in unit replaces older mechanical attitude and HSI instruments Astronautics featured its RoadRunner Electronic Flight Instrument in a Bell 214ST cockpit By Glenn Connor ATP Cessna 425 President Discover Technology Intl Photos courtesy Astronautics