Cobham HeliSAS Earns FAA Certification

HeliSAS, Cobham’s Autopilot and Stability Augmentation System, has been granted Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) status by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Bell 206B, 206L, and 407 helicopters.

HeliSAS provides precise control during all modes of flight, regardless of wind conditions or shifts in weight. The system is designed to be engaged at all times-- “on” before takeoff and “off” after landing, resulting in a reduced pilot workload. If the helicopter is inadvertently flown to an extreme attitude, simply releasing the cyclic while HeliSAS is engaged will automatically return the helicopter to a near-level attitude.

Hands-off flight is possible due to the HeliSAS attitude-command/attitude-hold SAS + full autopilot configuration. Robust autopilot functions, once reserved for military or large commercial helicopters, are now available to Bell 206B, 206L, and 407 operators. Cobham anticipates HeliSAS certification on the Eurocopter AS 350 model series.

HeliSAS will be offered domestically by authorized dealerships. Cobham has entered into a distribution agreement with DAC International for sales in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and South America.