Polish manufacturer PZL-Swidnik is to start flight tests leading to European certification of its SW-4 Maluch single-engine multi-purpose helicopter on the back of its first export order from a UK-based company.
The 455shp (335kW) Rolls-Royce 250-C20R/2-powered helicopter will start flights this month aimed at securing UK Civil Aviation Authority approval, which should lead to European Aviation Safety Agency certification by around year-end.
The SW-4’s relatively low price – $750,000, compared with about $1 million for similar-sized aircraft such as the Bell 206, Eurocopter EC120 and Schweizer 330 – will help attract more export sales, says Swidnik sales manager Jan Mazur. Serial production has started and only three aircraft from this year’s batch remain unsold, he says.
In July Swidnik will complete deliveries of 11 Mi-2s to the Indonesian police, while the Polish border guard has ordered four Westernised Mi-2s, the R-R 250-powered Kania. Iraq has also ordered two W-3 Sokol utility helicopters for head of state transport.
Mazur says it was a “big success” to sell the first Sokol to a Western market in May when the Italian government ordered a firefighting variant. “It opens the door for other Western markets such as Greece and Spain,” he says.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE/PARIS
Source: Flight International
