AIN HAI Convention News 2-13-12

PUBLICATIONS

MONDAY 2•13•2012

Vol. 44 No. 4

HAI Convention News

®

Tired Pilots

Honeywell’s Sky Connect

Hersman At Heli-Expo

Turbomeca On a Roll

Fatigue Affects Performance, Judgment

Data, Voice and Texting for Helicopters

NTSB Chair Advocates Safety Measures

Production Up and Getting Better

Here at Heli-Expo, NTSB Board member Mark Rosekind said addressing fatigue has been on the Board’s 10 Most Wanted List for two decades. Pages 17

Honeywell arrived at Dallas Executive Airport with its AS350 AStar, equipped with the new Sky Connect Tracker III. The system networks via the Iridium satellite network. Page 14

Deborah Hersman, NTSB Chair keynoted Heli-Expo’s opening breakfast, and challenged HAI members, large and small, to embrace recognized safety standards. Page 4

Today on AINTV.com

In 2010, Turbomeca delivered a low of 800 engines. Last year, the number rose to 950 and the company expects to ramp up to 1,100 before the end of this year Page 10

> A spectacular unveiling of Bell’s 525 ‘Relentless’ > The world debut of Eurocopter’s EC130 T2 > An exclusive pre-unveiling interview with Eurocopter head Lutz Bertling

Bell ‘Relentless’ in 525 launch Eurocopter’s EC130 T2 has already hauled in 105 orders from no fewer than seven launch customers. It will have better fuel consumption and higher TBO.

EUROCOPTER/JAY MILLER

by Mark Huber

Eurocopter EC130 T2 debuts with 105 ordered

All was revealed yesterday here at Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas when Bell Helicopter (Booth No. 9846) formally launched the 525 “Relentless” supermedium twin, the largest civil helicopter in the company’s history and a major departure for a company that, since the Vietnam War, has counted on military sales for a large share of its revenue.

The Relentless is an 18,000-pound “plus” ship with an expected range of

more than 400 nm, a speed near 150 knots and a ceiling of 20,000 feet, aiming it squarely at the oil-and-gas market. Offshore operator PHI is the launch customer and also heavily participated in the customer advisory panel that shaped the 525’s design.

PHI Chairman Al Gonsoulin expressed confidence that the 525 would meet his company’s needs. “They [Bell management] are going to do what they

say they are going to do. Which is what we need in this industry going forward.”

Bell CEO John Garrison said the 525 was designed with significant customer input and a “laser focus to ensure customers are successful. They told us loud and clear they needed an affordable product that delivers improved payload range capability, a spacious cabin, more cargo volume and improved situational

Continued on page 29 u

Eurocopter unveiled the EC130 T2, the updated version of its single-engine EC130 at Heli-Expo yesterday, and announced orders for 105 of the aircraft from seven launch customers. They include: Maverick Helicopters, Papillon Helicopters, Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, Scandinavian Helicopter Group, Air Commander, Europavia and Enloe FlightCare.

“Innovation is something that is key for us. Innovation is creating customer value,” said Dr. Lutz Bertling, president and CEO of the Marignane, France-based company, in introducing the aircraft. “The EC130 T2 is the latest step in Eurocopter’s strategy to expand and evolve our helicopter lineup.

The high number of orders is proof that Eurocopter innovation is perfectly aligned with customers’ requirements and the evolution of their operations.”

With the smart phones and iPads joining with the overhead laser lighting, Bell’s announcement of its new Relentless took on the aura of a rock concert.

Continued on page 30 u

< Need business aviation news? Sign up for AINalerts.

BILL BERNSTEIN

by James Wynbrandt

AS RELENTLESS AS

HELI-EXPO® 2012, Booth #9846 © 2012 Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

THOSE WHO FLY IT.

bellhelicopter.com

|

HAI

NTSB boss lauds HAI for its work in creating IHST

Convention News An independent publication solely owned by the Convention News Co., Inc., Midland Park, N.J. FOUNDED IN 1972 James Holahan, Founding Editor Wilson S. Leach, Managing Director

by Amy Laboda

AgustaWestland Order Book Bulges with Heli-Expo Agreements

BILL BERNSTEIN

AgustaWestland is having a good show. How good? By the time the show ends, the Anglo-Italian OEM said yesterday it expects to have signed agreements here for more than 100 helicopters with a total value of more than $923 million. Some of the deals are still in their early stages, but the outlook is certainly positive.

On Saturday, the day before the show opened, AgustaWestland announced an order from Lease Corporation International valued at $380 million (including options) for a mix of AW139s, AW169s and AW189s.

Then, early in the afternoon on Sunday came an announcement by CEO Bruno Spagnolini that Gulf Helicopters had signed “a preliminary sale contract” for 15 AW189s to support offshore transport. The order came just two months after the new eight-metric-ton helicopter’s first flight in December 2011.

In a separate ceremony, also on Sunday, Bond Aviation Group signed “a framework agreement” for 15 helicopters comprising 10 firm orders and five options. The agreement includes a mix of AW139s, AW169s and AW189s.

Later on Sunday afternoon, Sloan Helicopters, an AgustaWestland authorized service center based in Northamptonshire in the UK, signed a multi-year distribution agreement covering “a significant number of GrandNew light twins to be delivered through to 2014.”

The distribution agreement included two firm orders.

Finally on Sunday, Life Flight Network signed a contract with AgustaWestland for 15 AW119Ke helicopters to meet its future air medical transport requirements. Deliveries will begin in late 2012 and continue through 2014.

At least two more order announcements by AgustaWestland are expected today.

From left: AgustaWestland senior v.p. Roberto Garavaglia, CEO Bruno Spagnolini, Capt. Fred Layton of Gulf Helicopters, and Geoff Hoon of AgustaWestland.

4 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

the production team R A T Mona L. Brown E B I N L Joseph W. Darlington Patti Keipe John T. Lewis John Manfredo Lysbeth McAleer O Colleen Redmond R R T Y Y E A web Developer – Mike Giaimo ONLINE EDITOR – Chad Trautvetter Photographers – Bill Bernstein & Mariano Rosales E

S

want to have a safe business, a safe system. And it is great for us to interact with them at shows such as Heli-Expo 2012.”

When asked about NTSB’s contributions to IHST efforts, she was quick to clarify, “You know, we do not sit on committees, such as IHST, as voting members. That is something that HAI, FAA and the helicopter industry created together. However we’ve seen that SMS, and particularly data collection, can be helpful in reaching the NTSB goal of zero fatalities.”

Hersman gave the example of the commercial fixed-wing industry, “where people didn’t think we could get to zero fatalities. And now we’ve had a couple of years where we did indeed get there. That can be attributed to CAST,” she said, “the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, which really identified things that needed to be done and solutions to get to that target.”

Hersman sees IHST as comparable to CAST, as the two organizations clearly have similar missions and goals.

She lingered on the issue of SMS being integrated into the helicopter-industry culture and suggested that IHST’s SMS Toolkit was a perfect example of an industry template that can help. “I think that it is extremely important to make sure that the SMS can be customized to the size and scope of your operation,” she said. “I think small operators, in particular, can benefit [from the IHST kit] and the majority of these businesses are small operators with one or two helicopters. They don’t have a lot of staff to implement an SMS, and customization is key for them.”

Above and beyond changing the culture of helicopter operations, Hersman hopes to see an FAA mandate requiring video and data recording devices in all helicopters one day.

“This morning we were visiting American Eurocopter and Appareo,” she told AIN. “Both of these companies are using video and data recording on their models now and into the future. Appareo produced these for Bristow Helicopter to use like a check pilot in the helicopter with their crews. Bristow has had great results the last few years, logging zero fatalities. And they have operations all over the world.

“So, when people think it is pie-in-thesky, and you can’t get to zero, well, I think you can,” she said confidently.

Hersman and her staff planned to spend time interacting with Heli-Expo 2012 attendees in the NTSB booth, No. 8536. o

Paul Lowe Robert P. Mark Kim Rosenlof Ian Sheppard Dale Smith Harry Weisberger James Wynbrandt

C

BILL BERNSTEIN

NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman.

the editorial team Charles Alcock Bill Carey Thierry Dubois Kirby J. Harrison Mark Huber Amy Laboda David A. Lombardo

G

When asked why she chose to bring so many NTSB staff to the HAI show, she replied, “I think HAI Heli-Expo is incredibly important to the industry. The NTSB spends a lot of time investigating accidents, but really half of that is letting people know about what we do and what we’ve found so that we can prevent those accidents from happening again.”

Continuing, Hersman said, “Through our NTSB accident investigations we can tell the industry what we’ve found or what we’ve seen. Whether it is a mechanical or maintenance issue or even a human factors issue, there is a lot of learning that goes on.”

But she said that the industry “can’t prevent the next accident unless we learn from the ones we are studying” and “it is the operators, more than anyone, who

F

NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman, keynote speaker at yesterday’s HAI Membership breakfast and meeting here at Heli-Expo 2012, praised HAI for its creation of the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) and its new Safety Accreditation Program. And she also challenged the HAI membership to continue its efforts to promote Safety Management Systems (SMS) through IHST’s SMS Toolkit.

Hersman brought with her, and publicly recognized, six members of the NTSB team, including senior air safety investigator Clint Johnson and air safety investigators Leah Yeager, Dennis Hogensen and Van McKinney; NTSB board member Mark Rosekind; and deputy director for aviation safety Sandy Rowlett.

