THREE JAPANESE companies have between them ordered 17 McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) Explorer helicopters. Aero Asahi, one of the country's largest helicopter operating companies, is to purchase 15 of the machines. The Aero Asahi order is the largest to date for the recently certificated NOTAR (no-tail-rotor)-equipped helicopter. The operator expects to use the Explorer primarily for aeromedical services, television news gathering and corporate charter work. Japan Digital Laboratory and local MDHS distributor Tomen Aerospace have also placed single-aircraft orders. Deliveries are due to start in the middle of this year and continue through to 1999.
Source: Flight International
