California-based utility operator PJ Helicopters has placed a fleet order for the Foresight MX HUMS solution from GPMS International.

"We continue to be very impressed with the advanced capabilities of Foresight MX," says vice president and director of maintenance Justin Gunsauls. "Foresight's predictive analytics, easy-to-use interface and multi-OEM capability makes it the perfect solution for our mixed fleet operations."

PJ Helicopters utilises its fleet of MD 530Fs, Bell 407s, Bell 429s, UH-60s and CH-47s to perform a variety of utility, power line and firefighting operations throughout the US. With Foresight MX's cloud capability, PJ monitors the health of its remote aircraft and receives SMS and email notifications of any exceedances or negative trends after every flight.

Long promoted by leading safety organisations like the Vertical Aviation Safety Team and the US Helicopter Safety Team, HUMS and FDM interest and integration into the utility space has been growing rapidly driven by new contract requirements. In the new US Forest Service MATOC, task order awards and preferences are given to 'modern helicopter' operators, which includes HUMS as a minimum aircraft requirement.

For PJ, deciding on a HUMS provider was about more than just the technical capabilities. Gunsauls continues: "GPMS's commitment to customer support has given us the confidence to grow our relationship. From working with it on the STC for the 407 Analog and the UH-60 to the monitoring of our aircraft, it has listened to us to understand the needs of our operations. With its unique HUMS-as-a-service business model and its continuous investments in Foresight, we know it is vested in our success."

PJ worked closely with GPMS to achieve an FAA STC for the UH-60A Black Hawk platform in February 2023, and became the first Black Hawk operator to utilise Foresight MX's advanced capabilities. It gave operators of divested military UH-60s an STC'd, next-gen, predictive HUMS, flight data monitoring and optimised rotor track and balance solution at an installed weight of under 17lbs and at a third of the cost.

"We are honoured by the trust a globally recognised operator like PJ Helicopters is placing on our product and our team," says Ronnie Ries, GPMS vice president of marketing. "With PJ's help, we continue to learn how to better serve utility operators, and as a member of our Customer Advisory Board, it is providing us key guidance into our product and services roadmap.

"Foresight MX is already the industry's leading all-in-one solution with its predictive HUMS, engine monitoring, flight data monitoring, and rotor track and balance capabilities. Based on inputs from our CAB, we're not only completing several STCs right now, but we're also pursuing new integrations, improvements and reporting capabilities. It's an exciting time at GPMS, and we're proud to be working with customers like PJ to bring these capabilities to the market."