HAI Convention News 03-04-15

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MARCH 4, 2015

Airbus H160 takes center stage by Thierry Dubois

Airbus Helicopters unveiled the H160 medium twin on March 3, a long-awaited successor for the Dauphin family and designed to lock horns with the AgustaWestland AW139 in the 12-passenger market. Codenamed X4 until now, the clean sheet design fea-tures Blue Edge main rotor blades for quieter opera-tion, a canted Fenestron tail rotor for increased payload and the Airbus Helicopters-developed Helionix avion-ics suite installed on the EC145T2 and EC175. Other innovations include a full composite airframe, a biplane stabilizer–for improved main-rotor efficiency–and an electric landing gear. On display here (Booth 2437) is

a full-size mockup. First flight is planned for this year and entry into service in 2018.

For the offshore oil-and-gas mission, the H160 will offer class 1 takeoff performance for 12 passengers and a 120-nm radius of action. In search-and-rescue, hover out of ground effect can be maintained at up to 5,000 feet and range reaches 450 nm with a 20-minute reserve. The smooth cruise speed will be 160 knots, without any counter-vibration system.

Aurélie Gensolen, Dauphin family and X4 mar-keting product manager, said this is equivalent to the

BELL LAUNCHES 407GXP WITH $600 MILLION AIR METHODS ORDER

Bell Helicopter introduced an upgraded version of its popular 407GX single on the first day of Heli-Expo. The launch of the 407GXP won immediate industry approval with emergency medical operator Air Methods placing a mas-sive order for 200 examples of the model, which features a more powerful engine and improved avionics. The $600 mil-lion deal will involve the helicopters being delivered over a 10-year period.

The 407GXP has an uprated 862-shp Rolls-Royce M250-C47B/8 engine, delivering better hot-and-high performance and slightly lower fuel burn. The upgraded Garmin G1000 cockpit features a hover performance calculator and an optional low-cost autopilot. More on page 12

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There is nothing like the unveiling of a new design to bring out the crowds. Dramatic lighting and inspiring music were all part of the scene as Airbus Helicopters introduced its H160. Even though the project has been around since 2011 (known as the X4), the excitement on the floor of Heli-Expo was palpable.

INDUSTRY ENGINES OPERATIONS CAREERS MILITARY

AIR METHODS REFLECTS ON 2014CEO Aaron Todd says Air Methods has had a “good strong healthy year,” which he attributes to the company’s commitment to safety and also to its sound business practices. 4

P&WC TURBOSHAFTS HOT SELLERSWith the recent EASA certification of its upgraded PW206B3 turboshaft, Pratt & Whitney Canada is bullish on the rotorcraft market. Its PT6C-67E is also performing well in its category. Page 18

NEW CAT A DEPARTURE APPROVEDA new Category A departure procedure is now available for operators of Bell’s 412EPI, involving a slight backward movement from the hover, while keeping the departure point in sight. Page 20

HELITECH OPENS DOORSOrganizers of the UK’s Helitech International show have established a Learning and Skills Zone for young people interested in careers within the rotorcraft industry. Page 25

BELL’S V-280 SHOWS PROMISEPromising “sports-car handling” for its third-generation tiltrotor project, Bell is here at Heli-Expo with new information on the heir apparent to the V-22 Osprey program. Page 28

China overtaking Japan in Asia-Pacific market by Amy Laboda

The Asia-Pacific region’s helicopter fleet grew by 9 per-cent last year, with the total number of civil rotorcraft there reaching 2,463 by the end of 2014, according to the latest data published by Asian Sky Group. Managing director Jef-frey Lowe said that while Japan for now remains the region’s most developed helicopter mar-ket, he expects it to be overtaken by China in the near future. The figures do not include Australia and New Zealand.

China’s fleet of helicopters grew by 29 percent in 2014 to reach 655 aircraft in total. By comparison, the Japa-nese fleet stood at 800 units. “I see no reason for that [Chi-nese] growth to slow down,” said Lowe. “I would not be surprised to see the China market surpass the Japanese

market at the end of this year.” Asian Sky found most helicopters in China are oper-ating in coastal areas, pri-marily around Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai.

Unlike the more mature markets, in China Robinson Helicopter owns the largest share of the market with 195 aircraft, according to Asian Sky’s latest statistics. After Robinson are Airbus Helicop-ters (152) and Bell Helicopter (104), then Sikorsky (43) and AgustaWestland (37).

Search-and-rescue (SAR), emergency medical services (EMS) and law enforcement represent 35 percent of the Japanese fleet, with corpo-rate transport and private-use helicopters totaling 22 per-cent. Seventy-nine percent of the market is turbine-powered

aircraft. “The most typical mission profile in country is multi-mission. That’s how heli-copters in Japan are working 40 percent of the time,” Lowe continued.

Asian Sky data shows that 6 percent of the Japanese fleet is heavy helicopters, with Air-bus Helicopters having the larg-est overall share at 43 percent. Interestingly, the top 10 opera-tors in the country own or oper-ate 50 percent of fleet in Japan.

Loosening BarriersSouth Korea’s fleet is the

second-most mature, with 200 helicopters on its roster. Cor-porate helicopters make up 15 percent of that fleet, with the balance being parapublic services such as firefighting, EMS and SAR.

In China, new infrastruc-ture and airspace regulations are helping increase demand, as private flying becomes more and more feasible. “Airspace reform is one of the catalysts fueling the growth of the mar-ket,” said Lowe. “It appears that sales will accelerate, as

[Chinese aviation authority] CAAC intends to open the whole airspace to general avia-tion by year-end 2015.”

The Philippines and Malaysia have just under 180 helicopters in their fleets. The Philippines stand out, how-ever, as having the largest cor-porate and private fleet (45 percent of the fleet), reflective of both the region’s challeng-ing geography and its open-airspace regulations.

Thailand’s more modest fleet of 115 helicopters includes many government-owned rotorcraft. Nearly 60 percent of the fleet are classified as medium-sized helicopters. o

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Jeffrey Lowe, Asian Sky Group managing director, sees no slowdown.

ROBINSON SIGNS FOR 100 RR300sRolls-Royce and Robinson Helicopter signed here at

Heli-Expo a new 10-year agreement for purchase of at least 1,000 RR300 engines to power R66 helicopters. “They told me they don’t take Visa, so I’ll have to give them a check,” Kurt Robinson, president of Robinson Helicopter, said as he put pen to contract.

“We are thrilled to continue our long-standing relationship with Robinson Helicopter and secure the RR300 on their versatile R66 for the next decade,” said Jason Propes, Rolls-Royce, senior v-p, helicopters.

Robinson’s R66 has been powered exclusively by the Rolls-Royce RR300 since the helicopter entered service in 2010, and to date Rolls-Royce (Booth 3228) has sup-plied more than 800 of the turboshaft engines to the Torrance, Calif. company. Under the agreement, Rob-inson (Booth 3221) will purchase a minimum of 100 engines per year for the next 10 years. Financial details were not disclosed. No major engine enhancements are specified to occur over the contract term, but both par-ties expressed the expectation that improvements will be forthcoming as part of Rolls-Royce’s ongoing prod-uct development efforts. “It’s a long-term commitment to work together, ” said Robinson. “This shows our industry and our customers [that] Rolls-Royce and Rob-inson will be with you ten years from now.”� n

Rolls-Royce senior v-p, helicopters Jason Propes, left, signs a 10-year deal with Robinson Helicopter president Kurt Robinson.

Robinson factory poised for a big-production yearby Mark Huber

Robinson Helicopter presi-dent Kurt Robinson reports year-to-date sales surging following reduced production numbers in 2014. Last year, Robinson built 329 helicopters, down from 523 in 2013. However, this year Rob-inson said production is already back up to eight to nine helicop-ters per week, consisting of one R22, three R66s, and four to five R44s on average. He said the com-pany is currently running two shifts and had the capacity to pro-duce up to 1,000 helicopters per year at its plant in Torrance, Calif.

Robinson is so confident about his company’s future, in particu-lar the R66 turbine single, that he said the company signed a deal here at Heli-Expo with Rolls-Royce for deliveries of 1,000 of its RR300 turbine engines over the next decade (see box). Rob-inson calls the RR300 “the per-fect engine” for the R66. To date, the R66 fleet has amassed 275,000 hours, 115,000 of those coming last year alone. “The reports we have received from customers on the R66 have been incredibly pos-itive,” said Robinson. “We’ve had no significant problems with it at all.”

As the R66 grows in popularity,

Robinson said the company had also increased the number of ser-vice centers for the helicopter to 112 worldwide. He said he expects to see demand grow for the R66 now that the FAA has certified a Turbine Marine version with pop-out floats and that the Garmin G500H avionics and Genesys HeliSAS autopilot are available for the helicopter.

Device-friendly OptionRobinson also pointed out that

the R66 can now be equipped with an accessory bar to pro-vide uncluttered power to per-sonal electronic devices. He said the company continues to work on more kits and options for the R66 including a law-enforcement package, a 1,200-pound-capac-ity external cargo hook that can be operated from the pilot or pas-senger position and auxiliary fuel bladder that adds up to hours or more range. Robinson (Booth 3221) also continues to work on certification of the R66 for oper-ations in blowing snow.

Robinson said the com-pany continues to look into the reported crack of an R44 main rotor blade in New Zealand and will be running future tests. o

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Bell and Waypoint Leasing ink 20-ship LOI for new 525sby Curt Epstein

At a ceremony yesterday at the Bell Helicopter booth Waypoint Leasing signed a letter of intent for 20 Bell 525 Relentless helicopters, a deal that repre-sents the largest commitment thus far for the still-under-development super-medium helicopter. “This landmark agreement is one of the largest com-mercial helicopter orders in Bell Heli-copter’s 80-year history, and demonstrates that the mar-ketplace recognizes the capa-bilities and unmatched value of the Bell 525 Relentless,” said Bell president and CEO John Garrison.

If the certification pro-cess goes smoothly for the 20,000-pound-class helicop-ter, which has yet to make its first flight, Waypoint CEO Ed Washecka told AIN he expects deliveries to his com-pany to begin next year and spread over the course of four years. “It gives us a chance to get in early with a new model, do the leg work with Bell of marketing it to the user base and have some role in how that aircraft is going to be designed and fielded,” he said. Waypoint plans to provide the 525, which will be the first fly-by-wire commercial helicopter, to its customers in a wide variety of roles including oil and gas, aeromedical trans-port, search-and-rescue, firefighting and governmental support.

Ireland-based Waypoint (Booth 1812)

was founded in 2013 with an initial $375 million in equity and has quickly grown to a portfolio of nearly 100 rotorcraft worth $1.1 billion, not to mention another billion dollars in pending orders and options. The company last week announced a deal in Nigeria, with Caver-ton Helicopters Limited taking leases on an AgustaWestland AW139 and a Bell

412EP for support of oil and gas operations. “This marks our first transaction in West Africa, which is already a significant helicopter leasing market and expected to con-tinue growing long-term,” noted Washecka.

Given the recent tur-bulence in the petro-leum market, he sees some effects swirling down to the rotorcraft market. “I think this year especially with oil

prices coming off as much as they have, it will be tougher for some oil compa-nies to make commitments. On the other hand it may accelerate the drive to phase out some of the older-technology air-craft that are potentially candidates to be replaced with aircraft like the Bell 525, the AgustaWestland AW189, the Airbus Helicopters EC175,” Washecka said.

“I think the uncertainty that some will see in the market, whether it’s oil prices or debt availability, will push some growth towards us and other leas-ing companies.” o

Ed Washecka, CEO of Waypoint Leasing

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offshore variant of AW609by Mark Huber

Bristow Group yesterday strongly signaled its intention to be a leading customer and operator for AgustaWest-land’s AW609 civil tiltrotor. The UK-based company’s CEO Jonathan Baliff said at a Heli-Expo press conference it was “absolutely” committed to ordering the AgustaWestland AW609 civil tiltrotor and said the size of the order “won’t be in the single digits. I expect to see this air-craft in five to ten years as big a part of our fleet as [Sikorsky] S-76s and S-92s.”

Bristow signed a wide-ranging mem-orandum of understanding (MoU) with AgustaWestland here at Heli-Expo yes-terday characterized as a “platform development agreement” for AW609 oil and gas and search-and-rescue variants. The agreement provides a framework for the two companies to share techni-cal information and expertise in areas including operations, regulations, main-tenance, configuration optimization, enhancements and modifications.

Baliff also said that Bristow would provide some pilots, all the civilian training and invest in simulators for the AW609 development program. The agreement does not contain any orders for the aircraft from Bristow, but Baliff left no doubt that Bristow would be a col-laborator and a customer.

Formal orders for Bristow’s AW609s are expected in 2017. AgustaWestland anticipates certification for the AW609 that same year and customer deliveries beginning in 2018.

“This is a multi-year MoU we are signing,” said Baliff. “This just isn’t two years. This is a heavy commitment involving millions of dollars and signif-icant personnel before the aircraft gets purchased. Are we going to purchase these? Absolutely, we are going to pur-chase these. But it is still getting certi-fied and AgustaWestland is making us the exclusive customer for operation in

hostile environments in the initial devel-opment stage. We’re going to get a leap by being the exclusive provider in hostile environments.

“This changes the whole logistics sup-ply chain for our clients,” Baliff contin-ued. “With this we can fly clients straight from London to [an energy] rig [in the North Sea]. This is going to be the air medevac aircraft of choice. You have to get injured workers off the rigs within the golden hour. This aircraft allows a level of safety and certainty. It flies above the weather and has speed and range.”

A Bristow spokesman said the com-pany found the AW609 attractive, given its customers’ growing demand for point-to-point transportation solutions partic-ularly those that combine the attributes of fixed- and rotary-wing transportation. Bristow recently invested in two regional airlines, Eastern Airways in the U.K. and Australia’s Airnorth, in response to cus-tomer needs for seamless transportation.

AgustaWestland announced on March 2 that the AW609 civil tiltrotor will be manufactured at its plant in Phil-adelphia, Pa. and that most flight test activity will be moving to the U.S. The manufacturer also revealed significant payload and range improvements for the 609 that could potentially give it an mtow equal to or in excess of 17,500 pounds in STOL or running takeoffs and a standard maximum range without reserves of 750 nm, 1,100 nm with auxiliary fuel tanks. Maximum cruise speed will remain at 275 knots at 25,000 feet.