Editor-in-chief – R. Randall Padfield Editor – DOMESTIC show editions – Matt Thurber PRODUCTION DIRECTOR – Mary E. Mahoney PRODUCTION editor – Jane Campbell PRESS ROOM ADMINISTRATOR – Jennifer Leach English PRESS ROOM Managing editor – Mark Phelps

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & ONLINE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – John F. McCarthy Jr. Publisher – Anthony T. Romano Advertising Sales – north america Melissa Murphy – Midwest (830) 608-9888 Nancy O’Brien – West (530) 241-3534 Anthony T. Romano – East/International Philip Scarano III – Southeast Victoria Tod – Great Lakes/UK Advertising Sales - International – Daniel Solnica - Paris production/MANUFACTURING manageR – Tom Hurley audience development manager – Jeff Hartford Group Brand Manager – Jennifer Leach English SALES/production ADMINISTRATOR– Susan Amisson Marketing consultant– Maggi Finlayson Advertising/sales Secretary STAFF – Patty Hayes Cindy Nesline DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – David M. Leach Human ResourceS Manager – Jane Webb accounting/Administration manager – Irene L. Flannagan accounting/AdministratiON Staff – M ary Avella Erin Fogelstrom Rosa Rivera U.S. EDITORIAL OFFICE: 214 Franklin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432 Tel: (201) 444-5075 Fax: (201) 444-4647 Washington, D.C. EDITORIAL OFFICE: Bill Carey; bcarey@ainonline.com Tel: (202) 560-5672; mobile: (202) 531-7566 Washington, D.C. EDITORIAL OFFICE: Paul Lowe; paulloweain@aol.com Tel: (301) 230-4520; fax: (301) 881-1982 EUROPEAN EDITORIAL OFFICE: Charles Alcock 8 Stephendale Road, Farnham, Surrey GU9 9QP, UK Tel: 44 1 252 727758; calcock@ainonline.com U.S. advertising OFFICE: 81 Kenosia Ave., Danbury, CT 06810 Tel: (203) 798-2400 Fax: (203) 798-2104 EUROPEAN ADVERTISING OFFICE: Daniel Solnica 25 rue Saulnier, 75009, Paris, France Tel: 33-1-42-46-95-71 Fax: 33-1-42-46-85-08 dsolnica@club-internet.fr Russian ADVERTISING OFFICE: Yuri Laskin, Gen. Dir., Laguk Co. Ltd. Russia, 115172, Moscow, Krasnokholmskaya Nab., 11/15 - 132 Tel: +7-05-912-1346, 911-2762 Fax: +7-095-912-1260 ylarm-lml@mtu-net.ru

The Convention News Company, Inc.– AIN Publications President – Wilson Leach Executive Vice President – John F. McCarthy, Jr. Vice President of Operations – R. Randall Padfield Treasurer – Jane L. Webb Secretary – Jennifer Leach English HAI Convention News is a publication of The Convention News Co., Inc., 214 Franklin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432; Tel.: (201) 4445075. Copyright © 2012. All rights ­reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part ­without permission of The Convention News Co., Inc. is strictly prohibited. The Convention News Co., Inc. publishes Aviation International News, AINalerts, AIN Air Transport Perspective, AIN Defense ­Perspective, AINmxReports, Business Jet Traveler, BJTwaypoints, ABACE ­Convention News, Dubai Airshow News, EBACE Convention News, Farnborough Airshow News, HAI Convention News, MEBA ­Convention News, NBAA Convention News, Paris Airshow News, Singapore Airshow News.

Printed in Dallas by ColorDynamics Computer Services: Rentfusion

( THINK BUSINESS ) When it comes to gaining a competitive edge in commerce, you simply need the best.

With a Eurocopter helicopter you will fly faster more safely, while enjoying greater comfort and reliability.

Invest in an EC130 T2.

VISIT US AT HAI February 11-14, 2012 Hall B - Stand 1917

Thinking without limits

news clips z Uniflight Selected for Eurocopter VIP Completion Eurocopter AS350B2 buyer Saul Maia has selected Uniflight’s Grand Prairie, Texas, maintenance and completions facility to perform a VIP completion on the helicopter. Maia’s AS350B2 was delivered to Uniflight last month.

“I looked at a variety of completion houses,” Maia said.

“There are many out there to choose from. I talked to industry people who I trust. I really did my homework. In the end, Uniflight was the obvious choice for me. I am very confident in the staff that I met there and their capability to give me the aircraft I imagine in my mind.”

z JetNet Adds New Customer Relationship Feature JetNet is offering demonstrations at its Heli-Expo booth (No. 9763) of customer relationship management (CRM) features recently added to its piston and turbine helicopter database. JetNet CRM allows database subscribers to tap into data on aircraft owners and operators throughout the world.

“You can add and organize your own contact information to develop your own exclusive combined database,” said Paul Cardarelli, JetNet director of sales and marketing, “then explore the wide range of JetNet CRM’s features and functions to manage your sales and marketing efforts.”

Access to JetNet CRM is available to JetNet Evolution subscribers for an additional fee.

z Cadorath Adds More Bell Repairs Cadorath Aerospace’s tally of approved repairs for Bell products has grown to more than 600, with 123 added last year.

Cadorath Aerospace (Booth No. 5024), part of Winnipeg-based Cadorath Group, plans to add more Bell-series repairs this year, to complement its existing Bell and Rolls-Royce capabilities.

“This fulfills, in part, a promise we made to our customers to continue to expand our product offerings,” said president and CEO Gerry Cadorath.

Bell rework is done at Cadorath Aerospace’s Lafayette, La., facility. To deliver on promises of high levels of customer service, Cadorath’s Bell technical support team acts as a liaison between customers and the engineering division, according to the company.

Garmin launches G5000H avionics suite

by Matt Thurber Garmin announced the new G5000H helicopter avionics suite at Heli-Expo yesterday, coinciding with Bell’s launch of its largest-ever helicopter, the 525 Relentless. The new helicopter is the launch customer for the G5000H. The Bell 525 will feature a four-display system and incorporate Bell’s new awareness, react and control (ARC) cockpit. Demonstrations of the G5000H in a 12-inch screen configuration are available at Garmin’s Heli-Expo booth (No. 9432). G5000H displays are also available in 14-inch size.

While the G5000H cockpit is designed for twin-turbine medium-lift and larger helicopters it could be used for smaller helicopters as well. But G5000H is much more than big glass and

Adapting the G5000 fixedwing system to helicopters involved much more than just plunking it into a helicopter cockpit. “It would be nice if it was a small adaptation,” Stone said, “but in reality there’s an awful lot of redesign to make it specific to the helicopter market. We’ve had to reengineer a lot of the black boxes because of the severe environment in which rotorcraft operate–anywhere from water to salt fog to high vibrations–which are much more severe in the rotorcraft market than they are in a nice cozy business jet.”

The G5000H attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) has to be redesigned, too, for the peculiar characteristics of helicopters. “Helicopters fly backwards, they do things

operations,” he said. The G5000H automatic flight control will be either a Garmin design or third-party system. Some rotorcraft manufacturers want to develop their own autopilot system and integrate that with the flight director, he explained.

Other G5000H features include Garmin’s Telligence Voice Command speech recognition and 3-D audio, which makes the sound delivered through the audio panel seem much more natural and easier to hear. The displays will offer multipane capability, allowing segregation of various types of information on one display. And G5000H will also include full engine instrumentation.

Garmin’s synthetic vision technology (SVT) also needed to be adapted for helicopters.

“Helicopters fly intentionally in close proximity to obstacles and terrain,” he said, “so we have our HSVT, which is specifically designed for helicopters to highlight the terrain, the obstacles and give good situational awareness to the crew. We back that up

z Production Numbers Double at Robinson Robinson Helicopter is rebounding from the recession and saw production of new helicopters at its Torrance, Calif., factory double in 2011 compared to 2010. For the year, production of the piston-powered R22 and R44 and turbine-powered R66 reached 356 helicopters, up from last year’s 162.

The R44 is still Robinson’s top seller, with 212 produced last year, but the new Rolls-Royce RR300-powered R66 is gaining rapidly. During 2011, the first full year of production, Robinson delivered 88 R66s. Production of the R22, which launched the company founded by Frank Robinson, reached 56 units last year.

The R66 received FAA certification in October 2010, and as of the end of last year, orders for the R66 had reached more than 360 units. Robinson’s total backlog is more than 400 helicopters. For this year, Robinson is focusing on new R66 features, including a police version and floats.

z Metro Aviation Celebrating 30th Anniversary Metro Aviation, the Shreveport, La., EMS provider and completions facility, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The company was launched at Baton Rouge Municipal Airport, then moved to Shreveport.

Metro Aviation initially provided aircraft maintenance services and flew aeromedical and news gathering missions in a Hughes 500. The missions were unique, in that while gathering news, the helicopter was on standby for EMS calls.

When an EMS mission popped up, the patient would board, swapping places with the camera operator who would leave the tape from the news gathering operation to be dropped off after the patient was taken to the hospital.

Bell Helicopter chose Garmin’s new G5000H for its just launched 525 Relentless. The 525 avionics suite includes four displays, touchscreen controls and voice command.

includes touchscreen control, voice command and an automatic flight control system that will be a first for a Garmin helicopter avionics system. “We continue to invest and expand into other parts of the market,” said Bill Stone, Garmin avionics product manager.

The G5000 and G5000H touchscreen controls are not part of the big displays but are mounted separately for easy access to pilots. The advantage in large aircraft like business jets and medium-lift helicopters is that pilots might not always sit close enough to the PFDs and MFDs in the instrument panel, so reaching out and touching the displays isn’t practical. But the touchscreen controls can be mounted anywhere and offer complete control of all avionics functions.

6 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

business jets should not do,” Stone said. “It seems easy to get into the helicopter market, but when you peel the onion back you almost have to change every element of the avionics to be specific to rotorcraft. AHRS, from the flight dynamics standpoint, is specific to the helicopter, but also helicopters operate near ferrous objects, near rigs and oil wells, and things that normally are going to affect the heading. So we had to design the system so it could lock in a specific heading until it can get off a rig and then resume normal operation.”

The G5000H will have a flight director designed by Garmin, according to Stone. “We’re doing a lot of development in the flight director arena to develop modes specific for rotorcraft

with H-Taws, a terrain awareness and warning system specific to helicopter operations, so we minimize nuisance alerts and still give a good level of protection around the helicopter should it stray from its intended flight path.”

Garmin’s first helicoptercentric system, the G500H announced at last year’s Heli-Expo, is aimed at smaller single-engine VFR helicopters.

Garmin engineers were able to adopt some G500H elements for the G5000H, according to Stone, “but there’s a big difference between a single-engine helicopter and a medium-lift twin. We’ve got to deal with Cat A performance and some of the other things on the bigger helicopter. It’s a huge investment to serve the medium-lift market and do it well.” o

FIRST-class service no matter where youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going.

