throughout the aircraft,” Nuanez explains. “RECON uses power over Ethernet (POE), so a single Cat 5 cable is used to communicate between the modules. Each module within the RECON system has its own dual core processor and memory storage, giving RECON the power and capability to meet today’s needs and the requirements of the future.” Safety advocates also note the advantages of using both HUMS and FDM. “FDM and HUMS both use a flight-data recorder,” says Bob Sheffield, a member of the International Helicopter Safety Foundation’s executive committee, “so it’s efficient for manufacturers to provide them as an integrated package.”
HUMS Return on Investment With HUMS now becoming available for the small and typically price-sensitive operator, the obvious question is whether this is a tool that can be financially justified, even considering its many advantages. GPMS’s Swayze reports that in 2019,
the company sought to answer that question by working with Arlington, Texas–based aviation consulting firm Conklin & de Decker. Using customer experience as a reference point and basing the model around the single- engine Bell 407, three distinct areas of value were identified (see Figure 1), providing a $45,920 annual return on the operator’s HUMS investment. “Tis financial return exists outside
of maintenance credits and extended time between overhauls,” Swayze explains. “In other words, we found substantial return on investment in a product that allows operators to perform both sched- uled and HUMS-dependent condi- tion-based maintenance in parallel.” “HUMS pays for itself,” says Sheffield,
“not just in identifying equipment that’s about to fail but in routine maintenance work like RTB. “An operator’s existing workforce is usually sufficient to integrate both FDM and HUMS in its work practices because FDM calls on pilot resources and HUMS
2020 Q3 ROTOR 39
calls on maintenance resources.” Going forward, says Swayze, GPMS antic-
ipates that there will be more demand to incorporate both FDM and HUMS into all helicopter operations. “Te [US] National Transportation Safety Board has recently pushed for FDM and recording devices,” he says, “and several OEMs have or are moving to include FDM as standard equipment.” At
the same time, he says, “if the value of FDM plus HUMS is greater, we think many operators will choose to have both capabilities on board and working in parallel. “Tese technologies enable data-driven
decision-making,” Swayze adds. “Once operators have seen for themselves how they can use the data coming off of their aircraft, I don’t know of anyone who’d want to do without it.”
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