The aircraft’s program manager, Clive Scott, said he expects the 609 to be priced comparable to a conventional super-medium helicopter when customer deliv-eries begin in 2018 after anticipated FAA certification in late 2017. Scott expects a price to be announced by year’s end. He said a speculated price of $24 million “was not far off.” o

Bristow Group CEO Jonathan Baliff, left, signed an MoU with AgustaWestland CEO Daniele Romiti, right. The UK operator is commited to helping AgustaWestland develop offshore variants of the AW609 civil tiltrotor.

SEVEN-TON KIT AND REFINEMENTS FOR AW139 UNVEILED

AgustaWestland took the wraps off of an increased gross weight (IGW) seven-ton kit for its AW139 and a host of new prod-uct improvements for the helicopter yester-day. The IGW option will give the AW139 a maximum gross weight of 15,430 pounds, allowing it to haul more for longer distances. The move is seen as making the AW139 a serious option for the deepwater offshore energy market. Offshore energy operator Heli Union is the launch customer for the kit.

More than 800 AW139s are currently in service. The helicopter was originally certi-fied in 2003 at 14,110 pounds mtow, with an 880-pound increase available via optional kit beginning in 2011. The IGW seven-ton kit is available for all new AW139s and can be ret-rofitted upon customer request to AW139s in service, in either 14,110- or 14,990-pound configurations. Retrofit costs vary depending on aircraft configuration. The kit will be avail-able for new AW139s manufactured at either AgustaWestland’s Philadelphia or Vergiate, Italy factories beginning later this year.

With the seven-ton kit, an AW139 in offshore configuration will have a radius of action of up to 165 nm (150 nm with

retrofits) with 12 passengers (220 pounds each). Transporting eight passengers, the kit will increase the radius of action from 185 to 230 nm (215 nm for retrofits). The seven-ton kit preserves the helicopter’s performance envelope, providing a temperature enve-lope at sea level from -40 to +50 deg C, slope landing up to 10 degrees in all direc-tions, ditching capability up to sea state 6 and category A clear area at 15,430 pounds up to ISA+20 deg C at sea level.

AgustaWestland announced other base-line improvements to new AW139s including new weight-savings kits and an enhanced fuselage featuring a new baggage door locking mechanism, Nylatron door sockets, composite passenger door rails, simplified panels on baggage and passenger doors, optimized passenger doors, fuel system tunnel, better instrument-panel support and improved wiring interconnections.

New retrofit options include an improved exhaust pipe installation and a new tail boom. Additional kits include: new active vibration control systems; environmental-control sys-tems; and emergency flotation gear with integrated 14/17-passenger rafts. –M.H.

Airbus sets sights on post-sale experienceby Mark Huber

Amidst widespread softness in the global civil helicopter mar-ket in 2014, Airbus announced a modest decline in deliveries and a continuation of its over-all dominance in the sector with 44 percent market share world-wide and a 52 percent share in the U.S. For the year, Airbus Helicopters posted revenues of $7.28 billion and delivered 471 helicopters, modestly down from 497 in 2013; it booked 402 orders, 115 of them in the U.S. Of the total orders booked, 100 were for heavy helicopters such as the recently renamed H225.

Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillame Faury told a Heli-Expo press conference that the company is accelerat-ing its focus on offering cus-tomers safety improvements and better product support. New safety initiatives include the development of the first flight crew operations manual (FCOM) for helicopters as well as making the Appareo Vision 1000 cockpit image and data recording system standard on new helicopters including the H125, H130, H135 and H145 now and all of its helicopters by the end of 2015.

Faury also unveiled a new

comprehensive warranty pro-gram called H Care on all new helicopters that extends for three years or 2,000 hours with labor included in the first year. He said that product support metrics have improved, citing a 98-percent on time delivery rate for planned spares by the end of 2014 and a halving of the late spares delivery rate. Faury said the company’s parts-by-the-hour contract prices have been made “more attractive.”

Going forward, Faury said that Airbus Helicopters has set some important customer service benchmarks includ-ing delivering planned spares requested at least 15 days out 100 percent on time; having all customers visited by customer support managers within the year; and instituting a single point of contact for customer support worldwide 365/24/7. “We want customers to choose Airbus for its level of customer service,” Faury said.

Faury said the new H160 medium twin Airbus Helicop-ters unveiled here Tuesday is a change agent for the company. That helicopter is expected to make first flight later this year and gain certification in 2018. o


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Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Faury outlines his plans for new safety initiatives and product support enhancements.

NATIONAL HELICOPTER SIGNS SRT FOR SAR TRAINING

Search and rescue service provider SRT Helicopters announced here at the Heli-Expo show its selection by National Helicopter Services to provide operational training and support in various countries in South America, as well as Trinidad and Tobago. The support, delivered through the Bakersfield, Calif.-based company’s Special-ized Response and Training division, includes both over-water and inland search-and-rescue training and will also provide hoist operators and rescue personnel to staff National’s S-76 rescue helicopter.

“Because of SRT’s reputation and operational experience in helicopter search-and-rescue and hoist opera-tions, it was clear that SRT was best qualified to meet our extensive requirements and ever-changing time lines,” said Joshey Mahabir, CEO and general manager of National Helicopter.

SRT’s training staff is comprised of working search-and-rescue professionals, ensuring the company’s training and curriculum are current and address real-life operational scenarios, and training is customized to meet each customer’s specific mission requirements.

National Helicopter, which provides helicopter transport services throughout Caribbean South America, is a joint venture between the government of Trinidad and Tobago and the country’s National Gas Company.

HELI-EXPO 2015 OPENS ON A HIGH NOTE

Despite lackluster helicopter sales last year and questions about what it means, the mood was optimistic for yesterday’s ribbon cutting presided over by HAI president Matt Zuccaro, center, and numerous industry digni-taries. All numbers for the show were up, with more than 700 exhibitors and 55 helicopters on display, includ-ing the long-awaited Dauphin successor, now called the H160. As it has in the past, safety remains a key focus.

Two-seat French piston wins FAA certificationby Curt Epstein

French manufacturer Gui-mbal Helicopters announced it has received FAA certifica-tion for its Cabri G2 two-seat rotorcraft. The light helicopter, which saw its first flight a decade ago, earned EASA approval in December of 2007, and saw its first delivery in 2008, just around the time that the global financial downturn flooded Europe with hundreds of discounted used single-engine helicopters.

Since then the company has delivered 96 G2s to operators in 22 countries around the world, including 16 to Germany, 14 to New Zealand, even a pair each to Vietnam and China. The fleet, which is used mainly for train-ing, has achieved 50,000 loss-free, injury-free flight hours, with the leader tallying more than 4,300 hours in little more than four years of operation.

The helicopter made its U.S. debut at last year’s Heli-Expo in

Anaheim, with the first model going to Oregon-based opera-tor and training provider Pre-cision Helicopters, which has been flying it under an experi-mental certificate. At this year’s show, Guidance Aviation, which has training locations in Prescott Ariz. and Baton Rouge, La. con-firmed the purchase of its first Cabri G2, made last year and pending U.S. certification.

Guimbal had more than $10 million in sales last year, which equates to an increase of approximately 60 percent, and with a current backlog of 75 firm orders spread over 13 coun-tries the company has doubled its workforce over the past year to 70 employees, while slowly ramping up production. In 2013 it delivered 17 aircraft, and that number increased to 27 last year.

According to company founder Bruno Guimbal, 44 Cabris are expected to be

produced this year. “I really wanted to develop a nice heli-copter to fulfill a real demand from the market,” said Guimbal, a former Eurocopter (now Air-bus Helicopters) engineer, not-ing the slow process of starting production from scratch. “I can really think that building heli-copters is a tough job, particu-larly in the first 20 years.”

When asked about the lag in certification between EASA and the FAA, Olivier Gamard, the manufacturer’s head of airwor-thiness, said the U.S. regulators were thorough in their review of the aircraft, even requesting cer-tain flight tests be redone to dif-ferent specifications. o

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MEET THE EDITORS

Have you ever wondered how AIN produces its award-winning show daily publications around the world? Well here at Heli-Expo 2015 you can find out if you come meet the AIN editorial team at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 5 at Booth 2474 in the Orange County Convention Center. You’ll be able to meet AIN editors such as Charles Alcock, Chad Trautvetter, Matt Thurber and Curt Epstein, plus AIN video producer Ian Whelan.

We look forward to telling you how AIN provides the helicopter industry with news around-the-clock and how we produce daily issues at air shows and conventions around the world. We also want to hear your news and your perspective on the challenges facing the industry. � n

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Bruno Guimbal, Guimbal Helicopters founder

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TRU Simulation’s roots are in helicoptersby Mark Huber

If you didn’t know the history, you might think that Textron’s TRU Simula-tion + Training was just breaking into the helicopter market, building simulators for sister company Bell Helicopter. But that isn’t entirely accurate.

TRU was created in 2013 when Textron acquired Opinicus in Florida and Mech-tronix in Montreal and merged them with Textron Systems’ existing training and simulation business, which serves the mil-itary aircraft market through its facilities in Goose Creek, S.C.

James Takats co-founded Opini-cus in 1988 and is now CEO of TRU. Takats received his bachelor of engineer-ing degree in electrical engineering from McGill University. He is the motion task team leader of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) International Working Group and a member of the RAeS Flight Simulation Group committee and the International Pilot Training Consortium.

“One thing that is little known is that we have been in the helicopter business for over 20 years, but it was the military helicopter business,” Takats told AIN. “It was more on the modeling and sim-ulation side of it. We worked as subcon-tractors in all the performance areas for some of the military’s prime contractors, which is typical of military business. So we have built a CH-53E [simulator] for the Marine Corps. We’ve done a [Bell] AH-1W, worked as well on the [Boeing] CH-46 and CH-47, the [Sikorsky] Jay-hawk for the Coast Guard and the Pave-Hawk for the Air Force Special Operation Command. We’ve been in the helicopter market, but until now we haven’t been the prime turnkey supplier of high-perfor-mance simulators.”

By acquiring and combining the leg-acy companies, Takats said Textron has created an opportunity for TRU to

quickly integrate advanced technologies into its products. “We have been provided a clean-sheet opportunity to take some legacy businesses with varying technolo-gies, but we are not burdened or obligated to use these technologies. We have the opportunity to use new technologies and look at innovative technologies.”

That includes the Odyssey H tech-nology TRU is building into the Bell 525 full flight simulator. It features an ultra-high-definition visual system with a 240-degree-horizontal by 80-degree-verti-cal field of view and 41-megapixel total system resolution visual display. The

Odyssey H also has primary and second-ary motion systems and features a roll-on/roll-off capability, which allows the sim-ulator to be reconfigurable for other helicopters.

“Our secondary motion cuing system is more than just a vibration platform,” Takats said. “It is another six degrees of freedom via a short-stroke motion system. So when we take it on the roll-on/roll-off and use it as a Level 7 FTD [flight training device], we provide more than basic vibra-tion. We provide realistic translation cues with the motion system, and we’ve had

very good results with pilots testing that. The visual system is very good at provid-ing long-term motion cues; however, by themselves the visuals cannot provide the real onset cues and awareness cues that the crewmembers use in their training.”

Takats said that his work with commit-tees of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over the last three years has given him invaluable insight into what pilots want and need in a syn-thetic environment.

“On a personal level, I was fortunate enough to have just completed three years of working with 20 helicopter oper-

ators and trainees as part of the ICAO international working group, where we developed the guidance specific to heli-copter simulation and training tasks,” Takats said. “I got to see where the value proposition is and to what tasks pilots are actually training. I got to spend three years with representatives from Bris-tow, Sikorsky, Shell, Airbus Helicopters, AgustaWestland and Bell as well as var-ious training departments and expert pilots. I had the opportunity to go to var-ious training centers and do a lot of test-ing. One demonstration we did used 30

pilots flying various scenarios in a sim-ulator and looking at what are the pros and cons of the technologies, what is the scene content the pilots are looking for in terms of the fidelity, resolution, motion cuing and different sounds. We looked at cues trainees get from those and what value they hold. I then had the opportu-nity to take that knowledge and apply it to a clean sheet design, the Odyssey H.”

Takats said the Odyssey H provides greater fidelity and less latency than other simulators. “It is common for a pilot to get into one of our simulators and be awed by the level of realism. We call it the holy grail area of a simulator–the last 50 feet–from ground effect to the land-ing, the touchdown cues and the handling qualities on the ground. The latency of our systems also is different. We run our computers very fast and we focus on the overall architecture and integration of the subsystems so that the latency is low as possible. It makes a large difference in the simulator’s level of realism and its accep-tance by the flight crews.”

Adding to the realism, TRU has devel-oped its own motion-cuing algorithms and control-force-feel system that it sells to other simulator manufacturers. “Over-all, we feel that our attention to detail differentiates our products from the com-petition,” Takats said.

While TRU’s work with sister com-pany Bell has drawn attention of late, Takats emphasizes that TRU is actively pursuing work with other rotorcraft and fixed-wing manufacturers. “We are in the bid stage for some AgustaWestland sim-ulators, and we definitely are not lim-iting ourselves to our sister companies. We are pursuing business aircraft outside Bell and Textron Aviation as well as the transport market and maintenance train-ing across the board,” he said. “We see aggressive growth for the coming year, our bookings are strong and we are hir-ing like crazy.” He expects TRU’s current workforce of 700 to grow to close to 1,000 by year-end. o

TRU Simulation + Training’s Odyssey H simulator for the Bell 525 features ultra-high definition visual systems, and primary and secondary roll-on/roll-off capabilities. The simulator provides realtistic translation cues with the motion system and can be easily reconfigurable for other helicopters.

Elbit displays Skylens HUD and awaits certificationby Thierry Dubois

Elbit Systems (Booth 5028) is here exhibiting its ski goggle-shaped Skylens and helmet-mounted Skyvis wearable head-up displays. These will be able to merge flight symbology with images from an enhanced vision system (EVS) and a synthetic vision system (SVS). Certifica-tion is slated for late 2016.

“We want to help pilots see in bad vis-ibility, both for safety and operational effectiveness,” said Dror Yahav, vice pres-ident of commercial avionics. These capa-bilities could eventually yield credits for lower landing minima, too. While Sky-lens and Skyvis will mainly be available as part of an aircraft’s avionics package, Elbit also hopes to be able to offer the devices as a retrofit.

Both wearable devices provide head-up-display-style symbology, conformal synthetic vision and enhanced vision from a multispectral camera. And both feature a line-of-sight tracker.

The symbology is always displayed but the pilot can choose whether SVS, EVS or a combination of both (combined vision system or CVS) appears as well. The Skylens device will first be certified on an unnamed fixed-wing application. The symbology will be slightly different for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, Yahav explained.

