Chelton Flight Systems designs and manufactures advanced avionics and flight controls. Based in
Boise, Idaho
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...
, Chelton Flight Systems originally started out as Sierra Flight Systems. The company was co-founded by Gordon Pratt and Rick Price in 1997. It is part of Genesys Aerosystems since 2014.
History
* April, 2014 -
Genesys Aerosystems Genesys may refer to:
* Genesys (company), a customer experience and contact center technology company
* ''Genesys'' (video game), an educational video game released in 2000
* Genesys (website), a portal to information about plant genetic resource ...
acquired Chelton Flight Systems and
S-TEC Corporation
S-TEC Corporation is a United States corporation that was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Mineral Wells, Texas. It manufactures flight control systems for the General Aviation aftermarket and for a number of original equipment manufacturer ...
.
Cobham Sells S-Tec and Chelton Flight Systems
/ref>
* November 10, 2006 - CFS was granted FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
STC approval of the EFIS in the Eurocopter EC 120B helicopter.
* September 21, 2006 - CFS was chosen to supply the EFIS for MD Helicopters' light singles program.
* 2006 - CFS joins GlobalFlyer in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Na ...
.
* April 30, 2006 - The M28 Sky Truck from Landmark Aviation delivered its first CFS EFIS equipped aircraft.
* June, 2001 - Cobham plc
Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Bournemouth, England.
Cobham was originally founded by Sir Alan Cobham as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL) in 1934. During 1939, British airline Imperial Airways performed se ...
acquired Sierra Flight Systems and renamed the company Chelton Flight Systems.
* 1997 - CFS founded.
A tragic accident on October 15, 2002 claimed the lives of two Chelton Flight Systems employees and seriously injured a third. The accident occurred when their aircraft struck trees while landing at a private airstrip near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in clear conditions. The pilot, Grant Bailey, and the rear passenger, Barry Boepple, were killed instantly. Nate Calvin, Vice President of Engineering, was thrown clear of the wreckage and received a broken leg and several lacerations.
System Overview
Their aim was to provide a safer way to fly by reducing the number of accidents. This was achieved through enhancing situational awareness with real-time 3-D Synthetic vision
A synthetic vision system (SVS) is a computer-mediated reality system for aerial vehicles, that uses 3D to provide pilots with clear and intuitive means of understanding their flying environment.
Functionality
Synthetic vision provides situati ...
, which shows where the plane is headed. Synthetic Vision allows the pilot to see at night or in inclement weather. A Terrain Awareness and Warning System
In aviation, a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) is generally an on-board system aimed at preventing unintentional impacts with the ground, termed "controlled flight into terrain" accidents, or CFIT.Federal Aviation AdministrationInsta ...
(TAWS) was created which alerts the pilot when he is flying too low. Software was also developed that calculates real-time fuel consumption data; so the pilot knows how much fuel is left to burn. The system employs a Highway-In-The-Sky approach, HITS creates a virtual 3-D tunnel which is flown through. The single display integrates many stand alone instruments to provide the operator with information immediately. FlightLogic Electronic Flight Information Systems (EFIS) has a supplemental type certificate (STC) on over 740 aircraft.
Design Concepts
Chelton Flight Systems uses a two-display setup to bring the glass cockpit
A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mech ...
to general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
. One display is the primary flight display
A primary flight display or PFD is a modern aircraft instrument dedicated to flight information. Much like multi-function displays, primary flight displays are built around a Liquid-crystal display or CRT display device. Representations of ol ...
(PFD). A PFD is defined as a display that provides all the information necessary for a pilot to control the aircraft. This includes pitch, roll, heading, altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
, airspeed
In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are:
* Indicated airspeed ("IAS"), what is read on an airspeed gauge connected to a Pitot-static system;
* Calibrated a ...
and vertical speed information. In essence, the " six pack". A multi-function display
A multifunction display (MFD) is a small-screen ( CRT or LCD) surrounded by multiple soft keys (configurable buttons) that can be used to display information to the user in numerous configurable ways. MFDs originated in aviation, first in mil ...
(MFD) displays supplementary information. The difference between the PFD and MFD is that the MFD has a satellites view of the world. The terrain awareness and warning system is a very useful feature that has visual and auditory cues to alert the pilot of obstacles or terrain in the flight path. Traditionally the TAWS is a separate unit, however CFS has integrated it into their displays. This is the same for the Flight Management System. The FMS is also included in the display unit. The FMS is a complete navigation system providing all ARINC
Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC), established in 1929, was a major provider of transport communications and systems engineering solutions for eight industries: aviation, airports, defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and t ...
424 leg types with a Jeppesen database. Instrument approaches, waypoints, and high and low victor airways are part of the FMS.
Customers
* The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer ( registered N277SF) is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan in which Steve Fossett first flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in slightly more than 67 hours (2 days 19 h ...
, flown by Steve Fosset.
* NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
team Evernham Motorsports.
* Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
and Eurocopter
Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Ai ...
have installed the system on a few of their helicopter models.
* Eclipse Aviation
The Eclipse Aviation Corporation was the Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States-based manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ), and also at one time proposed developing the Eclipse 400 single-engined jet.
The company was founded ...
will be using a Chelton Flight management system
A flight management system (FMS) is a fundamental component of a modern airliner's avionics. An FMS is a specialized computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that mode ...
for the Eclipse 500
The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator.
The prototype first ...
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References
{{Reflist
External links
Genesys Aerosystems
Companies based in Idaho
Companies established in 1997
Avionics companies
Companies based in Boise, Idaho
1997 establishments in Idaho