Autothrottles are usually limited to airliners and high-end business jets, but at the AEA Convention in Las Vegas this week, Innovative Solutions and Support announced a retrofit product designed to put smart power levers in the hands of turboprop pilots. The company says it’s the only aftermarket autothrottle system for turboprops such as Pratt & Whitney’s ubiquitous PT6 series.
IS&S’s ThrustSense uses a liner actuator to command the throttles so no structural modifications to the existing throttle quadrants are required. The company says the system can be retrofitted to almost any aircraft and has just been certified for the Pilatus PC-12.
The system has its own panel control unit and sets power according to commanded torque or indicated airspeed values. It also includes torque and temperature limit protection. Although it’s not technically a FADEC, IS&S says ThrustSense provides similar engine protection.
In addition to the PC-12, IS&S says it plans to add STCs for the King Air with Pro Line avionics, Cessna’s Caravan, the Piper Meridian and the Daher TBM.
IS&S touted its ThrustSense Integrated Autothrottle at the AEA new product introductions this morning. This allows a pilot to automatically control the power setting of the engine. IS&S says their autothrottle computes and controls appropriate power levels reducing pilot workload and enhancing safety. The product has Vmc protection thrust control, under/over speed protection, haptic throttle warning and the company says it is easy to install.
The system computes thrust, holds selected speed/torque and implements appropriate limit protection. When engaged by the pilot, the autothrottle system adjusts the throttles automatically to achieve and hold the selected airspeedguarded by a torque/temperature limit mode. Protection modes will automatically activate, regardless of autopilot engagement state in an attempt to keep airspeed, torque and temperature from exceeding predefined targets.
The autothrottle can be adapted to most PT6-powered aircraft with their IS&S Integrated Standby Unit and comes in various sizes to adapt to the flight deck. The autothrottle is also offered as part of the previously certified IS&S NextGen Flight Deck for the PC-12.