The M250ÂŽ FIRST networkTM is the most diverse and customer focused gas turbine engine support network in existence. With more than 4,500 operators relying on the M250 engine every day, no engine is more prominent among helicopter and light aircraft applications.

The M250 FIRST network offers extensive, quality products

and convenient and responsive field support from 33 authorized facilities worldwide. No matter where you are, the M250 FIRST network ensures unparalleled service and reduced operating costs. Exactly the service you expect for a world class engine.

Trusted to deliver excellence

PW210 family offers flexibility for helo ops

by Thierry Dubois Pratt & Whitney Canada tests at an external facility.

In July 2010, AgustaWestland (Booth No. 3317) is busy with developments on the PT6C-67E, selected the PW210A to power which powers the Eurocopter its new AW169. First run of the EC175 medium twin, and the PW210A took place last year, PW210 family, the powerplant and engine certification is tarfor the Sikorsky S-76D and geted for 2013. Power is said to be the AgustaWestland AW169 in the 1,000-shp class. “We anticipate that AgustaWestland will medium twins.

The PW210S (Sikorsky ramp up their development proS-76D) and the PW210A gram this year,” Dussault said.

(AgustaWestland AW169) have Dual-channel Fadec different certification schedules.

The FAA certified the 1,077-shp A derivative of the PW600 PW210S last December after a turbofan family, the new postponement due to delays in PW210A/S engines have been the S-76D program. designed “to offer the highest “We were very happy to cer- power-to-weight ratio and lowtify the PW210S late last year est fuel burn in the market,” for the S-76D,” said Pratt & according to Pratt & Whitney Whitney Canada v-p of mar- Canada. They incorporate “the keting Richard Dussault. “This most recent advances in materimarks the start of the PW210 als and compressor design” and family. We’re in full production. offer dual-channel Fadec and Since certification we’ve been diagnostics capability. shipping production engines.”

Moreover, the PW210A/S feaRecent testing included icing1/6/12tures 2012 POWERLINE HAI_HAI 2012 11:40automatic AM Page 1fractional cycle

counting. In traditional methods for a takeoff/landing/shutdown cycle, the life debited would always have been one cycle. With today’s diagnostics capability, it is possible to more accurately calculate the low-cycle fatigue usage. Based on power, speed and temperature, the life debited for a single takeoff/landing/shutdown can be less than one cycle.

The automated power assurance uses the Fadec to compute the

measured gas temperature margins, instead of the pilot using a flight chart. The pilot can activate automated power assurance by pressing one button. The expected benefits are reduced crew workload and better data accuracy for engine health.

Engine Flexibility

Pratt & Whitney Canada is touting its new engines’ flexibility for helicopter operations.

They have no mandatory cooldown period to shutdown and also provide a rapid take-off capability. The time between overhaul for the engines is 3,500 hours and there is no scheduled oil change or vibration check.

Meanwhile, certification and entry into service of the 1,775shp PT6C-67E is targeted for the end of this year. “We are very happy with what’s going in the helicopter market for us,” said Dussault. “The medium-lift segment is drawing a lot of investment, and the oil market creates strong demand for our products. There continues to be good demand from EMS and police services, not like there was at the height of the 2008 market, but it’s steady. As the economy picks up this market will pick up.”

Pratt & Whitney Canada delivered more than 500 engines last year. o AINonline iPhone App NOW AVAILABLE

A Pratt & Whitney Canada technician works on a PT6C turboshaft. The PT6C-67E, which is powering the Eurocopter EC175, is expected to be certified later this year.

Powerline Detection Avoid, don’t cut.

Visit us at HAI – Booth #1112

8 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

Not exactly rose-colored glasses, but definitely clearer Stanley Hiller’s granddaughter has her sights on improving the view for the pilots and passengers of both helicopters and airplanes.

In 1942, the elder Hiller founded the iconic helicopter company that bears his name. Now, granddaughter, Christy Hiller, runs Plastek, a company that manufactures a growing line of EZClear cleaning and restoration products for acrylic and polycarbonate aviation windows, windshields and glass-panel avionics.

Fleet operators can buy a toolkit with specialized tools and applicators that ease repeated use. Hiller said EZClear can remove deep scratches without sanding or any resulting distortion.

The U.S. Army uses EZClear on 3,500 of its helicopters and its testing has found that the product brings clarity levels to within 99.7 percent of original specifications. Hiller said EZClear is also popular with helicopter tour operators, who must constantly deal with interior window scratches left by customers’ cameras. Fixed-wing customers

include several large domestic airlines and business jet OEMs. According to Hiller, Plastek’s new accelerated product can be applied two and one-half times faster than its predecessor. A pre-loaded syringe of product is applied to a polishing tool in precise increments and minimizes overspray.

The process is completed in two more simple steps.

Hiller claimed that EZClear will not affect the crashworthiness of windshields as long as the customer stays within an OEM’s specifications. “Typically they are removing less than onethousandth of an inch of thickness, so it is not an issue,” she said.

EZClear can be used to restore windshields even after severe scratching or pitting. Material costs of the system on a four-square-foot window run $50 per window for heavy damage to $15 to $20 for light polishing.

Starter kits are available for $399 and include a polishing tool, hardware, and repair items to complete four to five windows. –M.H.

The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 IDS is anchored by two 10-by-8-inch primary flight displays. It also has a solid-state weather radar system, an AHRS, and Mode S transponder with ADS-B Out capability.

Rockwell Collins upgrades Sikorsky S-61s with Pro Line Rockwell Collins has delivered its Pro Line 21 Integrated Display System (IDS) for installation on two Sikorsky S-61 helicopters. The installation was accomplished through a collaborative effort with Toronto-based Vector Aerospace in early 2011, and was STC’d in June.

The Pro Line 21 IDS retrofit package for the Sikorsky S-61 includes two 10-inch-by-8-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) primary flight displays, a solidstate weather radar system with turbulence detection, an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), Mode S transponder with ADS-B Out capability,

and a dual display control panel. The system is designed for adaptability to add functions, such as synthetic vision, to meet future airspace requirements and capabilities.

John Peterson, Rockwell Collins director for avionics and flight control marketing, said, “Together with Vector we’ve brought the power of advanced avionics to the S-61 flight deck, and have done so affordably with minimal downtime.” He added that the Pro Line 21 IDS integrates inputs from aircraft sensors, radios, flight-management systems and autopilots, and presents the product on a large format LCD. –H.W.

Jet-Care inks oil analysis pacts Existing facilities at Garland/DRW Heliport include a public terminal, office and three other hangars. Sky Helicopters has been the heliport’s FBO since 1992.

Garland Heliport’s FBO adds hangar and more ramp space Sky Helicopters, the FBO at Garland/ DRW Heliport, has added a new hangar and more ramp space. The eight-acre public heliport a few miles from downtown Dallas in Garland, Texas, now has hangar space for up to 50 helicopters and over a quarter-million square feet of ramp space. The newest hangar can hold 12 helicopters and adds 17,500 square feet of concrete ramp area.

Sky Helicopters has been the heliport’s FBO since 1992. Opened in 1988,

Garland/DFW is one of fewer than a dozen stand-alone public-use heliports in the U.S. It offers fuel sales, hangar rental, charter, training and maintenance.

Existing buildings include a public terminal, office and three other hangars.

Terminal amenities include conference/ training facilities, pilot lounge, offices for local television stations, and administration for Sky’s Part 141 flight school and Part 145 repair station. –H.W.

Jet-Care, which provides oil- and debris-analysis services, announced a number of new contracts yesterday here at Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas.

Among the new customers is Delta Helicopters, a private, family-owned business in Alberta, Canada. The company operates a fleet of 19 helicopters from six bases across Canada. Delta uses the Jet-Care debrisanalysis program to allow in-depth examination of particles found in fluid samples from filters or magnetic chip detectors.

Jet-Care will also provide its analysis, information and technical guidance to Ontario Police Air Support to help keep its two Eurocopter AS350 helicopters ready to respond to emergency calls. The air support unit operates 365 days a year, as does Jet-Care.

Also announced at Heli-Expo was a decision by the U.S. Coast Guard to renew its contract for oil and debris analysis. The contract enables the Coast Guard to continue to monitor the health of the Turbomeca Arriel 2C2CG engines

powering its fleet of H-65 helicopters. “At Jet-Care we carefully tailor our approach to each customer. That, combined with a dedicated commitment to quality control, ensures we provide a first class service,” said sales and marketing manager Josh Wagner.

Jet-Care (Booth No. 7508) uses scanning electron microscopes to locate the probable source of debris and distinguish between minor concerns and critical situations.

Jet-Care is located in Cedar Knolls, N.J., and provides its services for operators and OEMs. The company holds full accreditation from manufacturers, including Eurocopter, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Sikorsky, Turbomeca.

Jet-Care has customers in more than 110 countries. –K.J.H.

www.ainonline.com • February 13, 2012 • HAI Convention News 9

Turbomeca production has increased nearly 20 percent

by Harry Weisberger At a Sunday morning press event, Turbomeca chairman and CEO Olivier Andriès listed the French turbine engine manufacturer’s 2011 successes, including a recovery in production numbers from the 2010 low of 800. Turbomeca

delivered 950 turboshaft engines last year, and expects to produce approximately 1,100 before the end of 2012.

He noted that the 10,000th Arriel engine has been delivered to the U.S. Army, making that service the

world’s largest Arriel operator. The Arriel 2D has entered service aboard the Eurocopter AS350B3e and will power the new Eurocopter EC130T2; Turbomeca received contracts to provide Arriel 2E engines for the EC145T2 and Arriel 2Ns for the U.S. Coast Guard’s AS365N3e Dauphin helicopters. China has selected the Arriel 2B1A for its AVIC AC311.

Regarding the new 1,800-shp Ardiden 3, Andriès said, “The engine is real. All testing is completed.” The Ardiden 3, designed to power helicopters in the sixto eight-metric-ton weight range, will have a projected TBO of 5,000 hours. It has been selected for the Russian Kamov Ka-62. Andriès added that the engine is planned to fly by the end of 2014. The Turbomeca CEO said he is confident that a helicopter powered by the Ardiden 3 will have 15 to 20 percent greater range than it would with existing engines in the same power class.

