Bell Certifies New Helicopter Flight Data Monitoring Device

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, announced on Jan. 13 the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the Installation of QuantiFLY, a new aircraft communication unit (ACU) powered by Truth Data, offering a true low-cost, lightweight, and fully automatic flight data monitoring (FDM) solution currently available for the Bell 407GXi and Bell 429. Bell developed QuantiFY with Appareo and FDM analytics to enable operators to affordably use the data from QuantiFLY to be actionable and drive safety.

"As innovators, Bell is continuously exploring advanced solutions to provide customers with smart helicopter technology to enhance their flight experience," said Michael Thacker, executive vice president, Innovation and Commercial Business. "The introduction of Bell's QuantiFLY will offer greater visibility into flight operations while integrating seamlessly with Bell's current connected fleet offerings for our commercial aircraft."

Bell Helicopter recently announced the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the Installation of QuantiFLY, a new aircraft communication unit powered by Truth Data. (Courtesy Bell Textron)

Bell selected Appareo Systems for connectivity hardware based on its proven track record for both world-wide cellular telematics and aircraft data monitoring. The device utilizes cellular (4G LTE / 3G GSM) on the ground data transmission to off board aircraft fight parameter and maintenance data via cloud for processing and analytics. Bell worked with Microsoft to build on its Azure cloud infrastructure to route data securely around the world The data is then uploaded to Bell's MissionLinkTM, an innovative off-board data platform that delivers intuitive analysis to customers.

Bell collaborated with Truth Data, a proven leader in rotorcraft flight data monitoring, to provide a scalable flight data analysis platform and benchmarking capabilities to better identify safety issues and reduce operator risks. Coupled with QuantiFLY, this provides a completely automatic FDM service. Network regulatory and certifications include Verizon Network, Vodafone, CE, IC, FCC, RCM.

QuantiFLY is offered as an aftermarket kit forward or retrofittable for legacy and new aircraft, analog and digital through Aeronautical Accessories.