The FAA has certified the Basix-Pro glass cockpit retrofit kit for Bell 412EP models. Kit benefits include reduced pilot workload, increased precision and improved situational awareness.

"As a part of Bell's customer support and service offerings, we are committed to developing and certifying new technologies for legacy platforms," says vice president, customer experience Chris Schaefer. "In an effort to increase reliability, situational awareness and decreased pilot workload, the BasiX-Pro kit delivers the latest integrated flight deck, high-resolution displays as well as engine data and flight operation recording. With the BasiX-Pro kit, 412EP's can now be upgraded to four-axis autopilot further reducing pilot workload."

The BasiX-Pro retrofit kit uses the current Bell production displays from Astronautics and Garmin avionics by upgrading analogue instruments to a full glass cockpit featuring the latest technology and instrumentation that is common with current Subaru Bell 412EPX and Bell 429 aircraft. Astronautics has a proven record of dependability with hundreds of fielded displays, achieving high reliability with more than one million flight hours. Garmin has become the aviation standard for COM, NAV and GPS integrated solutions.

Currently, Bell is under contract to complete a fleet upgrade of several analogue Bell 412EPs.

Bell will offer the Bell-owned BasiX-Pro retrofit kit through Aeronautical Accessories with retrofits being performed at Bell's global completion centres of excellence at Piney Flats, Tennessee; Miami, Florida; Singapore; Bell Australia; and Prague in Czech Republic.