One of Turbomeca’s newest products,

the 1,100-shp TM800 has moved from technology demonstrator status (Tech 800) to preproduction. “It will have a name in due course,” Andriès promised.

The engine, designed to power future four- to six-metric-ton helicopters, will boast a “significant reduction” in specific fuel consumption vis a vis current engines, Andriès predicted.

Turbomeca awarded recognition plaques to Lon Halvorson, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters executive v-p, and to Metro Aviation, launch customer for the Arriel 2E-powered EC145C2.

Papillon operates a fleet of Turbomecaengined Eurocopter models on aerial tours of the Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona.

At its Heli-Expo 2012 booth (No. 7515) Turbomeca is demonstrating the advantages of its new online customer service site, Bank Of Online Services and Technology (Boost), designed to streamline and enhance product support functions. o

Jet Ranger/ Long Ranger Operators

Technical superiority doesn’t have to cost more.

In fact, it can cost less. Thousands less.

Only FAA-PMA Torsion-Tension Strap in the world.

Available now from Airwolf Aerospace

STC’d by FAA | EASA | Transport Canada | ANAC

Booth 10243, Heli-Expo 2012

www.AirwolfAerospace.com 1-440-632-1687

10 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

MARIANO ROSALES

STC’d TT Straps future helicopter pilot Judging from the smile on six-year-old Carson King’s face, the young man already is dreaming about flying. Carson resides in Dallas and was snapped while sitting in the refurbished Scott’s-Bell 47. The Le Sueur, Minn., company has established itself as the original n equipment manufacturer for 1,000-plus Model 47s that are still flying.

IHST and CIS team to reduce civil helicopter accident rates The match is a natural. The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), created to reduce civil helicopter accident rates, is teaming up with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to enhance the safety of helicopter operations in countries it represents, which include: Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldavia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The agreement between the organizations, which is to be signed next month, will allow the two groups to collaborate on safety initiatives to continue

the mandate with which IHST was created: to lower accident rates among helicopters by 80 percent in the decade of 2006-2016.

The IHST effort is co-chaired by Kim Smith, FAA manager of rotorcraft directorate, and HAI’s president Matt Zuccaro, and includes industry participants AgustaWestland, Bristow Helicopter, CHC Helicopter, Eurocopter, the Flight Safety Foundation, American Helicopter Society International, Bell Helicopter, the Helicopter Association of Canada, Shell Aircraft and Sikorsky Helicopter. –A.L.

Proven reliability and safety from

tip to tail.

That’s why operators rely on the Sikorsky S-76® helicopter.

It’s flown enough miles to circle the planet 36,000 times. More than 800 have been delivered. And we continue to mature its technologies. Why? To make it more reliable, more efficient, and safer…from tip to tail.

sikorsky.com 4320

See the S-76D™ helicopter display at Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas, Booth #6148, Hall E

news clips z Becker Avionics Introduces Emergency Beacon Becker Avionics has announced its new airborne BD46 beacon decoder, which it describes as “the most modern, lightweight, competitively priced 406 MHz beacon decoder on the market.”

According to the German manufacturer, the BD406 provides a unique tool for search and rescue (SAR) organizations on land, on water or in the air. It is a fixed installation or portable receiver developed specifically to decode and navigate to 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat capable beacons (PLBs, SPLBs ELTs or EPIRBs) transmitting the 406 MHz signal with GPS information.

The BD406 provides the ability to directly decode the transmitted GPS location of a 406MHz beacon data burst.

z Honeywell Puts Zing In the Rotor Honeywell plans to provide the Zing Test Elite rotor trackand-balance maintenance technology to MD Helicopters to support all current and new MD500 series helicopters. Based on the Zing HUMS 1134 on-board system, Zing Test Elite is a carry-on system that quickly provides the ability to perform helicopter rotor smoothing, engine refining performance checks, component balancing, and vibration surveys to save time, fuel and maintenance costs.

Zing Test Elite is also available for Eurocopter’s AS350, Bell’s 206B, 206L, 212, 407 and 412, the Boeing Mission-Enhanced Little Bird (MELB) MH-6M, and Sikorsky’s UH-60 and MH-60L. Several additional platforms are planned for release this year.

z FDC Aerofilter IBF Systems Protect Sikorsky FDC Aerofilter (Booth No. 3713) will supply engine inlet barrier filter (IBF) systems for Sikorsky’s S-76D and S-92 models. This follows on FDC’s long-standing relationship with Sikorsky, harking back to its agreement to supply IBF systems for the S-76C++ production helicopters. The IBF systems are integrated into the design of the S-76D and S-92 models, and provide efficient protection from foreign object damage (FOD), erosion and corrosion.

z Dallas Airmotive Opens Singapore Facility Dallas Airmotive, a BBA Aviation company, officially opened its Singapore Regional Turbine Center (RTC) today. Located at Singapore’s Seletar Aerospace Park, it will offer authorized Honeywell major periodic inspection service on TFE731 engines and line maintenance on Honeywell TFE731, CFE738, HTF7000 engines and on 36 Series RE100 and RE220 APUs. In addition to engine maintenance, the new RTC features a “First Support” global technical support center to handle AOG and other field-related service requests. “The Singapore facility is a dedicated First Support communications center to manage customer technical questions and AOG situations. It is part of our global First Support network that now joins our control centers in Portsmouth, England and Dallas, Texas. Combined, they provide 24-hour live coverage to operators in need of assistance,” Dallas Airmotive President Hugh McElroy said.

The Singapore Regional Turbine Center is the 13th Dallas Airmotive RTC.

Pratt & Whitney Canada touts customer support programs Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) of Longueuil, Quebec (Booth No. 3317) is not only highlighting its customer support programs here at Heli-Expo 2012, it’s delivering them. Today the company hosts Technical Briefing sessions in room C140 at the Dallas Convention Center for operators and maintenance personnel of PT6 (11 a.m.), PW200 (12 p.m.) and PT6C67C (1 p.m.) engines.

Raffaele Virgili, vice president, customer service, termed the briefings “part of our global ‘Customer Reach Out’ initiative.” Briefings will include information on maintenance recommendations and updates on support programs.

For customers who want to expand their communication links with the company, for the second consecutive year P&WC’s booth will have a kiosk for PT6Nation, the company’s social network microsite, designed to facilitate customer feedback.

Attendees can tour the microsite and sign up for membership at the kiosk.

Since launch, the site has logged more than 56,000 unique visitors and has more than 1,375 “citizens,” in

addition to thousands of Facebook fans and Twitter followers. “PT6Nation complements our global customer service vision, which is predicated on delivering performance, speed and simplicity to our customers,” Virgili said.

P&WC is also introducing an engine exchange program for its PW206B2 model, aimed at operators with high utilization missions or severe operating environments. The program gives customers the option of buying a zero-time, overhauled engine to replace in-service engines coming due for overhaul.

“The major benefit to the operator is not having to deploy a rental engine while the overhaul is completed,” Virgili said.

“It also means that the price will be established up front to allow for improved financial planning.” Additional PW200 models will be added to the program based on market demand.

Additionally, the company announced the expansion of service offerings at its Long Beach, Calif. service center, adding component repairs and hot section inspections (HSI) for a variety of PW206 and PW207 turboshaft engines to its capabilities. The facility

currently services CT and PT discs, performs segment grinding, and provides clutch inspections and HSIs for PT6T engines.

P&WC is also highlighting a pair of significant milestones. First, more than 500 of its turboshaft engines are now enrolled in its pay-perhour Eagle Service Plan (ESP) Program.

And second, the PW200 family of engines recently surpassed 5 million flying hours. “This remarkable milestone demonstrates the tremendous success of the PW200 engine family over the past two decades,” said Richard Dussault, vice president, marketing at P&WC. “It has become a reference in the light-twin helicopter market, capturing a majority of new deliveries in this segment, especially in law enforcement, emergency medical services and corporate markets.” –J.W. AINonline iPhone App NOW AVAILABLE

A British Helicopter Association member, Heli Air, has achieved International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) registration under the industry’s amended safety standard that now facilitates implementation for rotary wing operations.

A world first under the 2012 amended standard, the Heli Air registration was developed by a small consortium of specialists comprising the British Helicopter Association, Hayward Aviation Ltd., Heli Air and AviateQ International, all strongly supported by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) in Montreal.

As part of the IS-BAO (H) audit process, all safety aspects of the Heli Air business were assessed to a level well above the minimum regulatory requirement, based on industry best practices.

MARIANO ROSALES

z HeliAir Is First IS-BAO (H) Registrant

Walking among the helicopters When Heli-Expo opened yesterday, a large crowd entered the exhibit hall to take in all that the show has to offer.

There is something for everyone on the show floor, including plenty of interesting helicopters on display. Shownn here is the business end of MD900's notar system.

12 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

That’s why technicians at our authorized Customer Service Facilities have been trained at Bell Helicopter’s industry-leading training academy. As factory-trained maintenance technicians, they are dedicated to providing you with the highest level of service using Bell Helicopter’s rigorous standards of quality. With more than 100 Customer Service Facilities across 35 countries, you’ll get the best support in the industry.

Bell Helicopter Proudly Recognizes Our 2012 Platinum Customer Service Facilities: Air Asia Company Ltd. Alpine Aerotech Ltd. Avialta Helicopter Maintenance Ltd. Eagle Copters Maintenance Ltd. Northwest Helicopters, LLC © 2012 Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

Rotorcraft Support, Inc. Servicio Tecnico Aereo De Mexico (STAM) Summit Helicopters, Inc. Uniflight, LLC 1-800-FLY-BELL | www.bellhelicopter.com

Honeywell’s Sky Connect delivers valuable helicopter technologies

by Robert P. Mark Honeywell’s new Sky Connect Tracker III arrived at Dallas Executive Airport (RDB) aboard the company’s Eurocopter AS350 AStar demonstrator, just in time for a flight around the south suburbs, augmented by the company’s helicopter Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).

Sky Connect Tracker III provides simultaneous automated aircraft tracking, as well as text messaging and two-way voice communications to helicopter fleets anywhere on the globe, provided through the Iridium satellite network. Sky Connect allows for two simultaneous tasks, such as two-way phone calls and tracking, or tracking and texting. The new Sky Connect III also functions in temperatures as low as -55-degrees C, a characteristic of obvious value in cold climates. Currently

undergoing FAA certification testing, Sky Connect Tracker III is expected to begin appearing on customer helicopters during the second quarter of this year.

