Sikorsky is expected to announce a new order for its S-76C+ today at Farnborough. Details of the customer, believed to be European, should be announced at a press conference this morning.
Deliveries of the higher-powered C+ variant, which was introduced earlier this year, began in July, and Sikorsky reports that four aircraft have been delivered to date, with eight more on order.
Norsk Helikopter of Norway, LG Group of South Korea, Toyota of Japan and a US insurance company are among the first customers to take delivery.
Installation
Power improvements on the C+ result from installation of Turbomeca Arriel 2S1 engines, which provide 22% more one-engine-inoperative power and an 18% increase in take-off power compared with the 1S1 engines of the standard C model.
In other announcements at Farnborough, Sikorsky says it is offering a Honeywell glass cockpit and digital avionics as options on its S-70 Black Hawk, and reports that final assembly of its first S-92 Helibus prototype is scheduled to begin in 1997, with first flight anticipated in 1998.
Five flying S-92 prototypes will be built at Sikorsky's main factory in Stratford, Connecticut, with certification of two basic models, the S-92C civil version and the S-92 IU international utility variant, planned for 2000.
The Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche, meanwhile, which is being developed for the US Army, has resumed its flight test programme.
The aircraft completed a 54min flight, with five take-offs and landings, on 24 August at West Palm Beach, Florida. It was the Comanche's second flight - the first was in January - and Sikorsky says it went "very smoothly". A series of flight tests are planned over the next few weeks.
Source: Flight Daily News
