Fortress HUMS Crash Recorder for Lightweight Usage Monitoring
Download the Fortress Flight Recorder Brochure
Curtiss-Wright has been producing proven flight recorders for over 60 years. Our current Fortress product line meets all current and anticipated regulations and has several models to quickly meet the needs of a new or retrofit program. Read our Fortress brochure to learn more about the range of models currently available.
Combing an crash recorder with sophisticated HUMS hardware
The Fortress HUMS combines an ED-112A qualified crash recorder with sophisticated inbuilt HUMS hardware. This innovative solution reduces installed box count by one and utilizes distributed data acquisition architecture for both flight and HUMS data.
Video Transcript
The video shows how Fortress HUMS is available as a stand-alone HUMS unit or integrated into a cockpit voice recorder. Using such a system helps to
- Improve reliability
- Reduce maintenance costs
- Eliminate unscheduled maintenance
An onboard control unit within a crash recorder stores all data from a network of smart sensors and has a compact design (6 x 3.5 x 1"). Accelerometers constantly measure vibrations on key components and send this data to the control unit. Tachometers calculate zero-crossing times synchronously with vibration and other sensors.
Data transfer is achieved by uploading to the cloud when analytics are done and results can be downloaded using the Flightline App. There are CBM functions available, such as
- Rotor smoothing
- Drivetrain, engine, and structural health
- Exceedance monitoring
- Logbook interface
Prognostic algorithms can be used to calculate the remaining useful lifetime of components - when a health index reaches one, you know replacement is due. This can reduce repair costs, for example, the following are costs without vs. with HUMS for an example platform
- Oil cooler: $328, 688 vs. $37,969
- Bearing: $10,135 vs. $1,558
- HB bracket: $8,650 vs. $500
Fortress HUMS is a lightweight, low cost and customer configurable system that can monitor components in real-time, predict their failure and remove unscheduled maintenance.