Skylens weighs one pound, according to Yahav, and the weight is spread out so that wearing it remains comfortable for the pilot. The wearable device is supposed to

be used mostly for takeoff and landing.Another product that Elbit is show-

casing here at Heli-Expo is HeliEVS, a multispectral EVS that is viewable on a head-down display. “EVS is better than SVS for helicopters,” he explained, “for example [when] flying to offshore rigs that can change [their] position and where antennas may be moved.” Synthetic

vision is derived from a database and thus may not reflect a recently moved oil plat-form. He added that HeliEVS is “highly cost-effective.”

Pilot training for the Elbit wearable devices is expected to involve three hours in a simulator and a few approaches. Civil aviation authorities, however, still have to approve the training syllabus. o

Elbit’s Skylens puts enhanced and synthetic vision in wearable goggles.

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Thales checks in with Reality H simsby Thierry Dubois

Thales Training & Simula-tion (Booth 4255) is creating a network of training centers that will offer training in its Reality H helicopter flight simulators. An Airbus AS350 Ecureuil/AStar

simulator is now in service in Albertville, France, and coming soon will be an Airbus EC225 simulator in Stavanger, Norway and an AgustaWestland AW139 sim in Brisbane, Australia.

Such training devices have been proven effective, but Thales still has to educate pilots and potential customer operators. “We highlight three aspects, the first one being safety; in real

flight, some failures are too dan-gerous to recreate, so emergency procedures can be better taught in a sim,” Vincent Megaides, strategy and marketing direc-tor for Thales Training & Simu-lation, told AIN. He mentioned examples of emergencies such as hydraulic failures, loss of spa-tial cues and even autorotations. The second aspect is cost, as an hour spent in the device is much cheaper than a flight hour in a real helicopter. Finally, the train-ing session starts immediately with the targeted situation, as the instructor and the student do not have to take off and fly to a suitable training location.

CommonalitiesThales’s Reality H technol-

ogy features a common struc-ture for all simulated types. The dome, actuators and a large part of the software are the same. “We change the cockpit and the flight loop,” Megaides said.

In Albertville, in the French Alps, the AS350 simulator joins an EC135 simulator operated by SAF Helicopteres, a specialist in mountain aerial work and EMS operations. Thales and SAF share a building, maintenance and spare parts, and a partner-ship agreement allows each com-pany to offer training hours on the two devices. The AS350 has been available since October.

In Brisbane, Thales is part-nering with helicopter air ambu-lance operator CareFlight Group to launch Australia’s first civil helicopter training center for the AW139. Starting in 2016, a level-D flight simulator will operate at CareFlight Group’s aeromedi-cal training academy at Brisbane Airport. The simulator will allow use of night-vision goggles and scenarios such as major technical failures, severe weather and off-shore flying.

In Stavanger, offshore oper-ator Blueway (part of NHV Group) will be the launch cus-tomer in a facility planned to open this year. Norwegian and other Nordic countries’ flight scenarios will be implemented in the simulator. o


Thales’s 10-year contract with Blueway in Stavenger, Norway could also lead to defense and search-and-rescue training.

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Sikorsky sees growth as it inks major dealsby Curt Epstein

This promises to be a busy year for Sikorsky as the airframer is anticipating the first flight of two military programs and the ramping up of produc-tion on the new S-76D. At a “State of Sikorsky” briefing yes-terday morning, company pres-ident Mick Maurer gave an update on the UTC subsidiary’s business over the past year.

On the military side, Sikorsky inked four major contracts including a $1.3 billion long-term Blackhawk deal with Turkey that includes a major industrialization effort to set up a local supply chain there. The U.S. Air Force committed to an $8.08 billion combat rescue heli-copter contract for 112 aircraft, as well as the $3.2 billion U.S. presidential helicopter program, and a $500 million developmen-tal award for the SB-1 Defiant, being developed in partnership with Boeing for the Joint Multi

Role-Technology Demonstra-tor competition. Meanwhile, Sikorsky is anticipating the imminent first flight of the com-pound rotorcraft S-97 Raider, and the CH-53K heavy-lift heli-copter began ground test runs last week.

According to Maurer, over-all company sales were up by 6

percent year-over-year, while the operating profit increased by approximately 9 percent. While the company determined its backlog at approximately $16 billion, he explained that value is understated as it only includes government programs that have been appropriated in any given year rather than the full amounts of multi-year programs. Maurer noted that with the full value of those contracts included, Sikorsky’s backlog would swell to around $49 billion. “We are set up for some significant organic growth,” he said.

On the commercial side, while the OEM reached a record last year in S-92 production, deliver-ing 42 aircraft, Maurer doesn’t expect to repeat that number this year. “When the market went up, we didn’t expand our capacity as quickly as we could have given the demand,” he said. “We’re hoping as a result of that, as the market goes down we’re not going to see quite the dramatic swing that we might have had we reacted and ramped up too quickly.”

The oil segment remains the company’s most important commercial sector and Maurer

acknowledged “some strain on the system this year, short-term on the commercial business.” He explained that more than 80 per-cent of offshore oil rigs are used for production and the company has not yet seen much change on that end in terms of flying hours and demand. “We definitely are seeing some pressure on the exploration side,” Maurer said,

noting the company is working with customers to ride out this most recent cycle.

Sikorsky expects to grow its top line again this year due to the introduction of the S-76D, which just received EASA certification for VIP operations. For both the S-76D and the S-92, search-and-rescue use is becoming a growing niche, Maurer noted. o


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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Booth 2264) presented a safety award to Universal Helicopters (Booth 1564) here at Heli-Expo, recogniz-ing more than 30,000 accident/incident-free flight training hours during the training provider’s five years at the university. Universal Helicopters provides contract helicopter flight training at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Ariz. campus and recently marked 11 accident/incident-free years at all five of its flight training venues in the western U.S.

At the ceremony, Embry-Riddle chancellor Dr. Frank Ayers pre-sented an honorary plaque to Gordon Jiroux, president and CEO of Universal Helicopters. “Five years ago, Gordon and I shook hands when we signed a contract to offer helicopter training–two firsts for us: offer-ing helicopter training and contracting for flight training,” Ayers said. “In both cases, it’s been an amazing success.”

Jiroux noted that his company’s commitment to success was borne of tragedy, after a fatal accident involving one of his flight instructors in the 1980s. “I swore to turn it into a positive,” he said, before thanking his directors/flight instructors–all former students of his–for their contri-bution to the company’s record of safety. –J.W.

Sikorsky president Mick Maurer

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X-Copter BATDs got started with real-world student inputby R. Randall Padfield

No fewer than six X-Copter flight training “simulators” are powered up and working in the Heli-Expo 2015 exhibit hall. Three of the devices dom-inate the Guidance Aviation stand (Booth 2049), two are at HAI’s Safety Booth (next to MD Helicopters Booth 819) and one is at the Whirly Girls booth (5700). The X-Copter device can be con-figured as a Robinson R22 and R44.

Although called a “simulator,” the X-Copter machine is, according to the FAA, a basic aviation training device, or BATD, as defined by Advisory Circular 61-136A. Up to 10 hours of training in a BATD may be credited toward an instru-ment rating.

Guidance Aviation uses its 21 X- Copter devices to help students learn and become comfortable with helicop-ter controls, instrumentation, procedures and radio communications, as well as for instrument training.

The budding pilots also obtain a real-istic feel for the sensitivity of the R22 and R44. The 60-inch, high-definition screens provide highly realistic visuals for training.

PilotEdge ConnectionAccording to X-Copter’s Guy Rogin-

son, the company recently signed an agreement with PilotEdge, which pro-vides professional air traffic control for flight simulators. “Working with real controllers in the X-Copter really helps prepare students for flight in the real air-craft,” he said.

Kelton Rochelle, X-Copter’s lead technology engineer, explained how he and Brandon Frett, director of simula-tors, helped form the company, which is owned by John Stonecipher, the founder, president and CEO of Guidance Avi-ation. “I was a flight student and

maintenance technician at Guidance Aviation and Brandon was in charge of IT,” said Rochelle. “We met when I was flying one of the simulators. We got talking and realized we could design a simulator that would be a better trainer for what Guidance Aviation’s students really needed. John said we should do it, provided funding and X-Copter was founded.”

Recently, X-Copter added a new 6,000-sq-ft fabrication facility near Guid-ance Aviation’s base in Prescott, Ariz.

Rochelle and Frett are working on the second generation of X-Copter. “When we built version one last year, we outsourced the controls to a company in China, but that didn’t work out,” Rochelle said.

“So now we manufacture the controls ourselves. The first generation needed two computers, but with advancements in computer technology, now we need only one.”

He added that the X-Copter team is considering building an advanced avi-ation training device (AATD), which would permit up to 20 hours of train-ing toward an instrument rating. Train-ing devices for the Robinson R66 and Hughes/Schweizer, Bell and Airbus/Eurocopter models are in development, according to the company’s website.

X-Copter has not yet sold a unit to an outside customer, but Roginson expects that to change soon.

The retail price of the X-Cop-ter is $88,000. Leasing options are also a vailable. o

The X-Copter can morph from replicating a Robinson R22 or R44 with only a software switch. The flight controls feel as squirrely as a Robbie’s, and the huge HD displays add impressive realism.

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Air Methods takes 200 upgraded Bell 407GXPsby Mark Huber

Bell Helicopter is giving its best-selling model 407GX sin-gle an engine-power push and upgraded Garmin G1000H avi-onics software as standard equip-ment on new 2015 production models beginning later this year. The 407GXP was unveiled on the opening day of the Heli-Expo show on March 3 and the new model immediately won a major launch order when emergency medical services provider Air Methods sealed a blockbuster

10-year deal for 200 aircraft.The Air Methods order has a

retail value of more than $600 mil-lion and comes on the heels of an order for 15 407GXPs announced last week from the Mexican air force. These orders, combined with an order announced from Waypoint Leasing for 20 Bell 525s, put the value of Bell’s announced order tally for the first day of the annual rotorcraft trade show at more than $1 billion.

Air Methods CEO Aaron

Todd told AIN that his company plans to take the new helicopters at a rate of 20 per year as part of its regular fleet renewal pro-gram. “We’ve got 400 air-medical helicopters and we like to oper-ate them for about 20 years from date of manufacture. We’ve made a long-term commitment and our intent is to buy 200,” Todd said.

The 407GXP features the Rolls-Royce M250-C47B/8 engine uprated to 862 shp (uninstalled thermodynamic power, takeoff five minutes), up from the 813-shp M250-C47B aboard the GX. The GXP’s uprated engine pro-vides slightly lower fuel consump-tion and significantly better high/hot hover performance while add-ing 50 pounds of payload capacity compared to the GX. Loaded to 5,000 pounds, the GXP yields sub-stantially better hover capability in and out of ground effect compared to the GX. The HOGE ceiling (at ISA) increases to 11,940 feet from 10,440 feet while the HIGE ceil-ing is boosted to 13,550 feet from 12,220 feet. The overall service ceiling also increases to 18,940 feet from 18,410 feet.

All 2015 production 407s already have the dash 8 engine installed. The upgrade is cer-tified by the FAA, Transport Canada and “numerous other countries,” according to Bell. Additional country certifications are underway.

Matt Hasik, Bell executive vice president for commercial business, called the 407GXP a “multi-point upgrade.” He said the power push on the Rolls-Royce engine will give the 407GXP “high/hot hover capability that is better than, or equal to, the [Airbus] AS350B3e.

The avionics upgrade includes a hover performance calcula-tor and the ability to add a low-cost autopilot. “[This includes] upgrades to the Garmin software that make it [G1000H] even more user friendly,” Hasik said. o

Bell Helicopter president and CEO John Garrison, left, announced a power and avionics upgrade for the popular Model 407. Air Methods CEO Aaron Todd, standing next to him, liked what he saw and ordered 200 of the new 407GXP models, a deal worth $600 million.

AGUSTAWESTLAND CEO REPORTS A STRONG 2014 PERFORMANCE

AgustaWestland CEO Daniele Romiti gave a compre-hensive overview of the state of the company at its annual Heli-Expo press conference on Monday night. According to Romiti, revenues increased by 1.3 percent in the first nine months of 2014, to $3.4 billion, giving the company a 12.5-percent rate of return.

For the year, AgustaWestland delivered “more than 200” new helicopters and booked orders for more than 230 valued at $3.45 billion. Overall, the company said new orders surged by 37 percent, driven in part by strong demand from the offshore energy market where Romiti said AgustaWestland enjoys a 43-percent market share. It plans to release full-year results next month.

AgustaWestland continues to enjoy strong backlogs for its line of medium twins, including orders for 170 AW139s and 150 each for the new AW169 and AW189. Romiti revealed that the AW189 received FAA certification on Fri-day and that EASA approval of the AW169 is imminent and

that customer deliveries of that aircraft would begin in the second quarter. “Now, it’s just a matter of the paperwork,” he said.

The AW189 continues to undergo testing of its full ice protection systems (FIPS), which AgustaWestland hopes to have approved by October. Romiti also said that the com-pany is making good progress on the AW609 tiltrotor since acquiring the program from Bell in 2011, giving the aircraft a long list of upgrades.

Romiti said AgustaWestland continues to refine the maintenance requirements downward for legacy aircraft such as the AW139, where significant reductions in time required to conduct inspections and overall downtime should combine for an overall 35-percent reduction in the scheduled maintenance burden for the helicopter.

AgustaWestland also trained 6,600 pilots and main-tenance technicians in 2014, representing a 10-percent increase over activity during 2013.

Columbia sets sights on overseas growthBy James Wynbrandt

Heavy lift specialist Co-lumbia Helicopters (Booth 3712), the only operator of civilian versions of the mil-itary’s CH-47 Chinook and CH-46 Sea Knight tandem rotor helicopters, comes to Heli-Expo under new lead-ership as the Portland, Ore. company aims to grow its international operations. In December, Jim Rankin, former president and CEO of Air Wisconsin Airlines, joined privately owned CHI as president and CEO.

The company is currently supporting oil and gas explo-ration in locations such as Papua New Guinea and Peru, as well as the U.S. gov-ernment’s military mission in Afghanistan. Columbia Heli-copters now has four helicop-ters and some 60 employees in Afghanistan and has per-formed more than 67,000 movements in theater, moving 20,000 tons of cargo and more than 200,000 passengers.

The company hopes to expand such services and its client base in other areas of the world, for example assist-ing UN-type organizations and agencies in nation-build-ing efforts. “That’s been a big area of growth, and I expect that to continue going for-ward,” Rankin said.

