AERONAUTICAL & GENERAL INSTRUMENTS LTD
       
   

AERONAUTICAL & GENERAL INSTRUMENTS LTD will highlight their ruggedised suite of visual landing and information management aids. “When the going gets ‘rough’ the ‘tough’ get going!” they say…. The ability to safely operate and recover helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft at sea is essential to today’s navies. It has long been recognised that significant strain is placed on pilots and flight deck controllers during these procedures, especially in unpredictable weather conditions and sea states. To counter these challenging and sometimes dangerous scenarios, it is necessary to have a highly sophisticated, ruggedised suite of visual landing and information management aids, designed to reduce the workload of both the pilot and flight deck officers alike!

Flight safety depends on many parameters. Consider wind and meteorological measurement accuracy, for example, together with the following key factors:

  • Ship’s course information
  • Data compensation for the disturbing effects of the ship’s hull, with regards to wind and sea state conditions
  • Takeoff payload, proportional to wind velocity 2 (For fixed wing)
  • Operating envelope limitations (Ships Helicopter Operational Limits – SHOL) on relative wind data

It is a known fact that most navies classify wind data as arguably the most flight critical, external influence! In other words, “no reliable wind data – no fly”. The provision of wind data is of such high priority, that dual redundant systems are often specified for high availability.

For the Flight Deck Crew the availability of reliable and accurate wind data on their ship enables the critical decisions to be made where flight operations are concerned. The solutions developed by AGI Ltd to provide this information are the AGIMET and MORIAH Wind Measurement Systems, suitable for all vessels from small coastal patrol to large aircraft carriers.

The systems comprise: Ultrasonic Wind Sensors, Wind Processor and Data Distribution Unit and Multi-Functional Colour Repeaters. Both AGIMET and MORIAH offer the following capabilities:

  • Self contained wind speed and direction system
  • Meteorological Sensor Suite
  • Aircraft operating limit real time display system: –
    • Helo envelopes (operating limits)
    • Vstol envelopes (operating limits)
  • Dual redundancy for high availability
  • Aircraft bulletin data
  • Data Correction Capability

To expand on the capabilities identified above, and utilising the Multi-Function Colour Repeaters as the platform, a feature of these two solutions is the Safe Helicopter Operational Limits Display System (SHOLDS). This system provides dynamically updated information on weather and other specific conditions, determining whether or not they are within pre-determined parameters for safe flight operations. When conditions are out of limits, SHOLDS is able to calculate and make recommendations for remedial action, providing instantaneously updated information to the user.

For the Pilot , once the decision has been made to proceed with a sortie or landing, the critical parameters to be considered are many, such as sea state, meteorological visibility (Met Vis), wind speed, general prevailing weather conditions etc. All these changeable parameters can only go to increasing the pressures that are associated with operating aircraft from the sea.

To endeavour to reduce the pilot’s workload, AGI has developed the latest in Visual Landing Aids and Flight Deck Lighting. Known as HELIVAS, a system may include all or a combination of any of the following:

  • Stabilised Glide Slope Indicator
  • Stabilised Horizon Reference System
  • LED Deck Edge Lighting
  • Flight deck flood and wash lights
  • Stop/Go or Traffic Light Systems
  • Wave Off Lights
  • Homing Beacons
  • Hover Height Indicators
  • Long-range Line-Up and Glide Slope Indicators for Fixed Wing Aircraft

A significant advancement in today’s technology is the ability to provide pilots with a suite of visual landing aids that can be utilised both during day and night time operations. NVG lighting systems are becoming the standard for many navies of the world, with increased pressure to maximise the potential that a pilot can offer in both offensive and defensive scenarios. The AGI HELIVAS system is compliant for use with Night Vision Devices and will provide today’s naval pilots with clear and unambiguous signals of the correct approach flight path, ship’s motion indication and defined area for landing.

More recently, AGI has been focussing its attention to developing the most advanced suite of Visual Landing Aids for Aircraft Carriers. With the requirement for extended operations at night, some unique NVG solutions are being developed for Fixed Wing Aircraft. AGI has developed an innovative solution to replace DAPS, which has already been selected by two navies. This solution shall allow approaching pilots to obtain Long-Range Visual Line-Up with NVDs, as well as achieve the optimum Hover Height above the flight deck for VSTOL aircraft when conducting a landing. A Flush design flight deck lighting suite has also been developed for aircraft carriers. This suite of lighting has been designed to operate under the harshest of environments, with special attention being given to the future adoption of JSF into service by various countries world-wide.

Following extensive development, sea trials, pilot assessment and environmental testing, these proven systems are now in service with a number of navies world wide. Their exhibits will, naturally, be of particular interest to delegates attending the INEX stream at WMTC 2006. Further information from www.agiltd.co.uk and +44 (0) 1202 685661