Features Aircraft manufacturers
Enstrom selects Genesys Helicopter Autopilot for 480B

Genesys Aerosystems, a Moog company, announced on February 27 that it is working with Enstrom Helicopter Corporation to install and certify the latest generation Genesys Helicopter Autopilot in the Enstrom 480B.

“This will provide significant improvements in aircraft safety, operational improvements, and mission effectiveness,” said Jamie Luster, Genesys’ Director of Sales and Marketing.

The 3-axis VFR autopilot is scheduled for completion and availability for OEM factory fit and aftermarket retrofit by the end of 2024. Interested customers can have the autopilot installed by Enstrom or at select Genesys dealers.

“I was able to test fly the prototype installation recently,” said Dennis Martin, Enstrom’s Chief Commercial Officer. “We were highly impressed. It flew the helicopter very well and has advanced functionality. The 480B is already very stable, but the stability augmentation system takes it to a whole new level. What really stood out was the safety advantages it provides with features like auto-recovery and the ability to shoot fully coupled approaches.”

The Genesys Helicopter Autopilot incorporates modes such as heading, navigation, approach, vertical speed, indicated speed, and altitude hold. Designed to be on all the time, Genesys explains the Stability Augmentation System (SAS) will bring the helicopter back to a neutral attitude by easing the forces applied or simply letting go of the cyclic should the pilot become incapacitated, spatially disoriented, or lose visual references.

In addition to the SAS abilities, the system features over-speed and under-speed envelope protection, keeping pilots and occupants safely in the flight envelope while the autopilot is on. The autopilot system also includes Autopilot Pitch Control (Altitude Hold, IAS Hold, VS HOLD, GS), Autopilot Roll Control (HDG Hold, NAV, LOC, VOR; optional YAW control; and overspeed and under-speed protection.