DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION TEST FACILITY FOR MODERN HELICOPTER AVIONIC, AFCS, AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Current civil helicopter cockpits require fully integrated avionic suites, that can be capable of being customized to specific mission requirements or other customer specific configurations with minimum impact to cost, integration time, and performance. These factors give rise to the requirement for the manufacturer to invest in an integration, test, and development facility upon which such configurations can be assembled, successfully evaluated, and tested. As part of the S-92 Helibus™ program, Sikorsky aircraft has developed an Integration, Simulation and Test facility that has incorporated several features, otherwise found as separate entities. The design, operation and advantages of this type of a test facility are discussed, as well as general requirements on test systems for related applications.