Have been at Bell Academy this week for B407 recurrent and received a good dose of FADEC related information which I have summarized below to the best of my ability. The experts may wish to add or correct as appropriate.
Software version 5.358 is now installed in newly manufactured helicopters and a RFM/MD revison was issued recently to cover the changes. The changes in 5.358 are primarily aimed at reducing the instances in which the FADEC reverts to manual control (direct reversion to manual). Software 5.358 (and 5.356) incorporate a software reversionary channel which can take control of the engine in the event of a primary channel FADEC failure. This reversionary channel is limited in its capability (but the FADEC remains in AUTO mode), and does not support:
1. Automatic start with starter and ignition operation
2. Ng power modulation based on Power Lever Angle (PLA)
3. Temperature limiting
4. Automatic relight
5. Surge detection, recovery, and avoidance
6. Quiet Mode
Some RR data was presented which indicates that reversions to manual have been reduced by up to 70% (depending on which software version one is comparing to).
