Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Fire Air Support Unit has accepted its first retrofitted Sikorsky HH-60L helicopter. The aircraft has been outfitted with Astronics' AFI4700 RoadRunner electronic flight instrument system and was delivered by Arista Aviation, located in Enterprise, Alabama.

The RoadRunner EFIS is the cornerstone of an upgraded avionics package and instrument panel on the HH-60L Black Hawk Arista Aviation repurposed into a Firehawk aerial firefighting configuration for Santa Barbara. It is a cost-effective, form-fit manufacturer's avionics upgrade from existing attitude director and horizontal situation indicator functionality to a modern EFIS with certified Level-A software made for Part 29 helicopters and providing a path to FAA certification. The EFIS interfaces with modern digital navigation, enabling the Firehawk to fly firefighting and other missions with enhanced situational awareness, navigation and sensor interface for safety and reliability.

The RoadRunner also provides operators readability in all lighting conditions, familiar and easy-to-use controls, reduced operating and maintenance costs, and minimal downtime for installation. The system is upgradeable with field-loadable software to incorporate future upgrades such as synthetic vision.

“We are pleased to work with authorised dealer Arista Aviation to deliver a cost-effective, mission-ready and future-proofed avionics solution on this versatile Black Hawk helicopter that will serve the ASU and residents of Santa Barbara County for years to come,” says George Gruebling, Astronautics' manager of sales and business development.

Astronautics has been supporting the UH-60 Black Hawk with primary flight instruments for decades, including attitude director, horizontal and vertical situation indicators, and command situation processors.