That is an Airbus autopilot.
Maybe, but they are offering a wider scope to update or replace on other fleets including military and drones.
But if I was an owner of a Badin Crouzet A/P which i wanted to replace, update or replace I would certainly be dropping them an email
🙂
I am always interested in what has happened to various French manufacturers especially where they have been involved in GA.
Badin Crouzet and in particular their autopilot division was one outfit that I thought was worth researching..
As I mentioned in other posts Badin Crouzet autopilots have gone through various mergers over the years and are now part of the huge Thales Group.
There are a large number of avionics manufacturers now under their umbrella and under their various guises their autopilot expertise over the years includes the autopilot for Concord.
Source Thales.
“Since the very first autopilot development for the Concorde 60 years ago, Thales has developed a strong expertise in this domain with civil and military programs worldwide, including state-of-the-art 4-axis duplex helicopter AFCS, certified for single pilot IFR, SAR, and more. Today, Thales autopilots cumulated billions of flight hours with outstanding customer satisfaction level and developed a strong team with experts.”
What aircraft can they be seen in?
Airbus A300/A320/A340 families, ATR 42/72-600, BAE Nimrod, Bombardier DH8-400, Dassault Mirage 2000 and SEM, EADS-Casa 295, Indian Air Force Jaguar, Sogerma C130, SukhoĂŻ Superjet J100, Leonardo Helicopters A109, Bell 206, Airbus Helicopters Tiger, Sikorsky S-76D.
So that was it I thought, nothing to do with GA, then I got this press release:-
“Until now Automatic Pilots were too heavy, too expensive especially for light helicopters. However, their missions, (SAR, EMS, Homeland security) increasingly call for low level and adverse weather flying, which invariably benefits from an AP. Thanks to its high level of integration, the Thales Compact Autopilot is designed for light and medium helicopters. The system weight is reduced by not requiring a main Flight Control Computer. While being compact, the Thales solution provides a very high level of safety, increases mission capability and availability.”
There’s then a whole lot of stuff about ETSO, TSO FAA and EASA approved etc.
Ok so they make lightweight autopilots but what about legacy systems?
A further press release arrived:-
Thales can upgrade any fleet of legacy aircraft, providing additional capabilities such as:
LPV capability;
Search & Rescue capability: search patterns, flexible approach to a point, position hold, etc.
Does that mean that the Badin Crouzet autopilot in an old Rallye or Robin be upgraded?
As you can imagine I’m still waiting a response on this? Obviously no Press release on this in the PR computer.
I have of course precised the press releases leaving out the bits about actuators and how they have reduced size and weight etc.
I should also point out that I am not involved in Thales in any way.
I have just thought that a topic brought up on euroga was worth further research.
I have found it interesting to do when I have no plane available or when the weather keeps me on the ground.
If.anyone has further info it would be great to read it.
The system weight is reduced by not requiring a main Flight Control Computer
The “computer” weighs almost nothing. Maybe 1kg. The three servos and mounts weigh perhaps 10kg. Maybe in WW2 when bombers had pneumatically operated autopilots, like this somewhat later model from the 1960s…
Airliner autopilots and servos, I have no idea about.
The point is surely that they are making compact light weight autopilots, capable of doing everything that a GA pilot might require.
Press release:-
“Thales offers innovative autopilot solutions, certified by both the FAA and EASA, and flying all around the world today on various platforms. Thales’ solution and architecture is adaptable to any aircraft design: commercial, regional, military, business jets, helicopter and drones.”
As I wrote I was not intending to go through all the ins and outs but as you picked on the computer weight, here is what they say:-
“Compact Autopilot is built upon on the latest generation of smart actuator which integrates state-of-the-art technology and improvements designed by Thales. The Smart+ actuator is designed to directly host the autopilot and flight director software with a high level of criticality (DAL level A).
The system does not require a main Flight Control Computer anymore and thus decrease the weight. All improvements and specific designs aim to provide a very reliable high performance actuator required for the severe helicopter environment."
That sounds really interesting.
The only problem is: Has anyone ever seen or heard of this Thales Compact AP? My search comes up pretty empty.
https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/aerospace/flight-deck-avionics-equipment-functions
You might want to start here. I have been using the French site.but I think this is roughly the same.
Doesn’t show much on the GA side that I can see.
But I do recall working with Thales in the past very fondly. Their canteen was second to none I’ve ever been to 
The size of this “compact AP” is a sentence from a marketting document. Remember we are talking about Thales, they are not bright because of their technical refinement, but the military contract they have. this AP may be compact for a a320 size plane…