He also named firefighting as another area of potential

growth. Meanwhile, the col-lapse of oil prices has had little effect on Columbia Heli-copters’ oil and gas explora-tion business. Most customers “are deferring a little activ-ity, but we haven’t seen any-body just stop,” Rankin said. “Some projects have been pushed into next year.”

Columbia Helicopters, founded in 1957, acquired its fleet of Boeing Vertol 246s (the Chinook) and Boeing Vertol 107s (the Sea Knight) over the years and in 2006 bought the type certificates for the helos, now desig-nated the Columbia 234 and Columbia 107, respectively. Columbia Helicopters cur-rently owns and operates six Columbia 234s, 12 Colum-bia 107s and two CH-47Ds.

The company also pro-vides MRO services, and here at Heli-Expo 2015 plans to meet with its MRO customers as well as heavy lift clients and prospects. Rankin, attending his first Heli-Expo, is already looking forward to many more. “This is the third com-pany I’ve come in as CEO,” Rankin said, “and I have to say it was the smoothest tran-sition I’ve ever had.” o

Under new leadership, Portland, Ore.-based Columbia Helicopters is looking for growth opportunities in oil and gas in far-off regions like Papua New Guinea.

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Air Methods reflects on 2014 while focusing on the futureby Mark Huber

Air Methods is doubling down on its safety investments. The company recently signed a 10-year deal with FlightSafety International to install four full-motion level D-qualified helicop-ter flight simulators at an expanded Air Methods learning center that will open next year in Denver. The center will also offer classrooms and customer service areas, and will be expanded in the future to accommodate additional full flight simulators.

The more than 400-strong Air Meth-ods helicopter fleet includes rotorcraft of its air-medical and tourism divisions, company CEO Aaron Todd told AIN. Todd noted that last year “represented another year of safe opera-tions” for the company. Air Methods’ improved safety record in 2014 is part of a recent overall industry trend nationwide, according to fig-ures on U.S. civil helicopter accidents released in January by the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team.

Todd said, “We’ve had a good, strong, healthy year with good earnings growth. This is the first year we have operated on a consolidated basis with Blue Hawaiian and we are very happy and encouraged how our expansion into the tourism sector has progressed.”

Air Methods acquired air tour com-pany Blue Hawaiian Helicopters for $66 million in December 2013. It acquired air tour company Sundance Helicopters of Las Vegas for $44 million in 2012.

Air tourism was expected to represent a market share representing more than 20 percent of the annual $500 million domestic heli-tour business, although the division posted a $26 million loss for the quarter, results attributed in part to unfa-vorable weather.

Air-medical Tops Revenue StreamFor 2014, Air Methods broke through

the $1 billion annual revenue mark for the first time in its history while tally-ing solid profit increases. For the year, it posted revenue of $1.0048 billion, up 14 percent from $879.2 million in 2014. Income from operations increased 57 percent to $98.8 million versus $62.9 mil-lion last year. The company now operates from 186 bases nationwide.

“We have achieved a key milestone in exceeding $1 billion in revenue in 2014,” Todd said. “Healthy growth in air-med-ical flight volume throughout 2014 and quarter-to-date in 2015 is very encourag-ing. We have also seen less seasonality in our net reimbursement results during the winter months thus far, as well.”

Todd said Air Methods was just

beginning to capture the benefits of lower fuel costs, noting that the company’s fuel bill is approximately $40 million per year. “Fuel price decreases and continued out-sourcing activity within our hospital-based operations should continue to be key earnings growth drivers in 2015,” he said. “We are also pleased to have gen-erated strong earnings accretion from our helicopter tourism diversification in 2014, despite more severe weather condi-tions in both key markets.”

For the most recent quarter, net patient transport revenue increased 15 percent year-over-year, to $174.3 mil-lion, while net revenue per patient trans-port increased 6 percent, to $12,238.

Total patient transports from community-based locations increased 9 percent to 14,209 from 13,054.

He added that while the distressed new helicopter sales market provides oppor-tunities, this won’t necessar-ily encourage Air Methods to buy more new helicop-ters than previously planned. “The availability of civil air-craft has not been an issue for several years. I think it is fair to say that the manufac-turers are hungry at this time for many reasons, but it is not

influencing our decision as to how many aircraft we are going to place on order. But it is influencing us as to whether we are willing to commit with one manufac-turer for a multi-year order.”

Air Methods’ bias is to purchasing new single-engine aircraft, Todd said, estimating that 90 percent of the new helicopters it has ordered in the last three to five years have been in this category. “We have a strong bias not to lease air-craft. When you lease an aircraft you transfer the bonus depreciation tax ben-efit to the lessor,” he noted.

Finally, Todd said that the company’s United Rotorcraft division (Booth 2154) will continue to pursue government con-tracts for aircraft modifications, but he noted the inherent difficulties of that market both for military and civilian cus-tomers. “We want to build that backlog and expand the order book every year, but it is a challenging environment rel-ative to the Defense Department’s bud-get restraints. The regulatory challenges associated with the certification of new-product-design and retrofit activities is not getting any easier, but we are very happy with the progress we are making.”

United Rotorcraft recently received FAA STC approval for the first installa-tion of an air-medical interior in an Air-bus Helicopters EC130T2, the first of 10 new EC130T2s scheduled to join the Air Methods air-medical fleet. o


Air Methods CEO Aaron Todd said the company had a strong last year.

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Genesys autopilot for Robinson R66by Mark Huber

Robinson Helicopter (Booth 3221) announced that its R66 turbine single is now available with optional Garmin G500H avionics and the Genesys Aero-systems HeliSAS autopilot. The price of the G500H sys-tem is $31,900, excluding the required GTN 600 or 700 navi-gator; the price for the autopilot is $46,000. The G500H must be installed to enable addition of the autopilot.

Stability AugmentationThe HeliSAS autopilot was

developed specifically for light helicopters. In primary mode it functions as a stability aug-mentation system, applying corrective inputs to the cyclic to maintain a fixed pitch and roll attitude. Only light cyclic force is required to fly through the system. Additional auto-pilot modes include heading hold, altitude hold, navigation signal tracking and approach

navigation including vertical guidance. The autopilot does not provide any collective or pedal inputs.

The R66 G500H installa-tion may be interfaced with the

Garmin GTX 33 remote tran-sponder controlled via the GTN navigator and interfaced with FreeFlight’s RA-4500 radar altimeter, which displays infor-mation on the primary flight

display. The GTX 33 installa-tion includes ADS-B out. With or without the G500H system, other optional avionics equip-ment for the R66 includes the Garmin GDL 69A XM receiver for digital weather data and entertainment audio; weather can be displayed on the G500H multi-function display or any GTN navigator. o


CONKLIN & DE DECKER DEMOS

Aviation research and data provider Conklin & de Decker is on hand at Heli-Expo 2015 to demonstrate how the infor-mation it provides can help customers make financial sense of aircraft operations.

The Aircraft Cost Evalu-ator assists aircraft owners and operators with side-by-side operating cost compar-isons between models. The Life Cycle Cost tool evaluates acquisition costs, operating costs, taxes, final residual val-ues and revenues from com-mercial operations. It also helps users determine budgets, decide whether to retain or replace aircraft and weigh the costs between new and used aircraft. Conklin & de Deck-er’s Aircraft Performance Com-parator is an impartial source of data that allows users to quickly contrast different types of helicopters and airplanes.

Here at the show, visi-tors to the company’s exhibit (Booth 4719) can receive a show discount of 10 percent off the cost of any of its data-bases, including its newly-released 2015 State Tax Guide for General Aviation, as well as a chance to win an iPad mini or a Google Nexus 7 tablet. –C.E.

Garmin avionics and the Genesys HeliSAS are available in the R66.

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Oil prices, currency woes blamed for Bristow’s dipby Mark Huber

Bristow Group (Booth 5031) announced substantially lower net income for the nine months ending December 31, capped by a modest loss in the most recently completed quarter. The offshore, gas and petroleum heli-copter services company said net income dropped 55.7 per-cent, to $69.2 million, from the $156.4 million posted for the same period a year ago. Bristow announced a $1 million loss in the last quarter. However, reve-nues over the nine-month period increased 18 percent.

Bristow said the declining values of foreign currencies con-tributed to $27.3 million of the slide. The decline in oil prices also adversely affected the com-pany, according to CEO Jona-than Baliff. “The recent rapid decline in oil prices is leading to a reduction in capital expen-ditures by most of our clients. We anticipated these develop-ments in the latter half of cal-endar 2014 and implemented a proactive strategy to help our clients meet their cost-reduction objectives,” he said. “We are also

proactively making cost and cap-ital efficiency improvements in partnership with our OEM and lessor partners. This will allow our business model to thrive and capitalize on this environ-ment for our clients, as we con-tinue to execute our growth plan including the startup of the UK search-and-rescue contract in April 2015.”

In 2013, Bristow was awarded a 10-year SAR contract by the UK department of transporta-tion to fly from 10 bases. Those bases are scheduled to come online in a graduated fashion beginning April 1, beginning at Humberside and Inverness.

Samantha Willenbacher, director of UK SAR for Bris-tow, praised the cooperation the company has received from the military in transitioning to the contract. “We have worked closely with them in preparing for the civilian service to go live and also have welcomed many of them into the new civilian SAR force,” she noted.

Other bases scheduled to come online include Caernarfon and Kent on July 1; St. Athan on October 1; Prestwick and Newquay on Jan. 1, 2016; and Lee-on-Solent, Sumburgh and Stornoway in 2017. o


NEWS CLIPSz Drone Ops Procedures Offered to a Select Few

London-headquartered insurance provider Global Aerospace (Booth 5228), via its partnership with the Unmanned Safety Institute (USI), is offering a manual providing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The “Visual Line of Sight SOP” outlines general operating procedures for a UAS. However, the manual is available only to qualified Global Aerospace customers.

USI is a subsidiary company of Waypoint Global Strategies, which is a program partner of Global Aerospace’s SM4 safety program (SM4 Safety).

Representatives of Global Aerospace, Waypoint Global Strategies and the Unmanned Safety Institute are available at Global’s booth during Heli-Expo 2015.

z Metro Aviation Gets New Operations Control CenterMetro Aviation (Booth 2428) unveiled its new operational

control center at its Shreveport, La., headquarters. The center is the focal point for coordination of Metro Aviation’s more than 130 aircraft across 18 U.S. states. Five 60-inch displays show satellite tracking of aircraft and aircraft status, weather data, crew staffing information and real-time in-flight monitoring capability.

“This expansion keeps Metro at the forefront of regulatory compliance,” said Jim Arthur, director of regulatory compliance for Metro.

z Bell Taps Orndoff as North American Sales BossBell Helicopter announced at Heli-Expo 2015 that it has

appointed 30-year company veteran Ron Orndoff as regional sales manager for North America. Previously Orndoff was the Textron subsidiary’s regional sales manager for the Midwest region and held customer support positions in the Northwest region before transitioning into sales for the company.

“Orndoff has proved instrumental in supporting our global fleet and team,” said Anthony Moreland, vice president of North American sales for Bell.

z Airbus Delivers “Perfect Fit” AS350Airbus Helicopters recently delivered an AS350B2 AStar to

Canadian leasing company Southwind Helicopters. The seven-place rotorcraft, powered by a Turbomeca Arriel 1D1 engine, is capable of performing a wide variety of missions including passenger transport, aerial work, training, observation and law enforcement.

The model delivered to the British Columbia-based Southwind was customized at the Airbus Helicopters Canada facility in Fort Erie, Ontario with optional equipment including a longline release and an enlarged floor window for monitoring sling operations. The company plans to lease the AStar for tourism, aerial delivery and forestry work. “The AS350B2 is a perfect fit for the multi-dimensional missions flown in the rugged terrain of British Columbia,” noted Southwind owner John Goats.

z Rockwell Collins Boosts Safety on Bristow SAR FleetRockwell Collins avionics are flying aboard the mixed fleet of

22 Sikorsky S-92 and AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters being deployed by the Bristow Group to service its new search-and-rescue contract with the UK government.

Systems aboard the S-92 include a night-vision-goggle-compatible Rockwell Collins MFD-268P2B display with expanded optical processing. Rockwell Collins systems on the AW189s include the NVG-compatible MFD-2810 displays, HeliSure integrated helicopter terrain awareness warning system, open architecture cockpit display system that facilitates tight coupling with primary flight and navigation applications and the AgustaWestland flight management system and automatic flight control systems that can be used to fully integrate search-and rescue-patterns.

“This program will be the first to utilize our HeliSure flight situational awareness capabilities such as traffic alert and collision avoidance and synthetic vision, as well as the latest night vision technologies,” said Troy Brunk, vice president and general manager of airborne solutions for Rockwell Collins (Booth 3262).

CAIG boosts revenues and expands fleet opsby James Wynbrandt

Corporate Aviation Insur-ance Group (CAIG) saw strong growth in premiums collected in 2014, rising by 57 percent. At the same time, three of its sister companies are expand-ing their rotorcraft operations with new additions to their collective fleet.

“We’re becoming one of the largest helicopter companies

in the Midwest,” said Chuck Surack, founder and CEO of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based CAIG (Booth 5468). He also owns charter operators Helimotion in Joliet, Ill. and Indiana Helicop-ters in Goshen, Ind. as well as Sweet Aviation in Fort Wayne, which provides rotorcraft train-ing, sales and maintenance ser-vices and is a factory authorized

Enstrom sales and service center. Surack recently purchased

an Airbus AS365N-2 Dauphin and an AS350B3e to add to the three operators’ combined fleet, which includes an Airbus AS355 Twin Star, two Airbus EC130s, an Airbus EC120, Bell 206 Jet Ranger and an Enstrom F-28F. Sweet Aviation has also added instructors and support staff in the last year.

With the impending open-ing of the Vertiport USA- Chicago heliport, Surack expects his operators to expe-rience strong growth in 2015. “Now you can fly into O’Hare or DuPage, or Gary [Indiana] in your private jet and take a heli-copter to downtown Chicago,” Surack said. “This is the first time you’ve been able to do that since 9/11.”

Helimotion has been named the facility’s official charter operator, he said. The Vertiport will also make helicopter char-ter from Chicago to many sur-rounding areas in the Midwest faster than traveling by fixed-wing aircraft.

Helimotion has a custom- designed trailer that can trans-port the AS350 or AS355 to a job site, reducing the cost of ferrying the helicopters by 50 to 75 percent. o

This EC120 operated by Indiana Helicopters is one of CAIG’s increasingly active charter fleet.

