Appareo Systems (Booth No. 3128) is developing a variety of new flight data monitoring (FDM) systems for both aftermarket and OEM installations. The company has received STC approval for its Alerts Vision 1000 system on the Eurocopter AS350B1-3.

The lightweight device captures flight data, cockpit imagery and audio and was developed jointly with Eurocopter. The system weighs less than nine ounces and needs only aircraft power and a ground to function. It will be included as standard equipment on all U.S.-produced AS350s beginning in the second quarter of this year and will be extended into the remainder of Eurocopter’s product line in the future.

Appareo recently reached agreement with Bell Helicopter to develop a lightweight FDM system in cooperation with that OEM. The Bell cockpit information recorder will incorporate cockpit imagery, audio and an EDM-155 compliant, crash-survivable memory module as well as GPS, an inertial-sensing suite and Arinc 429 support for digital interfaces. The system will have a modular design and be customizable. Bell is embedding the software for image interpolation, analog-to-digital conversion and to provide precise readings from cockpit images and allow for additional data mining.

Appareo also is breaking into wireless, high-speed data and cockpit-imaging transfer with its GAU 3000 FDM. The system will serve as a centralized hub to record data generated by digital aircraft. For legacy aircraft, the system will still record data independent of aircraft electronics using an inertial sensing suite that comprises accelerometers, gyros, compasses and a 16-channel Waas GPS. The system weighs less than 3.5 pounds.