Honeywell Sentinel Navigation System

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH  THE SENTINEL UNIT IN ACTION

The Sentinel system springs from the Honeywell IHAS (Integrated Hazard Avoidance System) family of products designed to simplify the pilot’s management of the four safety hazards. The most important of these is pilot situation awareness, i.e. the moving maps. Next comes weather information for storm cell and lightning avoidance, then terrain awareness (proximity warning) and finally information on conflicting traffic.

Sentinel addresses these four requirements brilliantly with very few operating and handling complications. The system is simplicity itself and I’m confident it can be competently handled by a new user following a solid study of the manual and a ten-minute self-brief with the controls at hand.

DATA CARDS
Two types of high capacity compact flash cards are included for storing software and data – the Primary Card, which holds the system software and Jeppesen maps with IFR and VFR aerodrome approach plate data, and the Auxiliary Card, which contains additional map data such as raster charts as specified by the operator. Updates information cards are available every 28 days to customers by subscription.

USB PORT
The USB ports allow uploading and saving of operator preferred system settings and customised home flight and fuel plans. A built-in Jeppesen Flite-Star flight plan named Route.Txt is uploaded for the USB drive, if present at power-on. Setting, User Waypoints and Sentinel flight plans van also be saved and uploaded when you enter the system. All flight log data is saved to the USB drive when the unit is switched off. Using the USB, the pilot can create his own checklists for uploading via the USB drive.

The rotary knob is used to cycle through menus and to scroll through lists and the alphabet when entering data. The manual describes the combined joystick and rotary knob selections especially well.
Finally, the Sentinel is available in a version adapted for use with Night Vision Goggles (NVG).

MAP MODE DISPLAYS
The Map Mode icon allows selection of the map with topographical information, with raster mapping, or with close terrain and obstacles highlighted, or with combinations of these.

The Map Mode displays are the standard CAA 1:500,000 topographical chart, the 1:250,000 or the 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey (OS) GeoRef map. Honeywell plan to add a Street Plan map shortly.

The close terrain display highlights know terrain above current height in red with terrain close to current height in red with terrain close to current height indicated in yellow. There is no active warning, but I found the colour coding effective enough o direct my attention to height proximity and relevant obstacles.
The Sentinel 2 Pilot Manual covers these features more than adequately.

TRAFFIC DISPLAY
For this facility, a traffic data source is required, such as TIS, TAS or TCAS. The Sentinel system can then display and alert known traffic on a see and avoid basis. Where data is available, icons are shown with height in hundreds of feet above or below the aircraft with a vertical trend arrow. Low threat icons are shown as hollow white shapes, intermediate-threat icons are coloured solid white, and high threat icons are solid yellow. I think they should be red.

STORMSCOPE WEATHER DISPLAY
For this facility, a lightning sensor is fitted. There are two modes: storm cell and lightning strike modes. Alerts can be shown in either a 360-degree surround or a 120-degree ahead display. Warnings of local lighting strikes are displayed on a lightning dedicated page or through the mode button on the main menu.

The Stormscope alert information can be overlaid on the map in use. This navigation system allows pilots to take on board the CAA’s 1:500,000 topo chart, the similar 1:250,000 and the 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey map in moving map format with finger-tip operation. VFR map navigation couldn’t be simpler using the Go To and Waypoint features.

Sentinel provides a continuous guide for heading – track keeping – groundspeed and height keeping. For operational purposes, the system displays distance to run, ETA, and time to station. Pilots have a constant location of controlled airspace and. If required, a wedding cake view of such airspace. We have storm cell and lightning warning and information of local terrain height clearance and, when required, traffic conflicts.

This Sentinel system is feature perfect, especially for us helicopter guys. But what does it cost? Honeywell’s recommended selling price is a whisker under £7,000 and there will be the associated fitting costs.

It is designed to fit the standard avionics tray with a panel depth of 10ins (25cms). Installed weight is 4lbs (1.8kgs).

However, in spite of its many features, I could find no menu that provided opening hours for a drink and I hate being late for the club bar!

Want to see the unit in action? Watch the exclusive LOOPTV movie.

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