Plunging oil prices have forced most of Bristow’s clients to cut capital expenses.


HAI’s Excellence in Safety Award Helicopter emergency med-

ical services (HEMS) operators transport about 400,000 patients and life-saving organs a year. Many of those trips require op-erating in poor weather, but for years HEMS pilots were pre-vented from taking off or landing at hospitals under instrument flight rules (IFR). Those limita-tions grounded many potentially life-saving HEMS missions.

That changed when Edwin McConkey, a mathematician and software engineer, devised a means to enable pilots to fly in-strument approaches to hospital helipads without existing IFR in-frastructure. “Edwin McConkey is an unsung hero of the helicop-ter industry,” said HAI. “He is not a pilot or mechanic, but he has arguably done more to keep pi-lots, crews and passengers safe in poor weather conditions than any other individual.”

HAI is presenting its Excel-lence in Safety Award to McCon-key on March 4 for his pioneering work in helicopter IFR proce-dures. The Excellence in Safety Award recognizes “outstanding contributions in the promotion of safety and safety awareness throughout the international heli-copter community.”

McConkey, the technical direc-tor for approach procedures spe-cialist Hickok & Associates, has spent more than 50 years involved in research and development, system engineering and project management support for helicop-ter instrument procedures, air traf-fic control systems and advanced vertical-flight infrastructure.

In the late 1990s he devel-oped an algorithm for helicopter-specific instrument approaches to facilities without all-weather infrastructure, HAI said. Later evolved for satellite navigation, that algorithm is used by FAA and international aviation authorities to develop helicopter “point-in-space” approaches. These ap-proaches are particularly criti-cal for helipads, enabling HEMS operations in IFR conditions that previously were unflyable or forced pilots to try to remain in VFR conditions.

“Nearly every helicopter GPS procedure commissioned by FAA to date has been developed

using automation software tools originated by Ed McConkey, and every helicopter GPS procedure commissioned by FAA to date uses criteria that Ed was involved in for its origination,” said Stephen Hickok, president of Hickok & As-sociates, in nominating him.

Over the past 12 years at Hick-

ok, McConkey has designed, de-veloped, and tested more than 150 software tools to support LNAV approaches, LPV approach-es, departures, transition routes, holding airspace and procedure maintenance.

He previously managed SAIC’s and System Control Technolo-gy’s General Aviation and Vertical Flight Technical Support Program

for the FAA. This program tested 200 GPS approaches at four U.S. locations.

McConkey’s contribution to safety has been noteworthy. While the helicopter accident rate has been under scrutiny, there have been no accidents involving an IFR flight using the GPS ap-proaches developed through Mc-Conkey’s algorithms. –K.L.

SALUTE TO EXCELLENCE

Edwin McConkey

LCI_AD_CONCEPTS_presentation_FA05_CMYK.indd 2 2/12/15 5:08 PM

P&WC’s turboshafts are hot sellersby Kim Rosenlof

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) received EASA certifi-cation for its PW206B3 engine in December 2014. This lat-est derivative of the PW200 line delivering 500 to 700 shp powers the Airbus EC135P3 and, together with new main rotor blades that have been extended by 3.93 inches, pro-vides a significant increase in performance in hot/high con-ditions and increases the mtow by 66 pounds compared to the EC135P2. The PW206B3 received Transport Canada cer-tification in June 2014 and is awaiting FAA certification.

“All of our PW200 deriva-tives incorporate a high level

of technology,” said Richard Dussault, P&WC vice presi-dent of marketing. “They are all small, compact engines with only three main rotating compo-nents, and they all incorporate leading-edge control technol-ogy for the light-twin market. The PW206B3 has been custom-ized for the Airbus EC135P3, providing additional power and changes to control systems to fit exactly what [Airbus] needed for their new helicopter.”

More than 4,000 PW200 engines have been produced since the series was introduced in the early 1990s. The PW200 series powers 10 models of heli-copters including EC135 vari-ants, AgustaWestland 109 series, Bell 427 and 429, Kazan Ansat, MD Explorer 900/902 and Sikorsky S-76D.

P&WC (Booth 4428) also celebrated the first deliveries of its PT6C-67E as Airbus deliv-ered the first two EC175s to the model’s launch customer, Bel-gium-based NHV Global, in December. Directly derived from the PT6C-67C turboshaft that powers the AW139, the PT6C-67E delivers 1,775 shp through a two-shaft, multi-stage compres-sor configuration.

Both the PW206B3 and

PT6C-67E feature Fadec. “The one change we made specifi-cally for the EC175 was [incor-porating] the Fadec,” said Dussault. “It’s the same tech-nology that we’ve used for the PW210 engines, and it’s very well adapted and integrated into the aircraft system.”

AW139 operators will soon have the option to obtain engine diagnostic information through P&WC’s Flight-data Acquisi-tion Storage and Transmission (FAST) program. The FAST system is being certified for the AW139 as the launch rotorcraft platform, with additional heli-copter models to be certified upon customer request.

FAST uses cellphone technol-ogy to automatically transmit engine and environmental data to the appointed P&WC analy-sis center each time the aircraft lands or the engines shut down. Within minutes, the customer receives electronic notification of the engine’s performance.

“In the old days when data was being captured, it took someone to physically go out to the aircraft with a laptop to extract the data, bring it back to the base, download it and pro-cess it to analyze the data,” said Dussault. “We make it so easy

for operators to get the data that they use it to optimize their mis-sion. Operators can learn exactly how long their flights are, what power regimes are being used, if they have any power exceedance and average and max speed on a mission. It allows them to map out how missions are flown and if there are any differences due to conditions, such as winter versus summer or day versus night.”

While Dussault said P&WC continues to look at the heli-copter industry as a strong mar-ket, the recent drop in oil prices gives the industry pause. “Every

manufacturer is looking at the oil situation,” said Dussault. “A lot of the market growth in the recent years was driven by oil and gas exploration. We’ve observed a bit of a pause in new orders, with the market realigning itself with what might result from the lower price of oil in the coming years. It’s been a great market, and we continue to ship engines. There’s cautious optimism, but we want to see the direction that oil is going to take over the next few years. It’s something we’re going to discuss with our custom-ers here at [Heli-Expo].” o


AGUSTAWESTLAND ADDS A TEST STAND

AgustaWestland has ex - panded its helicopter main-tenance, repair and overhaul support for operators in the Americas by installing a new transmission test stand at its U.S. facility in Philadelphia, Pa. The new stand can be used for testing intermediate and tail rotor gearboxes.

The equipment, which has been provided by RedViking, can test the transmissions of all AgustaWestland helicop-ters currently in service in the Americas, including the AW109, AW119, AW139 and AW189. It will also be able to support the AW169.

AgustaWestland’s U.S. facility at Northeast Philadel-phia Airport spans 275,000 sq ft and employs 560 peo-ple. It also includes assem-bly lines for the AW119Kx and AW139 helicopters, as well as a parts depot and repair station. n

Richard Dussault, Pratt & Whitney Canada vice president of marketing

Foley: rotorcraft slump to carry on for this yearby Kerry Lynch

The helicopter market is expected to continue to struggle in 2015, following a year when both new and used deliveries declined, industry analyst Brian Foley of Brian Foley Associates predicted.

New shipments plummeted 24.7 percent to 971 helicopters in 2014, according to the lat-est General Aviation Manufac-turers Association (GAMA) industry report. The decline was evident with both pistons and turbines. Piston helicopter ship-ments dropped 31.3 percent in 2014 to 230, while turbine heli-copter deliveries slid 22.4 per-cent to 741. Billings for the year also fell overall, but not quite at the rate as deliveries. Billings were down 7.5 percent to $4.9 billion, according to GAMA. (The GAMA report does not include AgustaWestland, which is reporting 2014 delivery results

in the middle of this month. At the same time, market analyst Amstat (Booth 4457) reported used-helicopter transactions fell 5.7 percent in 2014, according to Foley.

GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce said the decline fol-lows a strong period of growth and comes as a number of man-ufacturers are updating and/or adding new models. This activity can cause deliveries of existing models to quiet in advance of the newer models reaching the market. But Bunce also agreed that the volatility of the oil-and-gas industry is taking a toll on the helicopter market.

It is this volatility, coupled with a strengthening U.S. dol-lar, that leads Foley to believe that the downturn experienced in 2014 will extend into 2015. The improved dollar is making

helicopters appear on average 20 percent pricier outside the U.S. than a year ago, he noted. In addition lower oil prices will spur oil companies to conserve cash, scale back their deliver-ies and cut back on their flight operations, Foley forecast.

Gradual Decline“It will be a domino effect,”

he said. “Once demand drops to fly oil crews to offshore plat-forms operators will reassess their fleet requirements, which in turn causes lessors and man-ufacturers to manage their order books for deferrals and cancel-lations.” Foley does not expect order books to decline instantly, but believes they will gradually drop as deliveries approach and progress payments come due.

An offshoot of the mar-ket uncertainty, he believes, is the emergence of a number of well-capitalized lessors. Opera-tors are able to turn to lessors for the more costly offshore- capable helicopters rather than purchase a number of smaller helicopters, he said. The leases enable operators to delay

payments until the helicop-ter is delivered and producing revenue, Foley added. Because offshore helicopters are highly specialized, selling them on the used market can be difficult, he said. Given the tight bud-gets, Foley expects the number of would-be sellers to outnum-ber buyers, pushing down pric-ing and residual values.

While heavy helicopters are facing a more difficult market, Foley sees improvement. With U.S. corporate profits on an upswing, sales to corporations are poised to strengthen. Also, while soft oil prices are putting pres-sure on the largest equipment, they also encourage operation of smaller helicopters, priming sales for piston and light turbine heli-copters, he said.

But the oil-and-gas segment accounts for a significant portion of the industry’s overall value, Foley added, saying this is the much larger concern. “[The year] 2015 will be a volatile, challeng-ing market for the civil helicop-ter industry with consolidation a possibility across all aspects of the business.” o

Pratt & Whitney Canada has upgraded the PW206B2, left, with the PW206B3, which just received EASA certification and now powers the Airbus EC135P3. P&WC is also toasting first deliveries of its PT6C-67E, below.

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NEWS CLIPSz VIH Aerospace Receives Master Caution Panel STC

Maintenance, repair and overhaul group VIH Aerospace (Booth 3837) has just received an FAA supplemental type certificate for its aftermarket replacement master caution panel (MCP01) for the Bell 212 series. Approval from EASA is expected during the third quarter of 2015.

The MCP01 is a collaboration between the Canadian company and Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing. It is 50 percent lighter, draws 75 percent less current and runs cooler than legacy master caution panels. The panel also supports a state recorder that digitally monitors and records annunciator status for flight data management systems. It does all this while using existing helicopter wiring and connectors.

VIH Aerospace supports various Bell Helicopter models and Sikorsky S-61 and S-92 and Airbus AS350 helicopters. The company has just recruited Dave McGrath as director of sales, marketing and business development.

z USAIG Touts Cost-Saving Training ProgramInsurance provider USAIG (Booth 2215) has added new

training courses available to its clients through Performance Vector, the insurer’s training and safety-enhancement service. An Aviation Maintenance Never Events webinar series has been added to the training offerings, targeting the six most costly errors in aviation maintenance.

New York-based USAIG continues to offer its Safety Bucks, available exclusively to rotorcraft operators, which provide credits to pilots and maintenance technicians for recurrent training from select training centers. More than $6 million in Safety Bucks credits have been returned to operators under the program, according to USAIG. The service also offers safety-enhancement programs for helicopter operators including human factors training for pilots and maintenance technicians, and the Z-Coach service for sleep-enhancing strategies and tools.

“As an insurer focused solely on aviation, we recognize the critical importance of regular recurrent training for helicopter pilots,” said David McKay, USAIG president and CEO.

z New Lord Bearings a Boon for Bell 407 OwnersOwners of Bell 407s will rejoice at the news that Lord

Corporation (Booth 2465) has extended its warranty of all elastomeric components on the Bell 407 main rotor hub to 2,500 hours. Parts covered by the extended warranty include the lead-lag bearing, shear bearing and damper.

Bell Helicopter approved the upgrade to the Lord SPE IIA elastomer on the lead-lag and shear bearings in 2014. The new SPE IIA bearings are priced the same as the predecessor parts.

“The new elastomer has been tested on several different bearing configurations with very good results,” said Todd Haughee, Lord’s aftermarket product and program manager. “Extending our warranty and aligning it with major maintenance intervals should offer real value for our customers.” The Cary, N.C.-based company predicts at least a 30-percent increase in actual service life.

z Erickson, Bell Sign 214 Support Deal Bell Helicopter signed an agreement with Erickson for the

latter to assume product-support responsibility for the Bell 214B and ST, including spare parts supply; technical assistance; maintenance training; and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services. The agreement will extend the life of the Bell 214 and supports a licensing agreement for Erickson to make, buy and distribute Bell 214 part numbers. Erickson will offer major component and engine repairs and overhauls, complete airframe inspections, retrofits or upgrades, supply chain management, component manufacturing and reliability engineering.

“We currently have nine Bell 214s in our fleet, with more than 30 years of flying them,” said Kerry Jarandson, Erickson’s vice president of manufacturing and MRO. “We are excited and ready to fully support the aircraft and their operators around the world.”

Founded in 1971, Erickson is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and has operations around the globe.

Bell 412EPI approved for Category A takeoffs by R. Randall Padfield

Bell Helicopter recently received FAA certification for a new Category A (Cat A) takeoff procedure for the Bell 412EPI twin-engine helicopter.

The Cat A backup take-off requires the pilot of a twin-engine helicopter, starting from a hover, to climb the helicopter vertically and slightly backward while maintaining visual contact with the takeoff spot. This back-ward vertical climb continues to a defined decision point at which time the pilot lowers the nose of the aircraft to increase airspeed and initiate a normal, forward climb. In the event of an engine failure before the decision point is reached, a properly executed backup procedure allows a safe

single-engine descent and landing to the takeoff spot. If an engine failure occurs after the decision point, the aircraft has the capabil-ity to accelerate to a safe forward speed, begin climbing and con-tinue flying on one engine.

The Bell 412EPI’s backup procedure, which is an alterna-tive to the standard, straight-ahead Cat A takeoff procedure, provides improved takeoff capa-bility with increased payload up to 640 pounds in standard con-ditions. It also decreases the required minimum helipad size to 60 feet in diameter.