Sky Connect also delivers access to real-time flight data, such as the status of fuel or the aircraft systems (for maintenance, for example), as well as limit alarms. Thanks to Sky Connect’s GPS-based recording system, time-stamped position, altitude, groundspeed and ground tracking information is expected to offer fleet managers significantly improved on-time performance. Flight operations can also be tracked on a map using any standard web browser.

The need for automated helicopter messaging is driven by operator demands to communicate in real time, often difficult in single-pilot helicopter operations such as the crowded Gulf Coast region. Sky Connect

tracks VFR flights with two-way data anywhere on the planet, while ADS-B is limited to outbound messaging more appropriate for ATC services.

Texting functionality primarily focuses on pre-formatted messages using Sky Connect, although freeform texts are possible through an in-panel message management unit (MMU). A sample message might include “Departing RBD at 1535,” with the time filled in from the on-board clock, and the GPS location grabbed automatically from the flight plan.

Honeywell’s Jeff Kauffman, Sky Connect product line manager said the system is “the defacto standard for voice on most operators in the Gulf, including Bristow, PHI and Air Methods.

Bristow also holds FAA approval to dispatch Part 135 flights using the Sky Connect texting system, eliminating the need for additional VHF or satcom calls.”

Honeywell’s Sky Connect Tracker III provides simultaneous automatic aircraft tracking as well as text messaging and two-way voice communications.

Another impressive portion of the Honeywell flight demonstration from Dallas Executive Airport was a look at the company’s helicopter-specific EGPWS, offering helicopter pilots in a variety of operations such as business aviation, EMS and search and rescue, the advantages of another pair of electronic eyes.

Similar to the systems installed in fixed-wing aircraft, the Honeywell EGPWS warns pilots of threatening terrain and manmade obstacles, such as radio towers, an item of vital importance

when flying down low.

An antenna farm near RDB, including a half-dozen 2,000 ft. radio towers, proved the unit’s new helicopter-specific algorithms have eliminated most of the nuisance alerts of earlier systems. Next to air med operations, day VFR cruise represents the largest number of helicopter accidents. o

USAIG AIN HeliExpo Ad | Half Page | 10”w x 6.5”h

CLIMBING

H IGHER

F LY I N G S A F E R

R egardless of your mission, your equipment or the size of your operation, one topic tops your agenda: safety. It’s at the top of our agenda, too. We offer a wide range of programs designed to help you maximize your safety initiatives. Our new online safety training initiative, Performance Vector, delivers particular value for turbine helicopter operators. Our new director of aviation safety programs, Paul Ratté, puts his expertise to work for you, coordinating products and services tailored to your exact needs. Make us part of your team. Contact your aviation insurance professional and discover the advantages of USAIG coverage and service.

AM E R I CA’S F IR S T NAM E I N AVI AT I O N I NS URAN C E ® usaig.com

212.952.0100

Visit us at booth No. 7748

14 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

Aviation Search Group helps companies hire

by Amy Laboda Why would multinational corporations with extensive resources outsource their recruiting effort? Grayson Barrows, director of sales for the Aviation Search Group explained that, for his customers, it is simply cost-effective.

“We are specialists,” he said during an interview with AIN at Heli-Expo 2012.

“Aviation Search Group has a tremendous network and an internal database of aviation professionals. We also have the ability to find the ‘passive’ candidate,” he said. The passive candidate is not necessarily looking for a new job. He is working, and might not know about the opportunity. “We can network from within and talk to that passive candidate and find out both if he is qualified and if he is interested in a new opportunity in his career.”

So, who is hiring executives and management in aviation these days? One look at Aviation Search Group’s list of references

would make you think it’s just about everyone.

Lufthansa Technik and

AAR Aircraft Services are using the company’s virtual recruiting program, which dedicates an Aviation Search Group recruiter working offsite specifically to that company’s recruiting needs. Evergreen International Aviation and Dallas Airmotive have picked the company to handle more specific, sometimes complicated

recruiting needs. The list of references is two pages long.

The cost of Aviation Search Group’s services is typically a percentage of the new manager’s first year compensation and depends on the difficulty of the recruiting process.

What can Grayson say about who his clients are recruiting these days?

“Companies, such as the OEMs, are looking for management personnel who are game-changers. These people come in-house and bring a new idea, something different from what the company has been doing for years,” he said.

“They are looking for people who might be able to diversify the product.” o

SKYe SH09 Donaldson Delivers 5,000th inlet filter Turbine engine inlet filter specialist Donaldson Aerospace & Defense has completed a year marked by new products, a new St. Louis facility, and delivery of its 5,000th inlet barrier filter system.

The company is at Heli-Expo 2012 (Booth No. 8451) to display its newest offering–a self-contained, scalable universal filtration system dubbed the Universal Filter Module (UFM). Donaldson says it will be applicable to a wide range of heavy, twin-engine helicopters. The first UFM application will be in the Sikorsky S-61.

A flight test program has been completed and development, including certification for commercial applications, continues.

Donaldson also notes that Intermountain Health Care Life Flight, a longtime Utah-based air medical operator, is operating an AgustaWestland AW109SP Grand New with the first Donaldson inlet barrier filter system for that aircraft.

It also reported that the first Turbomeca Arriel 2D-powered Eurocopter AS350B3e in Africa is flying with a Donaldson inlet barrier filter for the Kenya Police Air-Wing.

–H.W.

A light multipurpose single-engine helicopter designed with Performance everywhere.

The SKYe SH09 offers exceptional hot and high performance, a flexible engine concept and a low noise signature. The modularity of the cabin makes the most of the flat floor and the unique high ceiling, with 5 to 8 individual crashworthy seats and facilitated rear access loading through the clamshell doors.

Introducing a remarkably versatile helicopter with additional power, greater pay-load and sling capacity and faster cruise speed.

A Swiss made Helicopter

w w w. m a r e n c o - s w i s s h e l i c o p t e r. c o m www.ainonline.com • February 13, 2012 • HAI Convention News 15

news clips z Hillsboro Purchases Heli-Trade Assets Hillsboro Aviation (Booth No. 9246) has purchased the assets of Heli-Trade, including tooling, equipment, fuselages, and parts for the Bell 205 and related STCs. Heli-Trade specialized in the Bell 205/UH-1 and related models including repairs, service and aftermarket upgrades.

As part of the overall growth of its maintenance business, Hillsboro recently purchased a 190,000-square-foot facility at the Hillsboro, Ore. airport. The property includes new office and warehouse space. Hillsboro currently is an FAA authorized repair station and a factory authorized service center for Bell light helicopters, Robinson helicopters, Cessna aircraft and Lycoming piston engines.

Hillsboro is a diversified aviation company that was founded in 1980. It currently operates the nation’s largest combined rotary- and fixed-wing fleet of training aircraft.

z Conklin & de Decker Revises Comparator Aircraft consulting and data firm Conklin & de Decker (Booth No. 6928) is releasing a revised version of its Aircraft Performance Comparator software. It contains a simplified Help section on performance data as well as new data on the Eagle 212 conversion and updated Bell 429 images.

Current subscribers will receive the release at no cost while new subscribers can obtain a 15 percent discount here at Heli-Expo. Conklin & de Decker’s Comparator compares a wide variety of aircraft cost and operational data and imagery for nearly 300 aircraft including 62 helicopters. The new subscription price for the helicopter Comparator is $595.

The firm also is releasing its 2012 State Tax Guide for General Aviation for all 50 states and its Life Cycle Cost 2012 Volume 1 that contains ownership and operating costs on 400 aircraft including helicopters. The new edition adds several helicopters including the Eurocopter AS350B3e, EC135T2e and EC135P2e.

Helicopter-oriented seminars offered by Conklin & de Decker this year include the Advanced Helicopter Operators & Management Course February 15-17; and the Helicopter Maintenance Management Seminar June 4-6. Both will be held in Dallas.

Resurrected NASA tail rotor technology from the Vietnam era bolsters Bell helicopters.

Vietnam-era research spawned BLR’s Fastfin STC

by Amy Laboda Given how critical the tail rotor is to basic helicopter flight, it is difficult to believe that groundbreaking NASA research on tail rotor effectiveness (and the loss thereof) could languish in a filing cabinet at the Langley research center for nearly two decades. But it happened.

The Vietnam War was the impetus for the project, where Bell UH-1 Hueys were found lacking tail rotor effectiveness at critical moments, and the U.S. military tasked NASA with finding a solution. Yet when the war ended, the military’s urgency to find a solution to loss of tail rotor effectiveness went away and the research sat dormant in a folder.

The material was unearthed in 1998 by Robert Desroche, founder and owner of BLR Aerospace of Everett, Wash., an aerodynamicist and a pilot. And that’s how BLR’s Fastfin STC was

developed. Desroche, whose company holds numerous patents, read a paper written by Henry Kelley, principal researcher on the tail rotor augmentation project, and decided that the research was worth pursuing.

“NASA has a privatization program whereby technologies originally patented by NASA can be made available to U.S. taxpayers through a licensing agreement,” explained Dave Marone, vice president, sales and marketing for BLR. “What BLR did was take the product as conceptualized by Henry Kelley and his team at NASA and put it through extensive flight testing and refinement to make it into a product that could be commercialized and STC’d for aircraft.”

That’s how Fastfin was developed. The dual tailboom strakes originally patented by Kelley were mated to a unique, sculpted vertical fin designed by Desroche,

which allows for the sail area necessary for weathercock stability of the aircraft without having an undesirable physical impediment to the airflow.

Now, regardless of what direction the wind is coming from, the pilot gets a managed laminar flow over the tailboom, instead of a disrupted, inefficient flow. “The Fastfinequipped helicopter’s off-wind performance compared to a stock Bell 412, for instance, is a night and day experience,” explained Marone. Fastfin is STC’d for Bell 204, 205, UH-1, 212 and 412 aircraft.

The safety enhancements of Fastfin would be reason enough to apply the STC, but with better aerodynamic performance come other desirable results, namely, increased performance.

