Metro Aviation will assist GPMS in its goals of achieving STC approval for its Foresight MX health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) on the Airbus H135. Certification is expected in Q1 of 2022.

GPMS's Foresight MX system offers a comprehensive aircraft performance monitoring system for the air medical transport industry. “In the helicopter air ambulance (HAA) sector, where operational reliability and safety are especially important, the data and insights provided by Foresight MX are critical,” says GPMS president Jed Kalkstein.

“We've been actively looking for a next-generation health and usage monitoring system on the H135, and the GPMS team has done an impressive job creating an integrated package that automatically collects, offloads and analyses critical safety and maintenance data in a way that is unlike current HUMS systems,” says Milton Geltz, managing director at Metro Aviation. “GPMS and Outerlink Global Solutions are also planning on integrating with the IRIS System providing inflight critical alerts to operational ground support teams. This system puts the benefits of HUMS within reach for the medium helicopter segment.”

To pursue the STC on the H135, Kalkstein says the opportunity to work with Metro Aviation was an easy decision. “We wanted to work with the team from Metro Aviation on the STC because they are both a global completions leader of the H135 in the HAA space and a top-notch operator. We hope to tap into that experience as we adapt Foresight MX to the platform and develop the STC.”

Kalkstein explains that the value of Foresight MX goes beyond parametric flight data monitoring by integrating the engine awareness of a HUMS system with vibration management, performance monitoring and comprehensive analysis for vital sub-components including gearboxes and rotor systems.

GPMS currently has STCs on a range of helicopter platforms including the Bell 407 GX/GXP/GXi, Bell 429, Bell 412/212 and the Airbus H125/AS350 B3.