The 412EPI features Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T-9 Twin Pac engines, which provide 15 percent more power than the

standard Bell 412.In late February, Bell Heli-

copter made the first North American delivery of the wheeled Bell 429WLG to Kenny Habul, founder and CEO of SunEnergy 1 of Mooresville, N.C. and a professional Nas-car driver. Bell unveiled the 429WLG in October 2013 at the NBAA convention.

“The Bell 429WLG is the per-fect fit for our corporate and transportation needs,” Habul said. “I chose the aircraft because of its exceptionally spacious cabin, excellent avionics options and impressive power and range.”

Separately, Bell Helicop-ter received approved training organization (ATO) certifica-tion from EASA. The certifica-tion allows the Bell Helicopter Training Academy to provide Part-FCL training courses for European customers, includ-ing the use of flight simulation training devices for the Bell 407 and 429. o

WYSONG ANNOUNCES EMS KIT STC, AIRBUS AS350 COMPLETION

Tennessee-based Wysong Enterprises (Booth 1028), a helicopter completion and refurbishment company, brought news of aircraft completions and new airframe supplemental type certificates to Heli-Expo 2015.

“Over the years our emergency medical service customers have expressed a need for certain products,” said company president Rodney Wysong. The recent STC/PMA approval of multiple EMS interior accessories on the Bell 407/407GX airframe offers customers a quick-release mount with adapters for various popular monitors, a center console mounted adjacent to the aft-facing seat, overhead mounts for aircraft audio interface and patient systems and an over-litter-mounted patient shelf, among other adaptations, including a single or dual external shore power system.

The company also brought its fifth Airbus AS350B3e completion for Helicopter Express to Orlando for this year’s Heli-Expo show. The Atlanta-based operator is an Part 135 air carrier with more than 22 helicopters on its roster. Wysong equipped the AS350 with new avionics, airframe additions and exterior paint. –A.L.

Wysong Enterprises completed the avionics, airframe additions and exterior paint on this Airbus AS350B3e for Helicopter Express. Tennessee-based Wysong has also received an STC for its EMS kits on Bell 407/407GX airframes.

A newly developed Category A takeoff procedure has been approved for Bell’s 412EPI.

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Second Sikorsky S-97 readied for test programby Mark Huber

Sikorsky (Booth No. 4537) has begun final assembly of its second S-97 Raider prototype compound helicopter. Sikorsky is campaigning the S-97 in the Pentagon’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstra-tor (JMR-TD) program as part of the Defense Department’s Future Vertical Lift initiative to develop future helicopter technologies. Sikorsky is fund-ing 75 percent of S-97 costs with the remainder being con-tributed by supplier partners including Aurora Flight Sci-ences, builder of the aircraft’s fuselage. The 220-knot S-97 features a coaxial main rotor system and an aft thruster and is based on Sikorsky’s exper-imental X2 design. The S-97 is designed to replace cur-rent armed reconnaissance rotorcraft. The first S-97 is currently undergoing powered

ground testing in expectation of a first flight later this year. The second prototype will be used for customer demonstra-tion flights.

Ground testing on the first prototype began in February at Sikorsky’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. Sikorsky rolled that aircraft out in October and has successfully completed software qualification testing, component fatigue testing, and gearbox testing. Ground test-ing includes verifying the pro-pulsion system, drive train, rotor control system, and pilot-vehicle interface with the aircraft tied down.

Technology for the FutureSikorsky is developing other

technologies that could even-tually find their way onto the Raider. They include the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation

System (ALIAS) for the Defense Advances Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Sikorsky recently announced it had received an $8 million DARPA contract for Phase 1 of the pro-gram designed to develop and insert new automation into existing aircraft to enable opera-tion with reduced crew. Sikorsky plans to leverage its Matrix Technology to test and field sys-tems and software that signifi-cantly improve the capability,

reliability, and safety for autono-mous, optionally piloted VTOL aircraft by adding systems intel-ligence to rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft to enable them to com-plete complex missions with “minimal human oversight.”

Sikorsky is partnering with the United Technologies Research Center, the National Robotics Engineering Center, and Veloxiti, Inc. to demonstrate the value of applying autono-mous technology to a variety of

different aircraft including the UH-60 Black Hawk.

Sikorsky fitted an S-76 with fly-by-wire controls and Matrix in 2013 to create the Sikorsky Autonomous Research Aircraft (SARA) flying test lab used for rapid testing of software and hardware. Working with the U.S. Army in 2014, Sikorsky used a UH-60 modified for autonomous flight as part of the Manned Unmanned Resupply Aerial Lifter (MURAL) program. o

SCHEME DESIGNERS SHOWCASES CUSTOMER HELICOPTER LIVERIES

Craig Barnett, founder and CEO of New Jersey-based Scheme Designers (Booth 2418), loves coming to Heli-Expo every year. “This is a great venue for showcasing some of the creative exterior paint, decal and vinyl wrap designs that we create with our cus-tomers,” Barnett told AIN.

And Barnett’s customers are numerous at this show–he currently touts 11,000 uniquely designed paint schemes flying, all his designs, around the world. From OEM standards to VIP custom creations, he and his skilled graphic art-ists have worked to embellish aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing, with eye-catching liv-eries. This year, the company is showcasing designs for several customers’ helicopters, including paint schemes for the Bell 407, 429, 412EP and 212HP and MD 530FF.

“These aircraft cross the spectrum in how they are used, from workhorse fleet machines to luxury VIP transport. But they all share the need for unique protective exteri-ors,” said Barnett. “We work to make those exteriors something the owners and opera-tors can be proud to fly.” –A.L.

Abelardo Osuna had Scheme Designers develop his Bell 407’s livery. He uses it to cover four operational complexes that would take hours to reach by ground.

With first flight of its sibling expected later this year, the second Sikorsky S-97 Raider is currently undergoing assembly. Besides advancing compound-rotorcraft technology, the program is also exploring other technologies, including autonomous flight.

Metro Aviation adds IRIS to its arsenal of safety toolsby Amy Laboda

Metro Aviation (Booth 2428) is launching its new IRIS system for datalink, flight data recording and L-band satellite broadband connec-tivity for tracking and monitoring aircraft and their EMS patients in real-time.

“Learning what is going on in the aircraft is the missing piece of Metro

Aviation’s push for safety,” Metro pres-ident and CEO Mike Stanberry told AIN at Heli-Expo 2015. “You give them the best equipment and the best training, but when pilots are out there on their own, in real-time, how do you know what they are doing, and what is happening with the aircraft and the engine? IRIS, with its unique ViaSat phased array, dual-element antenna, is all about completing that full circuit and giving us that real-time connec-tion at speeds of up to one megabit per

second,” he continued. The system uses Northrop Grum-

man’s Blue Force/Blue Tracker satel-lite network, an L-band system that the U.S. armed services has pioneered over eight years to track its field infantry and aircraft. “Thirty thousand vehicles are monitored at once. Metro Aviation will be the first commercial operator on this system,” said Stanberry.

Innovation Via AcquisitionMetro acquired the knowl-

edge and engineering to create IRIS through acquisition of North Flight Data Systems in 2008, then Outer-link Global Solutions in 2014. But it was the alliance with ViaSat, which miniaturized the antenna unit for the lighter, smaller aircraft used by com-mercial operators, that completed the technology.

The phased array, dual-element antenna automatically and continu-ously seeks satellite position to allow for a constant connection, whereas most legacy technology employs burst transmissions. “The L-band is like the Alaskan pipeline in compar-ison to Iridium’s cocktail straw,” said Stanberry.

Elaborating on the breadth of data transmitted, Jeff Warner, director of

sales and marketing for Outerlink Global Solutions (Booth 4232), told AIN that “All of our one-second data recording is backed into 10-second- increment reports that are transmitted continuously to the helicopter’s opera-tion control center.”

Along with the constant stream of data, the dual-element allows medical data from the back of the helicopter to be streamed simultaneously with air-craft data. Both the medevac crews in the back and pilots in front have VOIP (voice) and video transmission capabil-ity as well.

Metro Aviation announced on March 4 that beyond equipping its own helicopters with IRIS, Lafayette, La.-based PHI and Texas-based Air Med-ical Group Holdings will be equipping their entire fleets, nearly 700 aircraft, with Metro’s IRIS technology.

“Now they can stop renting [com-munications] towers, saving them considerable dollars,” said Stanberry. With STC paperwork already filed, Stanberry expects STC approval on a series of airframes, beginning with the Sikorsky S-92 and Bell 206 L4 in September 2015. “We hope to get them all done by first quarter 2016,” he continued.

In other news North Flight Data received Transport Canada approval of its AS350/EC130 FAA STC for its lightweight flight data record-ers. The first installations will be on Phoenix Heli-Flight helicopters in Ft. McMurray, Canada. This agreement includes upgrading the systems to IRIS as it becomes available. o

ViaSat’s L-band satellite antenna streams data “like the Alaska pipeline,” according to Metro.

New Zealand kit maker pursuing certified modelsby Mark Huber

New Zealand’s Composite Helicopters (Booth 3265) has shifted its focus from develop-ing and producing carbon-fiber kit helicopters to offering three certified models. The company recently announced that it has filed a type certification applica-tion with the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and said it intends to pursue FAA certification under the FAA/CAA bilateral airworthiness agreement.

Composite Helicopters says it now intends to produce three certified models: the KC630 with a Rolls-Royce 300 engine in an executive five-seat con-figuration, the KC650 with a Honeywell LTS101 engine in a utility six-seat configuration

and an intermediate KC640 model with a Rolls-Royce 250-C20B engine. The company said certification for the KC630 is anticipated in late 2017, fol-lowed by the KC650 and KC640 in 2018, and that estab-lishment of an international dealer and support network is pending. Composite Helicop-ters claims its helicopters are the first fabricated with a full monocoque fuselage entirely from rigid composite materi-als. The models are expected to have a top speed of 125 knots, maximum gross weights from 3,200 to 3,600 poundds and payloads between 1,350 and 1,650 pounds.

Composite Helicopters first announced its intention

to enter the helicopter mar-ket in 2011 at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., display-ing the fuselage of a kit heli-copter it called the KC518 “Adventourer.”

At that time, the carbon-fi-ber and Kevlar fuselage heli-copter with a four-blade aluminum main rotor and shrouded composite tail rotor was planned to be offered as a $337,000 kit with a $44,500 fast-build option. The com-pany said it would eventually be offered as a certified model for $795,000. Over the last sev-eral years a pair of KC518s

has accumulated more than 250 flight test hours. Both have crashed.

The first accident occurred in May 2013 with a KC518 ditched into Auckland Waitemata Har-bour following an apparent engine malfunction. Company CEO Peter Maloney autoro-tated into the water following the annunciation of several engine warnings from the helicopter’s Rolls-Royce 250-C18 turboshaft. Maloney later posted to the com-pany’s Facebook page that the helicopter “performed beauti-fully” with a “sedate entry into auto [rotation]…Up until now,

the helicopter has been flying really well.”

The second occurred on Nov. 8, 2014 when the machine rolled over after a hard landing during flight test in Rodney, Auckland.

The test pilots aboard received minor injuries. They reported severe low-frequency vibration before making an emergency landing during which the helicopter pitched up and rolled on its side. Sub-sequent investigation revealed rod end component failure in the single scissor-link assembly of the upper swash plate and loss of main rotor control. o


Fatal accident spurs Airwolf solution by R. Randall Padfield

Airwolf Aerospace (Booth 429) of Middlefield, Ohio is developing tension torsion (TT) straps for all piston-powered Enstrom Helicopter models to replace the existing Lamiflex bearings currently used. This will eliminate the possibility of spindle thread failure as outlined in FAA Emergency Air-worthiness Directive (EAD) 2015-04-51.

According to the FAA, “This EAD was prompted by a fatal accident. The investigation is ongoing, however, preliminary results indicate that the accident was caused by a crack in the spindle, which resulted in the main rotor blade separating from the helicopter. The crack was discovered at the last thread of the spindle retention nut threads. While the investigation could not determine when the crack initiated, it was able to determine that the crack existed, undetected, for a significant amount of time before the separation.”

Replacing the Lamiflex bearings with TT straps eliminates the spindle threads. According to Airwolf, TT straps are known to be “vastly superior to Lami-flex bearings, as they are far smoother in flight and do not degrade and cause the rotor system to go out of balance. In addition, they make track and balanc-ing of the blades far simpler.”

Airwolf expects the price for the components of the complete modification kit will be less than $12,000. Because of the lower blade loads found on Enstrom’s piston helicopters compared with its turbine Model 480, Airwolf anticipates that the TT straps will have a service life of 60 months/1,200 hours, which is the same as the antiquated Lamiflex bearings.

Meanwhile, Airwolf has been working with Enstrom to develop and supply 36-month/1,200-hour-life TT straps for Enstrom 480s. o

ELYTRON SHOWS ITS CLOSED-WING TILTROTOR

There are exciting innovations in rotor-wing flight going on in Hay-ward, Calif., these days. Elytron Aircraft (Booth 3375) is at Heli-Expo 2015 ready to talk about these evolutions, and has brought the com-pleted airframe of the company’s two-seat technology demonstrator.

The Elytron aircraft architecture consists of a traditional-looking fuselage that sprouts three sets of wings set in a closed-wing config-uration known as Prandtl’s box. There are two fixed wings and one that rotates (tilts) while carrying “prop-rotor” engines on pylons. These engines can serve as tractor propulsion or vertical lift, depending on the position of the rotatable wing.

Elytron’s design has no hub and far fewer parts than a typical heli-copter swashplate. All of the tilt-wing actuators have redundant con-trol, and the two fixed wings provide superior glide capability in case of an engine-out situation.

The technology demonstrator at the booth is the company’s two-seat aircraft design, and all of the patented tilting center wing tech-nology is there for attendees to study. The aircraft’s two turbocharged 450-hp engines are installed and ready for ground runs, and avionics are onboard. The aircraft’s final empty weight is now close to the 1,100-pound design goal, according to the company.

At Heli-Expo 2015, Elytron is unveiling its four-seat executive air-craft/air transport design, based on a 1,075-shp turboprop engine that should be capable of speeds approaching 275 knots. The company’s 10-seat design is also fresh for this show, having been reconfigured for offshore transport service. It is expected to achieve speeds of up to 360 knots when equipped with dual turboshaft engines, totaling 4,000 shp. The company is considering the feasibility of extending its design con-cept to include unmanned aircraft.

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MAG DELIVERS FIRST HEMS KITS FOR INAER’S EC145T2 FLEET

Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG) has delivered the first EC145T2 HEMS (helicopter emergency medical service) kits to launch customer Inaer Aviation Italia.

