All Helicopters articles – Page 218
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Bell 427 flies
Bell has flown the first production Model 427 light twin-turbine helicopter. Two prototypes have accumulated over 325h flight testing, and certification is expected by year-end. Bell has more than 70 orders for the 427. Source: Flight International
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Power demand delays Koala tests
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Agusta has pushed back certification of its A119 Koala single-turbine helicopter to the fourth quarter of this year. The Italian company cites two reasons - plans to enhance the aircraft's performance in response to customer demands, and the need to concentrate on satisfying high demand for its ...
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CHC spin-off
Canada's CHC Helicopter has completed the spin-off of its maintenance business under the Vector Aerospace name, raising C$193 million ($131 million) from the initial sale of an 80% stake, with C$48 million to come if the new owners elect to buy out the rest. Meanwhile, CHC posted a net profit ...
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Remmele advances machining on Bell 427
The first application of high-velocity machining (HVM) to a civil helicopter has been pioneered by New Brighton, Minnesota-based Remmele Engineering on Bell Helicopter Textron's new twin-engined Model 427. HVM at 40,000rpm spindle speed has made it possible to form the keelbeam, the primary structural member of the nose, as a ...
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Firing up for sales
Graham Warwick/WASHINTON DC With wildfires making headlines from California to Florida, Bombardier believes it has picked the right time to step up efforts to sell its CL-415 waterbomber into the USA. Although it is popular in Canada and with southern European nations that face the same seasonal battle against ...
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S-92 testbed
The first Sikorsky S-92 Helibus medium helicopter arrived at the company's West Palm Beach, Florida, development flight-test centre at the end of June, to be used as a propulsion systems testbed. Extensive ground-testing of the General Electric CT7-6D-powered helicopter is planned before the maiden flight, scheduled for the fourth quarter ...
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Robinson designs hydraulics for R44
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Robinson has designed a customised hydraulic flight control system for its R44 four-seat light helicopter, in response to customer demand. "We have completed all the design work and we hope to have it installed on a machine and flying by early September," says Robinson customer support manager ...
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UK certification for Eurocopter EC 135
Eurocopter has received UK Civil Aviation Authority certification for its EC135 twin turbine helicopter. The French manufacturer has clocked up more than 120 orders for the EC135 to date. The Central Counties consortium air support unit, which incorporates the West Mercia and Staffordshire police forces, is to take delivery of ...
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Making the move
The runway lights at Kai Tak will go out in the early hours of 6 July, bringing to a close a distinguished 73-year history. During the night, some 30 aircraft will make the short flight to Chek Lap Kok, 25km (13nm) to the west, in readiness for a 0630 start ...
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Sikorsky sees optimism offshore
Sikorsky has predicted an upturn in the offshore support helicopter market after carrying out a survey of the petroleum industry. "Prospects for the next 12 to 18 months are brighter than we have seen recently, all over the world," says Mike Moran, director of commercial programmes. The US company ...
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GM/Williams team up on microturbine generators
General Motors (GM) and Williams International have teamed up to develop microturbine generators for aerospace applications, primarily unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). The powerplants, which will also be used for distributed power generation, will be produced from a 40kW microturbine generator that was developed for an advanced hybrid electric car, ...
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CHC to float overhaul
Canada's CHCHelicopter plans to float all its repair and overhaul operations, to be separated into a separate division as Vector Aerospace. The helicopter operator expects to raise C$192.5 million ($132 million) from the public offering. It will initially retain a 20% stake, but plans for this to be sold if ...
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DARPA and Frontier develop long endurance UAV rotorcraft
The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has teamed with Frontier Systems to flight test a revolutionary unmanned helicopter that can stay airborne for as long as 62h and achieve an unrefuelled maximum range of 8,550km (4,600nm). The newly revealed long endurance unmanned helicopter and the rival Boeing ...
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Multi-role machine
Peter Gray/SINGAPORE Eurocopter has brought two completely new turbine helicopters to the market in the past two years: the light single-engined EC120 and the light twin-engined EC135. Before putting pen to drawing board to design a new light twin, Eurocopter asked operators what they wanted. Later, during development, ...
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Dunlop ready for S-92
Dunlop Aviation has delivered the first prototype heated intake assembly to Sikorsky for its S-92 helicopter for use in windtunnel icing testing and has delivered three further unheated examples for use in flight testing. The first production unit is scheduled to be delivered in September. The S-92 is due to ...
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US missiles sale
The US Department of Defense intends to sell Turkey 30 Boeing Harpoon anti-ship missiles, plus related equipment worth about $43 million. Greece is being offered 160 AGM-114KBF and 88 AGM-114K1 Hellfire II anti-tank missiles worth $24 million, while South Korea is to pay around $19 million for 500 Raytheon TOW ...
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Aero-Dienst adds to Bell customer base
Bell Helicopter Textron has announced the first sale of the Bell Boeing 609 tilt-rotor aircraft in Germany. Nuremberg-based Aero-Dienst plans to use the aircraft for charter services, and to support the German automobile association ADAC, for which Aero-Dienst provides exclusive air ambulance services. Aero-Dienst now operates four Beech King ...
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Sloane delivers
Sloane Helicopters has delivered a Robinson R22 to a private customer, bringing to nine the number of Robinson helicopters delivered by the UK-based distributor this year. Sloane has orders for five R22s and two R44s to date and is due to deliver its first two Agusta A109 Powers by the ...
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Airbus seeks A3XX commitments
Max Kingsley-Jones/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie says it is to start seeking launch commitments from airlines for the A3XX large aircraft early next year. One of the key potential customers, British Airways, has already indicated a requirement for up to 23 aircraft. Jurgen Thomas, senior vice-president of Airbus Industrie's large ...
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Dow on Sikorsky
Dow-United Technologies Composites Products has received a five year contract worth $100-125 million from Sikorsky to produce the majority of carbonfibre, glassfibre reinforced plastic and Kevlar composite components for its H-60 and H-53 helicopters. Source: Flight International