“Depending on the weight of the aircraft and the operating altitude, the fuel savings will be 2.5 to 6.5 percent while in the hover [not in forward flight],” said Marone, referring to the Bell 412 with the Fastfin mod.

“Along with that we can increase useable operational loads,” he said. “In this case we are improving yaw control [permitting an increase in useful load] in the neighborhood of 12 percent. And 12 percent of 11,900 pounds is about 91 percent of its [previous] operationally useful load at that altitude.

That is the logic.”

Marone reported that the company has sold nearly 100 Fastfin mods. o

z Military Helicopter Market Put at $19.4 Billion This year’s market for new military helicopters has been estimated to be worth $19.4 billion, according to Londonbased analysis firm Visiongain. The firm said here at HeliExpo 2012 that Western countries, due to budget constraints, will focus on maintaining current fleets while emerging military powers, including South Korea, India and China will significantly increase acquisitions and be “prominent players” over the next decade.

The latest Visiongain analysis also projects out over the next 10 years and analyzes seven submarkets including attack, reconnaissance, heavy-lift, medium-utility, light-utility, maritime, and search-and-rescue as well as providing a 20-country national military breakdown. And it profiles the 12 leading military helicopter manufacturers.

New York’s Helicopter Flight Services (HFS) has joined the Tour Operators Program of Safety (TOPS). HFS operates as HeliNY from the downtown Wall Street Heliport. The operator flies a Bell 406 and recently took delivery of three new 407GXs equipped with the Garmin 1000H avionics suite. HFS began service in 1986.

TOPS (Booth No. 4015) was founded in 1996 to enhance various aspects of air tour and charter operations conducted under Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Each TOPS member must be reviewed by a TOPS member mentor and then pass an annual safety audit that confirms it meets or exceeds the organization’s safety standards.

AMY LABODA

z Helicopter Flight Services Joins TOPS

Whirly-Girls scholarship winners Whirly-Girls International Society of Women Helicopter Pilots presented $50,000 in scholarships to nine women at its annual banquet, held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel Saturday. Winners included (l. to r.): Kelly Anderson, American Eurocopter Flight Training Scholarship; Jessica Ward, Robinson R22/44 Safety Course and Scholarship; Nicole Vandelaar, Flight Safety International Bell 206 Initial Pilot Scholarship; Maggie Mutahi Beseda (not pictured), Aviation Specialties Unlimited Scholarship; Krista Holstrum and Elizabeth Kassman (not pictured), Aircraft Ditching Course Scholarship; Mary Baker, Whirly-Girls Helicopter Flight Training Scholarship; Angie Griffin, Whirly-Girls n Memorial Flight Training Scholarship; Susie Nguyen, Advanced Mountain Flight Training Scholarship.

16 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

Human fatigue has been on NTSB’s Most Wanted for 20 years “Fatigue in the aviation industry has been on the NTSB’s Top 10 Most-Wanted list for two decades,” Mark Rosekind told a Heli-Expo audience on Saturday morning. “It still makes up six of our top 10 fears today.”

Rosekind, a Ph.D. and NTSB Board member dove right into the fatigue issue at the lead-off educational session at Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas. He is also the high-energy former president, founder and chief scientist at Alertness Solutions, a fatiguemanagement consulting group. His focus yesterday was clear from the start.

“Just because your flight department has never had an accident doesn’t mean your operation is safe,” he said.

Rosekind said aircraft noise and vibration in helicopter operations create special fatigue issues, as does the predominance of single-pilot, ondemand operations, often conducted at night. Fatigue poses significant risks to flight operations because it

“degrades every aspect of human capability, everything about who you are.”

Contrary to what many aviators might believe, pilots falling asleep at the stick is not the biggest concern. Fatigued pilots have demonstrated as much as a 20- to 50 percent loss of decision-making skills, memory, judgment, reaction time and situational awareness, none of which is normally apparent to the pilots themselves.

“It’s not like you can’t make decisions,” Rosekind said. “It’s just that [when you’re fatigued] you make bad decisions.”

Lapses in judgment are also not predictable.

What makes managing fatigue such a complex issue is that solutions almost never involve a single, simple step. Some companies’ views on fatigue management are based more on the culture of the organization than science.

“Right now, we still celebrate getting the job done on very little sleep, no matter what,” Rosekind said. Helicopter accident rates, especially in EMS

SAFETY

HAI

by Robert P. Mark

Sleep expert and NTSB member Mark Rosekind says fatigue poses significant risk to flight operations.

operations speak for themselves on that contradiction.

Pilots don’t really believe they’re cheating themselves on sleep, but few understand the cumulative effects of missing a few hours a night here and there. Then too, there are people who believe they perform just fine on less sleep than their bodies actually demand.

“Cheating on sleep does not make you more productive,” Rosekind said. “During sleep research, some pilots experienced a

62 percent drop in their ability to handle the rigors of flight.” Despite claims to the contrary, flying in the middle of the night by itself can degrade pilot performance by 30 percent, even more so during the circadian low that all humans experience between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. How a pilot feels has also been shown to have almost no relation to how those pilots actually perform when fatigued.

The question on everyone’s mind is what to do next, knowing full well that no safety culture changes overnight. While inflight naps are not an option in helicopter operations, Rosekind suggests short naps between cockpit sessions, techniques proven to significantly improve pilot performance over that of people trying to force their minds to remain awake.

The strategic use of caffeine can also perk a person up, although it is no substitute for sleep. “Sleep is a vital physiological function,” Rosekind said. “Without sleep, you die.”

He added that Thomas Edison, a famous four-hour sleeper who regularly proclaimed the worthlessness of sleep, actually took two well-timed daily naps to keep fresh. o

Safe in Flight Safe on Landing Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG) is a leading international provider of fully-integrated aircraft flight control and landing systems for the helicopter, business and general aviation sectors.

MAG’s flight control and landing gear systems, including struts, rolling stock, retract actuation, braking system and cockpit controls, have been selected by major OEMs worldwide.

Visit Us at Booth 5924

www.mecaer.com • +1-972-717-2900 • info@mecaer.com www.ainonline.com • February 13, 2012 • HAI Convention News 17

news clips z HAI Offers New Safety Accreditation Program The Helicopter Association International (Booth No. 8632) launched a safety program designed to raise the bar for helicopter operators worldwide at Heli-Expo. Based on the new rotorcraft language in the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), the HAI Accreditation Program accounts for mission-specific criteria for a wide range of helicopter operations.

“The Federal Aviation Administration sets a basic standard of safety with the federal aviation regulations,” said HAI president Matt Zuccaro. “But we believe that needs to be the base from which we can all strive to fly to an even higher standard.”

The accreditation program starts with a requirement for operators to obtain IS-BAO registration. HAI staff will assist operators to meet IS-BAO requirements, while the HAI Mentoring Program will provide assistance on ways to improve performance in areas that do not meet these standards.

z Night Flight Concepts Turns Night To Day Night Flight Concepts is showcasing new night vision solutions this year at its Heli-Expo booth (No. 7841), along with its new laser armor and laser defense systems for civil operators.

NFC’s new maintenance solution for night-vision goggles (NVG) bundles its “no-worry” extended warranty; high-quality, cost-sensitive 180-day NVG inspections; and the NVIS-lighting inspection program. Bundles also include the FAA-approved NVIO night-vision goggle computer-based training which enables Internet-based, just-in-time training and maintenance performance support. Bundling customers receive preferred pricing on many products and services offered by NFC. In response to the FAA-mandated, 24-month NVIS inspection requirement, NFC is offering the Hoffman Engineering LM-33550 lighting conformity toolkit, which it calls “the torque-wrench of the NVG lighting inspection industry.”

z Sikorsky Selects Sandel Avionics for HeliTaws Sandel Avionics has been selected by Sikorsky to provide a new MIL-STD version of its HeliTAWS wire and terrain alerting system for forward-fit installation aboard the new S-70i Black Hawk helicopter in mid-2012.

The model ST3453H, like Sandel’s commercial model ST3400H HeliTAWS, protects against terrain, wires and obstacles, and is the only terrain avoidance system certified for nuisance-free operation below en route altitudes, according to the company.

Sandel HeliTAWS features include WireWatch onboard wirestrike avoidance, TruAlert technology to eliminate nuisance alerts and a choice of pilot-selectable modes of operation.

Universal shows flat panel for helicopters Universal Avionics has come to Heli-Expo featuring a new high-resolution, flat-panel display for helicopters and its Vision-1 synthetic vision system (SVS) with added guidance features. The EFI-890H with rotorcraft-specific symbology including Vision-1+ SVS, is the centerpiece of a newly integrated digital flight deck destined for five Republic of Panama Bell 212s.

Tucson-based Universal Avionics is demonstrating its newest offerings at Booth No. 2920. Being introduced here

at Heli-Expo, the EFI-890H addresses the unique requirements of helicopter operators, including the capability for IFR operations in both Part 27 and Part 29 airframes. It includes a collective-cue feature and provisioning for X-Video nightvision-imaging system (NVIS) compatibility.

Deliveries of integrated cockpit equipment for the 212, centered on the EFI-890H with Vision-1+ software, to Panama’s Servicio Nacional Aeronaval began this month. Helitech (Booth No. 3612) of Vancouver,

Aero Products receives Bell’s gold service seal

by Amy Laboda Twenty-five consecutive years is a long time to be in the aviation parts and servicing business, if your principal customers operate helicopters. The first practical helicopters have been around for less than 60 years. But it takes more than just endurance to become a Gold Seal Bell Helicopter customer service facility.

Aero Products, located in Show Low, Ariz., should know.

It has been providing its customers with support solutions,

spares and component servicing for a quarter century, and was recently awarded the Bell Helicopter Gold Customer Service Facility Seal of Recognition of its ability to manage Bell Helicopter fleet issues.

Each year, all Bell-approved customer service facilities (CSFs) undergo a strict audit process to ensure Bell customers get the highest level of customer support. The Bell Achievement Ranking System (BARS), which reached

z Sagem Avionics Highlights Sales at Heli-Expo

full network-wide deployment in 2008, measures Bell’s authorized CSFs on multiple factors relating to the customer experience, including technical competence of factory-trained maintenance technicians at a CFS; guaranteed inventory of spare parts; service comprehensiveness; business practices; inventory management; and facility quality.

