GPMS International has received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for Foresight MX, its health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), on the Airbus AS350 B2 platform. GPMS has also signed a contract with a HEMS operator to certify Foresight MX on the H145 and is additionally working with Metro Aviation for certification on the EC145 platform.
“Airbus helicopter models like the AS350 / H125 series are the largest and fastest growing model in our installed portfolio,” said John Byus, Director of Sales – Americas, GPMS. “As operators are learning about Foresight MX and how transformational it is, they’re reaching out and asking for us to expand our STC portfolio to their models. There are over 1,300 EC145 / H145s flying today, and most of them do not have HUMS.”
GPMS initially received certification for the Bell 407GX series in 2019 and has since received more STCs on other models, including the Bell 407 Analog, Bell 429, Bell 212, Bell 412 series, MD 530F, Airbus H125/AS350 B3, Mi-8/17/171 and the UH-60A. By teaming up with Pathfinder Aviation, GPMS completed the AS350 B2 certification to bring predictive HUMS to nearly 1,200 B2s in flight today.
“With our solution, our targeted Airbus certification expansion, and our collaboration with various OEMs, more operators are benefitting from having the power of Foresight,” continued Byus.
“In the last year,” added Todd Powers, Vice President of Sales, GPMS, “we’ve more than doubled our Foresight installations and our backlog, and our CEO and co-founder, Dr Eric Bechhoefer, has been awarded the HAI Salute to Excellence Award for Safety for his outstanding contributions to the promotion of rotorcraft safety and safety awareness.”
“Supply chain issues and certification processes are challenging for everyone in our industry. As a small business, we’ve experienced those same challenges and some growing pains along the way,” continued Powers, who extends thanks to GPMS’s customers and partners. “Through their feedback, we’ve continued to improve our technology and support processes. For example, we’re reducing hardware requirements by deploying our patented ‘tach from vibration’ algorithms, monitoring and reporting weights on hook load cells, and improving connectivity throughout the aircraft.”
