A new C-40 cockpit indicator from US-based helicopter cargo hook equipment provider Onboard Systems International has been certifed by the FAA for use in one of Onboard's load weighing kits for the Airbus AS350 (H125) helicopter. Onboard has also submitted this kit to Transport Canada and EASA for certification. This is the first onboard weighing system approved to use the C-40 indicator, which was built from the ground up to incorporate many operator-requested features and uses advanced microcontroller technology to measure and display the cargo weight on a hook.

“After many years of testing and development we are excited to begin the process of rolling out our new C-40 cockpit indicator across our entire line of onboard weighing systems,” says vice president of sales and marketing Karsten Lemmon. “The H125/AS350 is used by many of our customers for external load missions, so it made sense to launch the C-40 indicator in one of our load weighing kits for this aircraft. We look forward to announcing certification for the C-40 on many additional kits and aircraft in the months ahead.”

Onboard weighing systems provide pilots with the exact weight of the load on the cargo hook via a display monitor mounted in the cockpit, allowing them to maximise load efficiency while reducing airframe stress. Weight on the cargo hook is measured by an electronic load cell using state of the art strain-gauge technology. The load cell is temperature compensated and requires little maintenance. A quick glance at the cockpit-mounted indicator shows the full weight of the cargo on the hook to within 10 lb, or 5kg.

The C-40 cockpit indicator offers many improvements over the current C-39 indicator, which has been in use for more than twenty years. These include simplified hook TBO tracking, improved LCD screen contrast and a digital weight reading with an analogue bar display. A forthcoming data logging software upgrade will allow operators to record time, load weight and GPS coordinates for pick-up and drop-off locations. Future software upgrades can be downloaded from the Onboard Systems website onto a thumb drive for fast and easy field installation. And because the C-40 is upgrade-compatible from the C-39, current operators who would like to take advantage of the advanced features can simply replace their existing C-39 with a C-40 as kits are certified for use on additional aircraft.

The Model E-86 onboard weighing system with C-40 cockpit indicator for the Airbus AS350 B3, B3e and H125 (P/N 200-310-01) is now in production. Operators who are already using this kit with the C-39 indicator can easily change it out for a C-40 unit if desired.