Upgraded ULBs meet test requirement for sheer and tensile in accordance with ED-112A
ASHBURN, Va. – August 11, 2016 – Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division has announced the addition of 90-day Underwater Beacon support to its full range of lightweight. Fortress™ and Multi-Purpose Flight Recorder (MPFR) crash-protected recorder products designed for critical cockpit image, voice, and flight data. What’s more, the Company has announced that it is one of the industry’s first suppliers to successfully complete sheer and tensile strength tests in accordance with ED-112A requirements. The Curtiss-Wright Avionics & Electronics business group’s crash protected recorder products that are now supported with the extended 90-Day ULB include its entire range of Fortress recorders and the MPFR, which features 4 channel voice recording for 120 minutes (one wide band, 3 narrow band audio channels), a rotor tachometer interface, and 25 hours of flight data recording at 512 words/second.
Curtiss-Wright expects to provide the updated ULB on its earlier EMPFR and DAFR products in the very near future. The enhanced TSO-C121b certified “black box” crash recorders enable Curtiss-Wright customers to meet the new ULB regulations for new designs or retrofits today. ULBs can be replaced on existing recorders through an RMA or by customers using a replacement kit. The updated, highly rugged recorders are designed for use in Cockpit Voice recording, Flight Data recording, and airworthiness system applications.
"We are excited to announce that our Fortress and MPFR crash-protected recorder products, with their ED-112A, qualified 90-day ULB, can now make it easier for accident investigators to locate a searched-for aircraft,” said Lynn Bamford, Senior Vice President, and General Manager, Defense Solutions division. “We are proud to be a leading supplier of highly dependable, rugged ‘black box’ crash recorders, bringing the industry’s most advanced safety features to the market.”
About Fortress Recorders
At only 7 lbs. including 90 days ULB, the new Fortress recorders weigh less than early generation solid-state recorders alternatives, which helps to significantly reduce fuel cost savings (for example, it’s estimated that each additional kg on a 150-seat airliner typically adds a $120 burden in fuel usage for every 4,500 flight hours). This breakthrough in weight reduction results from Curtiss-Wright’s decades of expertise in optimizing the crash recorder electronics, materials, and manufacturing process. The recorders also feature dual-redundant CVR/FDR to mitigate the risk of mandatory grounding in case of recorder failure.
Developed by Defense Solutions’ Avionics & Electronics group, the originator of the first combined cockpit voice/flight data recorder, these innovative crash recorders meet all current EUROCAE ED-112A, FAA TSO, and EASA ETSO requirements. With support for modular plug-in cards, the Fortress family of crash recorders is ideal for a wide range of aircraft platforms, including helicopters, airliners, executive jets, and military combat and fast jets. Housed in a compact rugged unit, the new crash recorders are hard-mountable for fast, easy installation.
To maximize flexibility, each Fortress recorder can be configured as either an FDR or CVR or as a combined unit. The Fortress crash recorder family includes six standard variant configurations, each optimized for specific market segments:
• Fortress-ARINC757: Standard CVR/FDR/Datalink/CVFDR
• Fortress-ARINC767: ARINC664P7 Flight Critical Ethernet
• Fortress-DAFR: Data Acquisition & Flight Recorder
• Fortress-CSMU: Crash Survivable Memory Unit
• Fortress-MIL: MIL-STD-1553 Data Bus
• Fortress-Ethernet: 100BASE-TX UDP; 1588PTP
About Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 8,400 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.
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