Helipro Completions has unveiled a new low-cost Bell UH-1H helicopter upgrade aimed at civil and military operators looking for enhanced hot-and-high performance.
The Huey 703 has been developed as a joint venture between Airwork of New Zealand, which owns 50% of Helipro, and Global Helicopter Technology. It uses the same uprated Honeywell T53-703 turboshaft as Bell's Huey II upgrade, but without the addition of uprated Bell UH-1N/212 dynamic components.
Retrofitting the 212's tailboom, gearbox, main rotor and blades carries a 270kg (600lb) weight penalty and yields only a 180kg improvement in useful load, claims Helipro general manager Forrest Osborne, who adds: "When you're paying $2.2 million [for a 212-upgrade] it's hard to justify. We feel we can offer it at about 50% less."
Huey 703 performance enhancements focus instead on a new left hand side Helipro tractor tailrotor to improve directional control above 3,000ft (915m).
Other modifications include a Boundary Layer Research tailboom strake, a Global electromechanical density-altitude com- pensator to adjust rotor pitch and newly certified laminated vertical fin spar to mitigate cracking.
This has increased the useful load by 680kg, to about 2,040kg, and raised the service ceiling by 8,000ft, to 12,000ft at ISA +30°C. The helicopter at maximum gross weight has demonstrated hover-out-of-ground effect at 12,230ft.
An optional avionics upgrade, based on the Honeywell Bendix/ King Gold Crown III package - including a moving map display and global positioning system - is available for the helicopter.
Helipro is targeting law enforcement and disaster relief agencies in North America as well as military air arms markets worldwide. The company says the upgrade could be available from next year, based on a 12-month engine lead time.
Source: Flight International
