five years in development and many engineering hours in the design of various configurations, EADS Test & Services launched the Mk1 miniFLITS at the 2006 Aerospace Testing Exhibition in Hamburg. The first serious production general purpose front line test set, the Mk1 miniFLITS was packed full of capability whilst being lightweight, portable and easy to use. Environmentally sealed, it could be used in extreme conditions anywhere in the world, flexible enough to interface with military and civil equipments, and therefore extremely versatile. Within a matter of weeks it would be put to the test. An application on the Lynx Helicopter required measuring the accuracy of engine instrumentation - an ideal opportunity to prove the capability of miniFLITS. Traditionally, such gauges would have been removed from the aircraft and sent to a laboratory for calibration. As over 300 gauges in various aircraft would require calibration, removal could potentially have had a serious impact on aircraft availability. For the UK MoD, the need to undertake the task was sound: Engine performance on helicopters is determined by measuring a number of essential parameters such as engine temperature and speed. By taking a reading from the cockpit gauge, engine performance can be determined and any deterioration tracked over time. For the pilot, this is important as it affects the operational capability of carrying equipment and determines fuel and other aircraft loading constraints needed to determine the scope of operations. The UK MoD needed to understand their engine gauge accuracy and how it may affect operational requirements. EADS Test & Services configured the Mk1 miniFLITS to reproduce the engine signals that are sent to the engine instrumentation. The system was connected directly to the aircraft through the wiring harness that runs from engine to cockpit. As far as the Lynx Helicopter engine gauges were concerned, miniFLITS essentially “became” the engine and in doing so, all 300 gauges in various aircraft could be calibrated in-situ. The Lynx engine gauge calibration is the perfect illustration of the contribution miniFLITS can make. Cost savings and the minimal disruption caused to aircraft availability were
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G4 DEFENCE
immediately obvious. Essential engine gauges that would previously have been removed from the cockpit, resulting in considerable disruption, can now remain in-situ in their usual environment. Maintenance activity was reduced, with a definite positive effect on aircraft availability.
This first early success also
proved a very good lesson for EADS Test & Services. The Mk1 miniFLITS demonstrated its ability, more organisations in the aerospace world began to show considerable interest in this new approach to front line testing. Although the Mk1 miniFLITS offered every capability needed for a front line test set, it would suffer from an early obsolescence problem
Cockpit Lynx courtesy EADS
as the integrated laptop dated. The integrated laptop also proved to be a constraint in flexibility. With the sudden interest in the
product and its proven success, EADS Test & Services resolved to take the concept of a front line general purpose test set to the next level. Mk2 miniFLITS, launched earlier this year, now incorporates a docking station arrangement for the laptop, addressing the issue of a dating ruggidised laptop while at the same time providing much greater flexibility.
The Mk2 miniFLITS will be officially entering service with the UK MoD early in 2010 in support of a number of complex avionics on the Lynx helicopter.
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