“At Aero Products we continue to make investments in our facility, inventory, tooling and training to further enhance our ability to continue delivering high quality, professional service,” said Ted Johnson, founder and current president of Aero Products.

Among the capital investments the company made, its new exchange program is designed to create a less expensive alternative for customers who need immediate replacement parts.

The company is committed to continue expanding this new exchange program and its rental offerings. “We’re excited to have received this recognition [from Bell Helicopter],” Johnson said. o

AT THE BOOTHS VICTORIA TOD

Sagem Avionics, part of the Safran group, is at Booth No. 7517 celebrating Slave Lake Helicopters’ selection of Sagem’s Integrated Cockpit Display System (ICDS) for its new Eurocopter AS350 B3e. That machine joins three others in the Slave Lake fleet, an AS350 B2, an EC120 and a Bell 206 B3, all with the Sagem ICDS. Slave Lake Helicopters operates from the Slave Lake Airport in northern Alberta. Owner, George Kelham said, “Our investment in the latest new technology aircraft demanded an ICDS with the capability to plug-and-play with all the hightechnology performance enhancements on the AS350 B3e.

Selection of the Sagem ICDS for our newest helicopter was easy.”

The French company also announced that Era Helicopters has agreed with Sagem to continue using its avionics Analysis Ground Station (AGS) service, a comprehensive flight operations monitoring system for FOQA that processes and analyzes aircraft recorder data to produce user-configurable, customized reports.

The latest iteration of the Sagem AGS will replace an existing Sagem system. The Era renewal follows selection by offshore operator PHI of Sagem’s AGS last October.

B.C., and Maxcraft Avionics designed and installed the Bell 212 digital panel modernization. The first of five modified helicopters has been delivered to the Panamanian public safety service.

EFI-890H symbology is driven by Universal’s latest ADAHRS and GPS subsystems and includes electronic engine displays. The enhanced SVS, introduced last October at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas, has advancements that include departure and arrival runway depiction, a new, highresolution terrain database, and extended runway centerline guidance. Terrain is depicted in 15 arc-second resolution worldwide, with fineness improved to 6 arc-seconds in the vicinity of airports. –H.W.

Kicking off heli-expo, Texas style Bell Helicopter kicked off Heli-Expo at Cowboys Stadium Saturday night in grand style with cocktails, Texas dinner favorites and entertainment by a cowboy band. Bell president and CEO John Garrison addressed the massive crowd, encouraging everyone to come to Bell's Sunday press conference where the 525 Relentless was launched. n

18 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

Visitors to Conklin & de Decker’s Booth No. 6928 can enter a drawing to win one of three iPhone/iPad remotely controlled miniature helicopters. The company is also offering a 15 percent discount on its most popular aircraft acquisition and management data products during Heli-Expo 2012. Those receiving a product demonstration will receive the first in a series of posters illustrating today’s most popular helicopters. v

TargeT ZerO aCCIDeNTS. TargeT ZerO DOWNTIMe. TargeT ZerO COMPLaINTS.

Lower Your ToTaL operaTing CosTs, improve produCTiviTY

Visit us at booth #6944 and Technical Services at booth #3717.

bristowgroup.com

HeliJet International’s S-76A wins highest time kudos from Sikorsky

by Amy Laboda Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies, recognized Vancouver-based Helijet International as operator of the world’s highest time Sikorsky S-76 airframe.

Helijet’s S-76A (serial number 760074) has logged 37,025 flight hours. It entered service in July 1980, and then flew 2,287 hours during nine years’ service as a corporate transport in the northeastern U.S. Helijet acquired the aircraft in January 1990. In scheduled service, it has

carried more than 500,000 passengers 3 million miles between Helijet’s passenger terminals in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.

“We established the reliability of Aircraft 760074 during 1,980 flight hours in its first 12 months of operation,” said Rick Hill, Helijet’s vice president of operations. “For the last 22 years, Aircraft 760074 has averaged 132 hours of flying a month. We’ve seen that if you maintain a great product, you’ll have exceptional

reliability for a long time.” Hill credits Sikorsky’s equalized inspection/maintenance program for the aircraft’s exemplary service record.

“Our 14 maintenance engineers maintain our aircraft on a continual basis by spreading the maintenance loads into equal segments,” said Morris Forchuk, Helijet’s director of maintenance. “This approach ensures we rarely take an aircraft out of service. Sikorsky’s high caliber help desk and field service representatives help us to keep the aircraft going.”

In addition to operating the highest time S-76A, Helijet operates an additional four S-76As, as well as three medevac-equipped S-76C+ helicopters that provide air ambulance service to the province of British Columbia. Helijet also provides two Learjet 31As in support of the BC Ambulance service and other medical service clients.

During 25 years of service, Helijet’s fleet of S-76As has flown 13.7 million miles. o

Helijet’s high-time S-76 is shown over Vancouver. It has carried more than 500,000 passengers approximately three million miles and is still working.

A Boeing Vertol is loaded into an Antonov An-124 by Panalpina Heliship. The helicopter shipping company set a company record number of shipments in 2011.

Panalpina claims helo shipping records It was a good year for the helicopter shipping business in 2011, according to Panalpina’s Juerg Boschung, business unit manager, and head of its helicopter shipping division. The Vancouver-based company handled a record number of air charters and flight diversions related to moving helicopters via air-freight around the world.

Panalpina uses Antonov An-124s and Boeing 747 freighters in several configurations to solve customers’ equipment logistics problems worldwide.

One of the more complex deliveries last year involved Sikorsky S-76 helicopters that needed to be relocated directly

to Cabo Frio airport, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With no direct freighter service, Panalpina air-freighted the helicopters from overseas to a Huntsville, Ala., hub, then diverted a scheduled weekly freighter run of its own, adding an additional stop in Cabo Frio to the route.

The structure of Panalpina’s extensive air-freight system allows for these diversions, saving customers the considerable expense of having to charter a single aircraft to lift a payload that could be combined with other shipments.

Panalpina Heliship is exhibiting here at Heli-Expo 2012 in Booth No. 6217. –A.L.

MARIANO ROSALES

StandardAero’s atwal Moves up

Convention Center Heliport Many Heli-Expo attendees are probably unaware there is an active heliport connected to the complex. 49T sits atop a parking garage and is operating during the convention. Eurocopter is flying demos in an EC145, a Coast Guard Dauphin visted from Air Station Houston yesterday and other helicopters are shuttling visitors in and out of downtown Dallas.

20 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

Manny Atwal, formerly vice president of StandardAero’s Turboprops unit, has been appointed vice president of StandardAero’s Helicopter Programs business unit. “Having business leaders who understand the broader context of our business makes them more effective and strengthens our strategic position,” said Kim Olson, senior vice president, helicopters, energy and engineering, StandardAero. Atwal has worked in a host of leadership positions throughout StandardAero including several marketing, strategy n and business development roles.

BUSINESS AVIATION ON FULL DISPLAY IN SHANGHAI â&#x20AC;&#x201D; MAKE PLANS TO BE THERE

Shanghai, China March 27, 28, 29, 2012

Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Centre on Hongqiao International Airport Exhibits, Dozens of Aircraft on Side-by-Side Display and Education Sessions All in One Location

WWW.ABACE.AERO

The Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition is co-hosted by The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) and The Shanghai Exhibition Center, in Partnership With Shanghai Airport Authority.

by Kirby J. Harrison AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini and senior v-p of marketing Roberto Garavaglia opened the Anglo-Italian airframers Heli-Expo 2012 appearance on Saturday evening with good news, followed by more good news.

While the official annual report by AgustaWestland parent company Finmeccanica is not due out until early March, Spagnolini described 2011 as confirming sustained growth, resulting in double-digit profitability for AgustaWestland.

Deliveries in 2011, he said, were in line with total deliveries for 2010. New commercial and government orders in 2011 were close to 200, resulting in an order backlog equal to about three years of production. He further noted total 2011 revenues were expected to be in the $4 billion range, and market share would approach 25 percent. “AgustaWestland,” he said, “has been growing at almost three times the rate of market growth.”

Discussing market outlook, Garavaglia said helicopter demand remains strong, “despite the challenging economy.” This is driven primarily by commercial operations, homeland security and para-public roles, he added. The commercial order book looks especially good for the AW139.

A new growth cycle is expected in the civil market from 2012 going forward with orders for the AW139, AW169 and AW189.

That growth will be driven, said Garavaglia, by the company’s para-public, corporate and dualuse products strategy.

He said AgustaWestland remains committed to competition for the next generation VXX Presidential helicopter contract with Boeing as a partner in the effort. “We believe the AgustaWestland entrant is still the best option.”

Built in U.S.

AgustaWestland’s U.S. presence continues to grow, with more than 100 AW139 deliveries

MARIANO ROSALES

From left to right, Judy Meier of SkyTrac, Paul Charron of Transport Canada Aircraft Services, Marcel Payant of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Bruce Georgia of Thales.

Skytrac, Thales Team To Track Canadian Coast Guard Helicopters SkyTrac Systems (Booth No. 9835) and Thales Canada have teamed to provide the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) with improved tracking on 22 helicopters and 17 helicopter-capable ships, using SkyTrac Systems’ next-generation flight following system, the ISAT-200.

The project involves aviation tracking units installed in helicopters, vessel tracking units aboard helicoptercapable vessels, a satellite communications service and data center services. “Together with Thales, we will

provide the CCG with unparalleled situational awareness on all their participating resources,” commented Kathleen Wallace, SkyTrac president.

This week at Heli-Expo, SkyTrac is introducing a full-featured satcom transceiver, the ISAT-200A with enhanced cabin connectivity, flight profiling and ground-station software. It will provide automatic, global, real-time flight following, SMS text messaging and data transfer using Iridium’s next n generation modem.

22 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

ANDREW ZABACK

AgustaWestland CEO: 2011 confirmed growth

from its Philadelphia assembly plant, and the opening of a new facility in Arlington, Texas, where more than 100 employees are working in development and certification activities related to the AW609 tiltrotor.

With 80 authorized service centers and component repair centers worldwide, AgustaWestland has approximately 16 more under evaluation. The company continues to increase the number of tech reps and customer service managers.

