Thales was selected by Eurocopter to provide its Integrated Electronic Standby Instrument (IESI) for its range of light and medium helicopters, including the EC135, EC145, EC155 and their military derivatives, as well as the EC175, which performed its maiden flight at the end of 2009. The companies made the announcement at HeliExpo on Monday.
According to Thales, the IESI gives the pilot the 3 main elements of information necessary to ensure a manual flight (attitude, altitude and air speed of the helicopter are measured, computed and displayed), even when other avionics functions are down. The IESI combines in a single box both display and sensors. It also includes a battery providing the necessary autonomy to allow the pilot to land the helicopter in the extreme case of complete aircraft electrical failure. The IESI integrates high reliability Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems pressure and inertial sensors, an enhanced low consumption real-time computing capability and LED backlighting display.