“MAG’s new HEMS system for the EC145T2 pro-vides maximum flexibility and ensures multiple cabin layouts while minimizing conversion time and man-power requirements,” said Armando Sassoli, co-gen-eral manager of Mecaer.

Commented Andrea Stolfa, CEO of Inaer Aviation Italia, “We worked in close contact with MAG’s team, mixing our skills and experience to build a highly engi-neered and well designed system.”

Mecaer Aviation Group (Booth 1559)–which has facilities in Italy, Canada and the U.S.–completed the supplemental type certificate approval process with EASA in October 2014. –R.R.P.

Elytron’s two-seat technology demonstrator has a closed-wing Prandtl’s-box configuration that currently flies on a few ultralight designs. Its patented tilt-wing technology, however, is altogether different.

AW139’s performance, “for one metric ton less.” Speak-ing during a pre-show brief-ing at company headquarters in Marignane, France, she would not give a precise mtow but said the H160 belongs to the 5.5- to 6-ton category (12,000 to 13,000 pounds). The AW139’s optional mtow is 6.8 tons (just under 15,000 lbs). “Operating costs are directly linked to the weight,” she emphasized. Airbus esti-mates the H160 will have a fuel burn advantage of 15 to 20 per-cent over the AW139.

The five Blue Edge blades, already seen on an EC155 dem-onstrator, will bring a three-deci-bel improvement over the noise level of a production EC155. The 12-degree canted tail rotor is the first such design with a shrouded Fenestron. It com-bines the normal anti-torque role and a vertical lift compo-nent, which increases payload by some 90 pounds, according to Bernard Fujarski, Airbus’s senior v-p for the X4 program.

The third major aerodynamic feature is the biplane stabilizer. It retains its stabilizing function in forward flight and increases stability in approach, according to its designers. The biplane stab also reduces the masking effect such a surface has on main rotor thrust; the bottom line is another 110 pounds of payload improvement.

The electric landing gear is seen as lighter and safer than its hydraulic equivalent. For safety, the key is eliminating lines full of high-pressure hydraulic fluid below the cabin floor. Zodiac Aerospace is thus supplying the

first-ever electric landing gear on a helicopter, AIN understands.

A deicing system is not planned yet, although provisions have been made. Demand is not expected at a compelling enough level anytime soon, as “most oil-and-gas operations with medium twins take place in the Gulf of Mexico and Asia,” Genso-len said. Fujarski added that the weight penalty would be “greater than one passenger.” The AW139 is available with an optional “full ice protection system.”

Overhead Panel ComebackThe Helionix flight deck is

similar to that of the EC175, based on four six- by eight-inch displays. A major difference is the return of the overhead panel for engine controls. Cursor-con-trol devices are a key pilot inter-face and for the mission display a touchscreen will be optional.

The avionics philosophy remains the same as in the EC175, as design engineers have strived to alleviate pilot workload. Another focus in the cockpit’s design is improved exterior visibility, test pilot Oliv-ier Gensse explained. The H160 will be certified for single- and two-pilot operation.

Most composite materi-als for the airframe are similar to those found on the military NH90. Airbus expects a reduc-tion in maintenance needs and

“maximized occupant safety.” An innovation on the rotor hub is the use of thermoplas-tics for lower-cost manufactur-ing, reduced weight and, above all, damage tolerance–a crack will propagate very slowly. Airbus Helicopters designers believe the hub has the greatest thickness ever of a thermoplas-tic part in aerospace. Conven-tional rotor hubs are metallic, although other Airbus Helicop-ter models such as the AStar are equipped with composite hubs, which use glass fiber and ther-moset resin. The H160’s hub is made from carbon fiber with a thermoplastic resin.

On February 12, the first prototype airframe was still in the paint shop. It was incom-plete, missing its main rotor and engines, among other compo-nents. Three prototypes–dubbed PT1, PT2 and PT3–will be joined by a pre-production (PS01) air-craft in flight tests. Gensse will be the test pilot aboard PT1, along with two flight test engi-neers. An EC155 demonstrator has been helping with develop-ment of the Blue Edge blades, the stabilizer and the canted tail rotor and will keep supporting the H160 program.

Airbus Helicopters is also introducing comprehensive new ground-test facilities to facilitate development of the H160. These include a dynamic

integration testbed and a system integration testbed–respectively the “dynamic helicopter zero” (DHC0) and the “system heli-copter zero” (SHC0).

The goal of DHC0 is to ensure the maturity of dynamic systems. These include the flight control system, rotors, drive shafts, gearboxes, engines, etc. “The more we find with DHC0, the easier the flight tests,” said Gary Clark, head of vehicle test and integration. DHC0 also can be seen as a means for fast test-ing, as a modification is easier to implement on the testbed than it is on a prototype. It is to start running this month and will also be used during the flight test and certification phases. “The first run of DHC0 is as impor-tant as the first flight of PT1,” Fujarski emphasized.

All individual components have already been tested. DHC0 is all about integration, Clark said. The program includes engine controls, acoustics, ther-mal and maintainability trials, among others.

A critical subassembly of DHC0 is the main gearbox, and Airbus claims to have learned lessons from the EC225’s


Operation restore share

“Our goal is to restore the 40 percent market share we used to have in this segment,” said Bernard Fujarski, Airbus Helicopters senior v-p for the X4 (H160) program. He defines the medium segment as 4.5 to 7 metric tons (9,900 to 15,400 pounds). Another competitor is thus the Sikorsky S-76D. “We see the AW139 as our main rival but the S-76 fleet is a target for re-placement,” said Aurélie Gensolen, Dauphin family and X4 marketing prod-uct manager.

Applications will range from offshore to EMS, public services and VIP transportation. Today, the annual market is in the 120- to 150-unit range for medium helicopters. “Over the next 20 years, this is the most promising mar-ket in helicopters thanks to growth and replacement,” Fujarski added. Pro-duction of the AS365N3+/EC155 Dauphin family will continue “as long as there is demand and it is profitable,” Gensolen said.

A military H160 is seen as doable but there is no plan for it yet.

Power increase leaves Turbomeca in, Pratt out

H160 customers will not have to choose between the Turbomeca Arrano 1A and the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210E. The H160’s product positioning is dif-ferent from what it was in 2012 and the power need has increased, Airbus Heli-copters explained in February. Pratt & Whitney Canada, which was first selected on the X4 program, decided not to pursue a growth version of the 1,100-shp class PW210E, leaving the 1,100- to 1,300-shp Arrano the only remaining option. Nev-ertheless, Pratt & Whitney Canada engines will be used for early tests on the dy-namic helicopter zero testbed and the first H160 prototype.

Airbus H160 takes center stageuContinued from page 1

X4 design evolved since 2011 concept

In its definitive form, the X4 is relatively far from the early de-sign unveiled in June 2011. At the time, envisioned was a rad-ically new man-machine inter-face, including touchscreens, other advanced displays and fly-by-wire (FBW) controls. Former CEO Lutz Bertling often empha-sized that the pilot would benefit from enhanced assistance. In a famous quote, he started saying in 2011 that someone taking one of the front seats would miss something–the cockpit.

According to Airbus Heli-copters officials, the company is now focusing on those innova-tions that “bring real value to the customer.” FBW controls, for in-stance, were eventually deemed unsuited to a medium civil heli-copter, as opposed to heavy or military rotorcraft. The weight advantage would have been marginal, for a much more ex-pensive system. “The autopilot already does a lot of things FBW controls would do,” explained Bernard Fujarski, senior v-p for the X4 program.

The Heli-Expo crowd was all over Airbus Helicopters’ newly designated H160, the rotorcraft formerly known as X4.

Continued on page 30 u

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Helitech opens its door to the up-and-comingby Thierry Dubois

The organizers of the Heli-tech International show (Booth No. 4855) are here promoting the 2015 edition of the event, which will take place at the UK’s ExCel London exhibition cen-ter from October 6 to 8. For the first time, Helitech will feature a “Learning and Skills Zone,” located on the exhibit floor.

“The Learning and Skills Zone we are launching is aim-ing at anyone who wants to know about the pathways into the helicopter industry,” exhi-bition director John Hyde told AIN. The target audience will be brought to the show by UK-based Aviation Skills Partnership, which works with schools and universities to help promote aviation careers.

The Aviation Skills Part-nership describes its goal as: “To transform the approach to skills and career development in the aviation sector.” It oper-ates across key career paths that include engineer/maintenance, pilot, air traffic, airport oper-ations, cabin crew, operations, planning and crewing.

‘And the Award Goes to...’Aviation Skills Partner-

ship is also planning to pres-ent Rotorcraft Skills Awards to “promote and celebrate the peo-ple, businesses and organiza-tions who put development and the promotion of skills central to their work within the aviation sector.” The four categories will be: Young Person of the Year; Provider of the Year; Business of the Year; and Coach/Men-tor/Trainer/Teacher of the Year. A maintenance, repair and over-haul zone will be formed, too, to “give some identity to those exhibitors,” Hyde said.

Overall, this year’s Heli-tech will be “the largest yet,” according to Hyde. He hopes the 65 first-timers that exhib-ited at Helitech 2014 in Amster-dam will return. The last time the show was held in London it gathered a record number of 220 exhibitors.

Flying in to the show will be possible again for exhibitors, and they will also be allowed to conduct demonstration flights.

Visitors wishing to fly in, how-ever, will have to land at a nearby airport or heliport and then use

ground transportation arranged by Helitech.

Other services at the show will include a new mobile app, which will also be useful before and after the show, Hyde said. A website feature will enable setting up meetings. Finally, all exhibitors are offered a free public-relations service through CMS Strategic. o


At this year’s edition of the Helitech show in London, future industry professionals will join the seasoned pros, as the show seeks to promote career possibilities.

OTHERS TALKWETORQUE

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MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award The MD Helicopters Law Enforcement

Award for 2015 goes to the crew of the United States Park Police Aviation Unit Eagle 1 for their role in responding to the shootings at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16, 2013, including the rescue of a critically injured shooting victim.

Located directly across the Potomac river from the Navy Yard, pilot Sgt. Kenneth Burchell and rescue technician Sgt. David Tolson, along with a local police officer to help coordinate ra-dio traffic, reached the scene within four min-utes of the initial request for help. After picking up a SWAT officer, the crew returned to the building, where a Park Police officer and four

civilians had taken cover. After lowering the SWAT officer to help keep the rooftop secure, the crew hoisted the critically injured woman and airlifted her to a nearby hospital.

After returning and picking up Park Police officer Michael Abate, Eagle 1 returned to the scene to extract the three remaining civilians. All told, the crew of Eagle 1 spent five and a half hours in the air that day, rescuing survivors and supporting ground personnel.

The second-deadliest mass murder on a U.S. military base in history, the ordeal ended when police shot and killed lone gunman Aar-on Alexis. The former Navy petty officer killed 12 people and injured four others. –G.P.


Appareo Systems Pilot of the Year

Gary Dahlen is the recipient of this year’s Appareo Systems Pilot of the Year Award. Dahlen’s “quick thinking and actions almost certainly prevented the deaths” of firefighters during the King Fire last fall in northern California, according to HAI.

On September 15 a firefighting crew of 12, including 10 prison inmates, led by Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) Capt. Kev-in Fleming, was attempting to isolate a spot fire when the wind picked up, fan-ning a blaze that had been growing be-hind them and quickly cutting them off. The firefighters crawled into their foil-lined personal fire shelters.

Dahlen was working as a fire pilot with Helicopter Express of Atlanta. He was 10 miles away at Placerville Airport, when an unusual call came over the radio: “All available helicopters, prepare for an emergency launch.” Dahlen took off im-mediately with a Bambi bucket still dan-gling below the helicopter.

He quickly was able to locate the crew, sheltering inside their foil-lined protective tents, which, while they have saved hundreds of lives, are not de-signed to keep occupants safe from in-tense fire situations. As Dahlen flew over

the beleaguered firefighters, he could see that they had very little time before a wall of flame overran their position, but his perch also afforded him a view of a pos-sible narrow avenue of escape. Dahlen called the crew leader on the radio and, lining the helicopter up with the escape route, told him to tell the crewmembers to abandon their shelters and sprint to-ward his helicopter. Dahlen guided the firefighters as they ran up a dirt logging road and stayed in contact until they were completely clear of the flames.

The U.S. Forest Service awarded the following “Airward” certificate to Dahlen: “In recognition of your professional per-formance during an ‘Emergency Situa-tion.’ Your quick, calm thinking and re-sponse during a fire shelter deployment was honorable and saved lives.”

The Appareo Systems Pilot of the Year Award will be presented tonight at the Salute to Excellence dinner. –B.C.

Pilot of the year

Gary Dahlen, left, a fire pilot with Helicopter Express in Atlanta, was recognized for his role in saving the lives of several firefighters.

Crewmembers of the United States Park Police Aviation Unit Eagle 1 were honored with the MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award for their role in helping rescue survivors of the Navy Yard shootings.

SALUTE TO EXCELLENCE


Airbus CEO takes steps to improve product supportby Mark Huber

Airbus Helicopters (Booth 2437) has undertaken a broad effort to improve its traditionally market-lagging product and customer support, both in North Amer-ica and globally, the company recently told AIN.

Since taking over as Airbus Heli-copters president and CEO in 2013, Guillaume Faury has pledged that the company will work to raise its customer support satisfaction to industry-lead-ing levels. As part of this broad trans-formation plan, Airbus Helicopters has instituted a number of company-wide initiatives to improve customer and prod-uct support. Worldwide, Airbus Helicop-ters increased its spare parts inventories by $40 million in 2014.

Airbus Helicopters Inc. (AHI), the U.S. division, has steadily increased the spare parts inventory at its Dallas/Fort Worth Logistics Center. The inventory value has grown from about $90 million in 2012 to nearly $105 million at the end of 2014 and will reach about $115 million by mid-2015. The cost of that investment is being born by AHI.

“Here in the U.S. market we have strong, successful customers who demand higher standards,” said AHI president and CEO Marc Paganini. “They demand that we deliver parts on time and keep their helicopters flying. Those are the goals my team works toward every day. Our customers will accept no less.”

