Full Glass Cockpit Upgrade for Bell 412 Helicopter

Bell, March 25, 2024 - Fort Worth, TX – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, announced the FAA certification for its Basix-Pro Glass Retrofit Kit for Bell 412EP models. The new glass cockpit retrofit kit benefits include reduced pilot workload, increased precision and improved situational awareness.

Chris Schaefer, vice president, Customer Experience, Bell said “As a part of Bell’s Customer Support and Service offerings, we are committed to developing and certifying new technologies for legacy platforms. In an effort to increase reliability, situational awareness and decreased pilot workload, the BasiX-Pro Kit delivers the latest integrated flight deck, high-resolution displays as well as engine data and flight operation recording. With the BasiX-Pro Kit, 412EP’s now can be upgraded to 4-axis autopilot further reducing pilot workload.”

The Bell BasiX-Pro Glass Cockpit Retrofit Kit uses the current Bell production displays from Astronautics and Garmin avionics by upgrading analog instruments to a full glass cockpit featuring the latest technology and state of the art instrumentation that is common with current SUBARU Bell 412EPX and Bell 429 aircraft.

Astronautics has a proven record of dependability with hundreds of fielded displays, achieving high reliability with more than one million flight hours. Garmin has become the aviation standard for COM, NAV, and GPS integrated solutions.

Currently, Bell is under contract to complete a fleet upgrade of several analog Bell 412EPs.

Bell will offer the Bell-owned BasiX-Pro retrofit kit through Aeronautical Accessories with retrofits being performed at Bell’s global completion centers of excellence, which include Piney Flats, TN, Miami, FL, Singapore, Bell Australia and Prague.

Integrated Flight Display System In Bell Basix-pro Glass Cockpit Retrofit Kit For 412 Helicopters

Astronautics - Oak Creek, Wisconsin - Astronautics Corporation of America’s Badger Pro+ is the integrated flight display system for the Bell BasiX-Pro Glass Cockpit Retrofit Kit.

Bell’s newest upgrade solution recently received supplemental type certificate approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for Bell 412EP helicopters with PT6T-3D engine types. The Bell BasiX-Pro Glass Cockpit Retrofit Kit with Astronautics’ Badger Pro+ display system will upgrade 412EP legacy helicopters from analog instrumentation to full-glass cockpits. The 412EP retrofit kit is offered by Bell Aeronautical Accessories and installed by Bell’s global completion centers of excellence.

The Badger Pro+ system consists of four 6”x8,” high-resolution, smart displays providing primary flight, navigation, and engine data, along with a control panel and an engine data acquisition unit. Astronautics’ Badger displays have proven dependability with hundreds of fielded units and over a million hours of flight time.

Eyton Zelazo, Astronautics’ director of displays and cockpit integration said “Astronautics is pleased to enable Bell’s ongoing mission of improving performance, reliability, and supportability for their medium-sized helicopter customers with our Badger Pro+ system. The Bell BasiX-Pro Glass Cockpit Retrofit Kit will provide Bell 412EP operators with modern flight-deck technology to improve situational awareness and decrease pilot workload, while also offering the same look and feel of a new production Bell 412 cockpit.”

Key highlights of the Badger Pro+ integrated flight display system, as part of the BasiX-Pro Glass Cockpit Retrofit Kit for the Bell 412EP, include:

- Common display unit hardware with new production medium-sized platforms (SUBARU Bell 412EPX and Bell 429), simplifying maintenance and pilot training for mixed fleets.
- Aircraft parameter, chip, and exceedance recording for 70+ hours of data, useful for maintenance tracking and planning.
- Full-screen presentation of external video with pan feature.
- Multiple high-definition digital video inputs (no conversion to analog).
- Weather radar / HTAWS displayed in both full and arc HSI formats.
- Route mapping with five levels of declutter.
- Two-second power-up time (not just in-flight recovery).
- Non-ITAR night vision goggle compatible.

About Astronautics : Astronautics Corporation of America, headquartered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, is a global leader in the design, development, and manufacture of avionics equipment and systems for the commercial and military aerospace industry. Key product areas include electronic primary flight, multifunction and engine displays, connected aircraft and airborne cyber solutions, electronic flight bags, and certified servers for airborne applications. Services include avionics system integration and custom software for critical applications. Since its founding in 1959, Astronautics has been providing trusted, reliable, and tailored engineering solutions enabling aerospace OEMs and operators to achieve mission success. Astronautics is the parent company of Kearfott Corporation, headquartered in New Jersey, known for its guidance, navigation, and motion sensor products for sea, land, air, and space applications.