Eurocopter’s EC225 24-passenger helicopter has received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval for unrestricted operation in icing conditions. Certificated in July last year, the largest member of the Super Puma family entered North Sea offshore service earlier this month.
Certification required 100h of flight testing in three phases, Eurocopter says. Sikorsky’s rival 19-passenger S-92, also entering service on the North Sea and off Canada, is in the final stages of US, European and Canadian certification for flight into known icing.
The EC225 has a dual-redundant ice protection system. The new five-blade main rotor is cyclically de-iced using mats heated by metal resistors, while the four-blade tail rotor has a continuous anti-icing system using carbon resistors. The helicopter uses slip-ring technology developed for the NH90 rotor to transfer the high electrical power to the rotors.
Source: Flight International