These new investments in service appear to be paying dividends. Company executives noted the following improve-ments in service-related metrics: on-time spare parts delivery rates (OTR) improved to about 90 percent by the end of 2014, a big improvement from 83 per-cent in 2013. Airbus Helicopters is aim-ing to hit the industry benchmark 95 percent by the end of 2015. Critical items on backorder were reduced 35 percent in 2014. The goal is zero critical items on backorder by year-end 2015. AHI now resolves 91 percent of AOG cases due to parts availability within 24 hours and is aiming for 100 percent. Customer

technical support inquiries with AHI are closed in five days or less–most in a day or two–by the AHI regional tech reps and the staff based at AHI’s Grand Prairie, Texas campus. Most are resolved within a day or two. Tech reps are on call 24/7.

The company tracks key metrics, such as OTR, order fill rates and AOG on a daily basis. AHI data show that U.S. Airbus commercial helicopter custom-ers have an operational availability rate of better than 90 percent. AHI said it is working with operators to improve this number. It also noted its service record in supporting the U.S. Army’s fleet of 320 UH-72A Lakota (EC145 derivatives) has exceeded contractual requirements.

In addition to increasing inventories,

AHI has made several process changes aimed at improving responsiveness, including setting up a dedicated customer support organization that assigns a cus-tomer service manager (CSM) to every customer. The CSM’s job is to make sure that customer issues are being addressed and to aid them in better anticipating and managing their spare-parts and service needs. CSMs also are now handling MRO quotes and scheduling. They are working with customers to learn how to use all of the management information capabilities that are built into the Airbus Helicopters Keycopter online system, which can be used to track and monitor aircraft perfor-mance and maintenance records.

AHI is using Keycopter and customer records to gain better understanding of service issues and develop better pre-dictive capabilities, thereby minimizing unscheduled maintenance. It also will provide operators guidance on how to fly to maximize operational availability.

“The objective is to use the data we’re collecting from our operators to be able to better predict when parts need to be replaced,” said Peter Cutler, v-p of cus-tomer support for AHI. “The people who fly our helicopters want us to focus on two things: controlling their maintenance costs and [improving] their aircraft avail-ability rates, and we’re doing that.” o

Airbus has ramped up the parts inventory at its Texas logistics center.

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‘Sports-car’ performance promised for Bell V-280by Mark Huber

Textron’s Bell Helicop-ter unit is pushing on with the development of its third-gen-eration tiltrotor, the V-280 Valor, following an official pro-gram award from the Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) last year. The agreement is part of the Department of Defense’s broader Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative. While Bell pre-pares the V-280 for first flight in 2017, Textron sister company TRU Simulation + Training is providing a cockpit “market-ing simulator” that aviators are expected to be able to access at the Army Aviation Association of America (Quad-A) confer-ence later this month (March 29-31) in Nashville.

“We’re going to show Army pilots the profile of how you fly a tiltrotor, especially the transition from hover to cruise mode,” said Keith Flail, Bell’s director of future vertical lift. “It’s a pretty sporty timeline we are on right now as we are developing our control laws [for the fly-by-wire flight controls] to get that embedded within the simulator. We think that is going to be very informative to the Army community and give them a greater understanding of how tiltrotors fly.”

The V-280 is designed to carry 11 fully outfitted troops, fly up to 800 nm at a maximum speed of 280 knots and satisfy the Army’s requirement for aircraft opera-tions at up to 6,000 feet eleva-tion at 95 deg F. Estimated mtow of the V-280 is approximately 30,000 pounds and the aircraft will be configured for utility and attack missions. The V-280 fea-tures six-foot-wide sliding side doors and a V-tail.

It differs significantly from the Bell/Boeing V-22 tiltrotor in several respects. On the V-22, the engines, gearboxes and prop-rotors all have to rotate as thrust direction is changed; on the V-280 only the gearboxes and prop-rotors rotate. The V-280 also eschews the forward wing sweep of the V-22. Going to a straight wing on the V-280 elim-inates the need for a mid-wing gearbox and makes the wing easier to manufacture, accord-ing to Bell.

Flail said there will be dis-tinct handling differences between the current-production Bell/Boeing V-22 and the V-280. “The V-22 is a great aircraft but it was designed in the 1980s with a lot of 1980s technology. We get to look back at lessons learned in terms of mainte-nance and handling. The V-22

is a very agile platform, but the V-280 is going to be even more so. The Army wants to focus on low-speed agility, so the V-280 will have about 50 percent more flapping capability in its rotor system than the V-22. That’s going to enable an even greater level of agility in all axes–pitch, roll, and yaw–so that you have that sports-car type of helicop-ter performance in the landing zones and objective areas. That’s a focus for the Army customer.”

Critical Review this YearThe program is proceeding

at a quick pace, with more than 200 Bell employees dedicated to it full-time and many oth-ers brought in part-time, as well as about 100 supplier employees on the team, Flail said. “This is a very exciting year for us. Right now we are heavily into detail design and releasing engineer-ing [drawings] so we can make or buy the appropriate parts. This year we also will have critical design review for all of our sub-systems as well as the air vehicle critical design reviews this sum-mer, which is tied closely to the final design and risk report that is due this summer to the gov-ernment. Then we will start manufacturing and fabricat-ing, which will allow us to start build and assembly in Amarillo [Texas] this summer. We will be building the wing, fuselage and nacelle structure this summer and deliver those and hydrau-lic, fuel cell and drive compo-nents this fall as well. So there

is a lot of activity this year.” Bell has numerous supplier

partners on the V-280. In 2013 it announced it would team with Lockheed Martin on the air-craft with the latter providing integrated avionics, sensors and weapons. Other partners include TRU (marketing simulator and desktop maintenance trainer), Moog (flight controls), GE Avi-ation (T64-GE-419 engines), GKN (tail), Spirit AeroSystems (composite fuselage), Eaton (hydraulics and power gener-ation), Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems (power dis-tribution systems) and Israel Aerospace Industries (nacelles).

One of the supplier tech-nologies the V-280 team is excited about is the Lockheed Martin so-called “smart hel-mets” coupled to the pilotage distributed aperture system (PDAS), similar to the sys-tem on the F-35. PDAS uses a series of sensors on the air-craft linked to computer pro-cessors to generate images and stitch them together to pro-vide the pilot with a real-time, 360-degree field of view out-side the aircraft. “We’re going to demonstrate that on this phase of the JMR-TD,” Flail said. “I think this is a criti-cal demonstration given all the focus that has been put on operations in a degraded visual environment.”

Bell is competing in the JMR-TD phase of FVL against a Sikorsky-Boeing team that is fielding the SB-1 Defi-ant, a medium-lift compound helicopter that will have contra- rotating rigid main rotor blades, a pusher propeller and fly-by-wire flight controls.

The potential spoils of the eventual winner of the

JMR-TD could be as many as 4,000 aircraft by the year 2030 under FVL. The Army even-tually wants FVL aircraft to be fitted with future advanced turbine engines that will post a 35-percent reduction in specific fuel consumption, an 80-per-cent improvement in power-to-weight ratio, a 20-percent improvement in design life (to more than 6,000 hours) and a 45-percent reduction in pro-duction/maintenance costs. The technologies for those engines remain under development and are not scheduled to be demon-strated until 2016. Those engines and some other forward-look-ing technologies will not fly on phase one JMR-TD aircraft in 2017 but could fly on phase two or Model Performance Specifi-cation (MPS) aircraft in 2019.

Flail said Bell is reduc-ing technical risk on the V-280 by incorporating select aspects of the Bell 525 Relent-less super-medium twin con-ventional helicopter that is expected to make its first flight this spring. They include parts of the fuselage design and com-ponents from the aircraft’s fly-by-wire control system. “The 525 is a great design and we really didn’t need to re-invent the wheel there,” he said. “The challenge every day is pushing the envelope on technology to reduce future risks, but stay-ing on track with schedule, cost and performance objectives.

“Looking around the world today, there are more military missions that need revolution-ary change in terms of the types of [air] assets that are required in terms of speed and range. The needs of these missions ren-der legacy helicopters almost irrelevant,” Flail said. o


AEROLITE HAS THE LATEST IN EMS INTERIORS

Switzerland-based Aerolite Max Bucher is exhibiting a full-scale mockup of an EMS interior for the Airbus Helicopters EC135T3/P3 light twin. The mockup, at Aerolite’s booth (No. 3443), includes the floor, stretcher and seats.

“There are different possibilities, such as two stretchers and two seats or one stretcher and three seats,” André Hostettler, head of sales, told AIN. A new roll-in stretcher, also on display, has just entered ser-vice on the EC145s operated by Swiss rescue organization Rega. “It makes the handling sequence much easier,” Hostettler said. The equip-ment was developed in collaboration with Rega.

Aerolite claims the new stretcher is 30 percent lighter than existing systems, notably thanks to materials such as aluminum and glass-fiber honeycomb. Its dimensions are 2,240 mm (7.3 feet) long and 590 mm (1.9 foot) wide. The so-called pack rack, the “bridge” on the stretcher where the medical crew can attach various devices, is certified for use during all phases of flight. The height is adjustable to ease loading of a patient from the floor or from a hospital bed.

Aerolite is now working on a search-and-rescue interior for the AgustaWestland AW189.� –T.D.

Designed to carry 11 fully outfitted troops, the developmental Bell V-280 tiltrotor is expected to fly up to 800 nm at 280 knots. Unlike the current V-22 Osprey, only gearboxes and prop-rotors rotate upward for helicopter mode. First flight is scheduled for 2017.

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Frasca brings two new FTDs, introduces new-tech featuresby R. Randall Padfield

Frasca International (Booth 5031) of Urbana, Ill., is showing two helicop-ter flight training devices (FTDs) and introducing three new technologies at Heli-Expo 2015.

The first is a high-fidelity TruFlite FTD with FAA level 5 approval for the Robinson R44. “Our engineers were able to incorporate the fidelity and quality of our full-flight simulators into an entry-level FTD,” said John Frasca, president of Frasca International.

The TruFlite R44 cockpit is a replica of the helicopter’s cockpit with panels, controls and instrumentation. Control pressures are simulated by the company’s TruFeel control loading system and the visual system is Frasca’s TruVision. The FTD can easily be converted for Sikorsky S300 training by removing the T-style cyclic and adding two S300-style cyclics.

The other training device on display is a TruFlite cockpit procedures trainer (CPT), which can be configured for many different aircraft. The one on display this week here in Orlando is configured for the Sikorsky S-92. It uses touch-screen moni-tors that are spatially oriented to represent the helicopter’s main instrument panel,

center console and overhead panels.The CPT allows two pilots to acti-

vate multiple switches at the same time. An actual FMS keypad allows for tac-tile simulation of the FMS system, which provides better feedback when entering FMS data. “We developed the TruFlite CPT in response to our customers’ need to perform procedures training with-out incurring the cost of an FTD or [full flight simulator],” Frasca said.

Frasca is also introducing three new technologies to enhance simulator training: SimTracker; SimAssist; and TruCue. The cloud-based SimTracker utility helps users manage their flight simulators and meet regulatory quality management needs.

The SimAssist software module mea-sures a pilot’s task proficiency in real time and provides variable assistance to opti-mize training. The system can provide active or passive assistance, record the student’s proficiency over time and pro-vide real-time feedback to the instructor.

TruCue is a new cueing and vibration system for FTDs. Based on technology used in Frasca’s level D full-flight simu-lator, it provides six-degrees-of-freedom motion to provide feedback to pilots. o


problems. The H160’s main gearbox is a clean-sheet design with a new approach to lubrication redundancy. Two indepen-dent systems run 100 percent of the time. In case the main lubrication system fails, the backup provides enough lubrication for about five hours. The backup sys-tem has no cooling circuit, being entirely internal. In case both systems fail, the run-dry capability has already been dem-onstrated to be greater than 30 minutes. This demonstrated duration is expected to be increased through more trials. The rotation speed of the gears has been reduced, too, thus reducing the thermal build-up rate.

Teams Gather at SHC0For electric and hydraulic systems,

SHC0 runs in parallel to DHC0. It is all about anticipating problems for certifi-cation and maturity, said Eric Jansonnie, head of system test. Some components are simulated, such as the engines: for exam-ple, electric motors enable the generators to run. SHC0 entered into service in January.

Thanks to the new facility, issues have already been found, such as how two of the systems are integrating. Some design teams that were previously distant have been gathered around SHC0 to fos-ter better cooperation. SHC0 is also an important tool–nearly a flight simulator–for flight deck development.

Another tool is the digital mockup. A notable use is to involve custom-ers in the maintainability aspects. For example, retractable footsteps have been integrated in the side fuselage for easier access to the engines. A virtual mechanic could “test” them, thus pre-validating the design.

The MSG-3 process, already used on the EC175 to optimize the maintenance program, is this time involving custom-ers at an earlier stage. Technical docu-ments will be based on images (still or animated) with accompanying text–as opposed to text with accompanying illustrations. A health and usage moni-toring system (HUMS) will be standard on the H160.

Airbus wants the H160 to be “a mature aircraft from day one.” The tar-get is to reach a 95 percent availabil-ity rate from the first entry into service, up from the EC175’s 90 percent. Oper-ational availability had already been the focus of many efforts on the EC175 program.

The design of the H160 has not been only about technical details, but style has been fostered, too. Guillaume Chiel-ens, who was formerly employed by the PSA Peugeot Citroën automotive group, heads the style bureau. “A driver was the history of the company, but we’ve also had to show it is a new aircraft and give it a strong identity, which could make it as recognizable as a Dauphin,” Chielens explained.

The nose of the H160 creates a link with the EC175, he added. The black “mask” on the livery was created to con-tribute to modernity. Some lines could still evolve. Flight tests will help design-ers choose between various fairings at the rotor hub level, for example.

Debates with the rest of the design engineers have been numerous but com-mon ground could often be found, such as with aerodynamicists, Chielens said. “But we can’t measure the added value of style,” he pointed out.

Airbus Helicopters plans to begin tak-ing orders for the H160 in 2016. o

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H160 inaugurates new name scheme

All Airbus Helicopters products are be-ing renamed with an H as the first letter, thus dropping Eurocopter’s EC acronym. Those models still bearing Aerospatiale’s legacy AS initials will keep them. In future, single- and twin-engine helicopters will no longer be distinguished by a 0 or 5 at the end of the name. One exception is the AS350 B3e Ecureuil/AStar, renamed H125.

So here are the old names and their new equivalents.

EC120 Colibri H120AS350 B3e Ecureuil/AStar H125AS355 Ecureuil/TwinStar AS355EC130 H130EC135 H135EC145 H145EC155 H155AS365 Dauphin AS365EC175 H175AS332 Super Puma AS332EC225 Super Puma H225

An M at the end of the name, such as EC225M (instead of EC725), will denote a military version.

Airbus H160uContinued from page 24

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HAI Convention News 03-04-15

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