Honeywell Announces Zing Maintenance Monitoring Systems

Feb. 27, 2009
Diagnostic and prognostic systems reduce helicopter downtime, lower maintenance costs, and improve safety.

ANAHEIM, CA – Honeywell introduces its Zing portfolio of diagnostic and prognostic maintenance monitoring systems for civil helicopters.

"Honeywell Zing helps provide operators with advance warning of potential equipment failures, allowing more maintenance to be performed in the hanger instead of unplanned events that occur in remote areas," says Mike Cuff, Honeywell Vice President, Helicopter and Surface Systems. "Zing is now available for civilian helicopters and offers comprehensive 'intelligent' health monitoring and complete condition-based maintenance. Zing's advanced technology provides operators with a fleet wide view of the health and performance of safety-critical components."

"The system is highly reliable and provides invaluable information," says Roger Sharkey of Sharkey's Helicopters Inc. "It's also easy to install, cost effective – and we have found the system to withstand the rigor of near constant operation."

The new Zing systems helicopters include Zing HUMS (Health and Usage Monitoring System) on-board systems; Zing Test portable carry-on hardware, sensors and cabling and software; Zing Ware; and Zing Service.

Zing HUMS is sensor-driven data and analysis gathered directly from the aircraft, providing information about the engine, gearbox, shafts, fans and rotor systems. Zing Test is an easy to use, carry-on vibration testing and balancing tool.

Zing Ware is software and Web-based tools for analyzing data collected from other Zing monitors, providing corrective actions for maintenance personnel. Zing Services provide fleet-level planning tools that include a web portal for remote access, 24/7 advisory services and other critical maintenance information that allows fleet managers to develop and monitor repair scheduling and to manage their operational costs through planned maintenance in preferred geographic areas and when passengers are not scheduled. This helps avoid unanticipated events where an aircraft may be outbound, away from service providers, or scheduled for flight.

"By continually monitoring the aircraft’s operational systems, the Zing portfolio provides easy-to-understand corrective actions to emerging maintenance issues that increase availability, reduce operating costs, and improve public and personal safety," says Bill Lawler, Honeywell Sales Director, Condition-Based Maintenance Systems. "Studies conducted by our U.S. Army customers have show reduced scheduled maintenance from 5 percent to as much as 10 percent, reduced mission aborts by 30 percent, and a significant 20 percent reduction in maintenance test flights."

Zing is available to civilian and commercial operators, including offshore transport providers, health emergency medical services, law enforcement and search and rescue, and tour operators. In addition, Honeywell is also a provider of health monitoring and maintenance systems for other aircraft segments, including military helicopters, and commercial and business aircraft. Honeywell's sensor-based diagnostic system is also deployed on military helicopters and ground fighting vehicles.

For more information visit www.honeywell.com.