AgustaWestland training services are also expanding. Last year, more than 4,500 pilots and technicians from more than 40 countries went through the company’s training academies. Under construction at the training facilities in Sesto Calende, Italy are nine full-flight simulators, including those for the AW169, AW189 and AW609, as well as six flighttraining devices.

Discussing new aircraft, AgustaWestland representatives said prototype number three of the AW609 program is under assembly at Cascina Costa, Italy and number four will follow with all configuration and mission capabilities updates. Civil certification of the 609 is expected in the first half of 2016.

A special sightseeing-dedicated configuration is planned

AgustaWestland says its commercial order book for the AW139 looks especially good, with orders now totaling more than 620 aircraft. The in-service fleet stands at 450.

for the AW119Ke, including oversized passenger-door windows. This, said Garavaglia, marks the entrance of the AW119Ke into the helicopter tour market.

GNS/SBAS capabilities to provide lateral and vertical guidance for in-flight procedures are planned for the GrandNew Power variant of the AW109. This includes approach operations to LPV minimums. Improvements also include NVG compatibility, combined with enhanced situational awareness of 3-D synthetic vision, HTAWS and an enhanced vision system.

An update of the AW169 program was also offered. The concept design review has been completed and the first prototype is expected to fly this spring, to be followed by two more prototypes in 2012, and yet another in 2013. Garavaglia said AgustaWestland has orders for more than 50 of the helicopter in a variety of roles.

AgustaWestland figures there is a market for more than 1,000 over the next 20 years.

The AW139 program continues to grow with orders for more than 620 aircraft. The total inservice fleet numbers 450 helicopters, including 16 in offshore work. Improvements include WAAS/SBAS capability certification, TCAS II, certification of ADS-B Out UAT, and limited icing protection.

The first flight of the new 18-seat AW189 was in December 2011 and a second prototype’s first flight is due in mid-summer 2012. AgustaWestland has taken orders for 30 AW189s and options for another 20. Civil certification is expected in 2013, with deliveries to begin in 2014.

Garavaglia said AgustaWestland sees the AW139, AW169 and AW189 as possessing a common DNA, with considerable engineering and parts commonality, similar design philosophy and cabin architecture. All three types have a 30-minute gearbox run-dry capability, sea-state-six emergency flotation system and externally mounted life rafts. The engines of all three helicopters are equipped with Fadec and turbine-burst containment protection. The cabin and door designs of the AW169 and AW189 will allow use of the same internal modules–medevac, cargo, and VIP, and the AW189 cabin will accommodate medevac stretchers to be carried side-by-side or fore-to-aft.

The AW189 made its Heli-Expo debut this year and can be seen at the AgustaWestland exhibit (Booth No. 5602). In fact, visitors to Heli-Expo are invited to come to the exhibit and “meet the family.” o

Milestone sets the mark, inks two multi-ship deals

According to Bell Helicopter CEO John Garrison, the civil helicopter industry has nowhere to go but ‘up’ from last year.

With a new model unveiled here at Heli-Expo, Bell is poised to ride the rising tide.

Bell: ‘2011 was the bottom’

by Mark Huber John Garrison, CEO of Bell Helicopter (Booth No. 9846), said on Sunday he believed that 2011 was the market bottom for the civil helicopter sector and that Bell’s newly-announced 525 super-medium twin program would proceed regardless of whether the Pentagon ordered more V-22 Bell/Boeing tiltrotors after 2014.

The board of directors of Bell’s parent company, Textron, formally approved the 525 program in late 2011 and Bell formally announced the program here at Heli-Expo 2011. Bell vice president Larry Roberts pegged the development cost of the 525 at “hundreds of millions” of dollars. Some industry analysts estimated the development costs at close to $500 million.

Garrison said that Bell planned to deliver revenue growth in 2015 and 2016 regardless of the V-22 production rate which, even if it is renewed, he expects to be less than the current contract. “We’re confident that we can execute the [525] program,” he said.

Roberts said that Bell could subcontract parts of the 525’s fuselage, perhaps to a foreign supplier, but a decision on that had yet to be made. When asked whether Bell was currently seeking additional risk-sharing partners to help defray development costs on the 525, Roberts would

only say, “This will be a Bell Helicopter/Textron program.”

Bell currently derives a substantial portion of its income from V-22 sales and the current contract expires with the 2014 deliveries. Garrison said that Bell intended to grow all sectors of its business; military, service, and civil, but expressed confidence that the DoD would order more V-22s for delivery after 2014. “Military budgets are under pressure, I think there is no doubt about that, but there is opportunity for programs that are performing.” Garrison clearly sees the V-22 in this category, citing Marine Corps aircraft survivability data.

Eyes North

He also said that Bell was looking to the export market, specifically Canada, to keep the V-22 production line rolling.

Bell delivered 34 V-22s in 2011 and is scheduled to deliver 115 more through 2014.

Garrison said Bell achieved “record” financial performance last year, doubling its commercial bookings over 2010, with strong performance from the BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India, and China) markets, and good military program execution. Compared to 2010, revenues last year grew by 9 percent and the company achieved a gross 22 percent operating margin. Sales increased

from $3.24 billion to $3.51 billion, with a 65 percent to 35 percent military-to-civil split, and most of the military sales attributed to the V-22 program. Commercial deliveries on the year fell, from 131 to 125.

Garrison said he expected any coming decline in military sales to be offset by a growth in the company’s commercial business. “We subscribe to the belief that 2011 was the bottom of the commercial market and that growth will return,” he said.

The Bell CEO pointed to several bright spots on the civil side including the popularity of the new Bell 407GX that features Garmin G1000H glass-panel avionics. “We underestimated the demand for the [407] GX, and it is outpacing all of our expectations,” Garrison said. He also said that Bell 407AH (armed helicopter), also introduced last year, posted one of the world’s largest civil sales in 2011, though he declined to provide any details citing “confidentiality agreements.”

“We saw a lot of momentum in the last four to five months of 2011 and that is carrying over to 2012. Longer-term, this is plenty of growth in the commercial market,” Garrison said. o

24 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

In two separate deals here yesterday, global aircraft finance company Milestone Aviation Group (Booth No. 7010) announced with OEMs Eurocopter (Booth No. 1917) and Sikorsky Aircraft (Booth No. 6148), respectively, orders for 16 Eurocopter EC225s and three Sikorsky S-92s. The EC225 order is valued at $480 million.

Terms of the S-92 contract were not disclosed.

Deliveries of the EC225s were said to commence next year with Milestone taking approximately three aircraft per year. In the Sikorsky deal, Milestone will take two S-92s in the second half of this year with the third delivery in early 2013. The aircraft are intended for lease to Milestone customers, and some of them may have already found a home. Milestone also announced yesterday a leasing agreement with

CEO of NetJets. The only requirement is that “the helicopter has to make a living” in a revenue-generating capacity, rather than be used for executive transport.

Milestone already has an inventory of seven S-76C++ and four S-92 helicopters, and in addition to purchasing helicopters for lease, the company provides 100 percent financing for operators. Since its launch in 2010 Milestone has provided more than $500 million in financing to operators, including CHC and Inaer in addition to Bristow. The agreement with Bristow announced yesterday is the largest Milestone has arranged.

“The terms of these agreements with Milestone covering 100 percent of the acquisition cost of the aircraft meet our commercial needs to better manage our financial performance,” said William E. Chiles, Sikorsky president Jeffrey Pino, left, signs a deal for three S-92s with Milestone Aviation Group chairman Richard Santulli.

MARIANO ROSALES

BILL BERNSTEIN

by Amy Laboda and James Wynbrandt

Bristow Group for five large helicopters worth $125-$135 million.

“Demand for these machines is extraordinary, and they will quickly enter the field performing mission-critical or utility work with operators in the oil and gas, EMS or search and rescue sectors,” said Milestone chairman Richard Santulli.

Milestone works with both smaller operators that don’t have the financial resources to purchase helicopters necessary for their growth, and major operators that seek more flexibility in deploying capital.

“We have a very simple standard: if they’re a good, safe operator, size is not a problem,” said Santulli, the founder and former

Bristow Group president and CEO. “What’s more, Milestone brought capital, creativity and commitment to the transaction process.” The helicopters bound for Bristow are expected to operate in the North Sea. Bob Korkorda, Sikorsky sales & marketing v-p, said, “In a very short time, Milestone Aviation has become one of the pre-eminent helicopter lessors and an important and highly valued customer.”

At the signing ceremony for the EC225 order, Eurocopter President and CEO Lutz Bertling said, “The EC225 is a remarkable aircraft, and we are excited to be able to offer it to a broader audience of potential operators through our partnership with Milestone.” o

HAI bestows Excellence Awards

by Bill Carey HAI will present its Salute to Excellence Awards tonight in the categories of safety, maintenance, law enforcement, communications, flight instructor, pilot and Lifetime Achievement.

Gerry Block, founder, chairman and CEO of Sandel Avionics of Vista, Calif., will receive the AgustaWestland Safety Award.

Sandel Avionics manufactures terrain avoidance and warning systems (Taws) for general aviation fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Todd Smith, Bristow Academy director of maintenance, will be honored with the Rolls-Royce Excellence in Helicopter Maintenance award. Bristow Academy, owned and operated by the Bristow Group, is a helicopter flight training operation. Smith has established apprenticeship and mentoring programs to train the next generation of helicopter technicians, “while maintaining the highest commitment to safety on the ground and in the air.”

James Greeves, master police officer, tactical flight officer and paramedic with the Fairfax County, Va. police department helicopter division, is to receive the MD Helicopters Law Enforcement award. Greeves has worked with the division for 13 years, accumulating more than 4,000 flight hours. He is credited with having apprehended 300 fleeing suspects. In addition, he has transported 320 patients and saved the lives of two injured fellow officers.

Lyn Burks, online editor for Rotorcraft Professional Media Network, is winner of the Excellence in Communications award.

Burks acquired JustHelicopters. com in 1999, and in the years since has overseen its growth to include JustHelicopters.tv, VerticalReference.com and HelicopterSalaries.com. “Together, the helicopter-specific media empire demonstrates Burks’s vision, passion and belief in a better industry for all,” said HAI. Era Helicopters captain Terry Cole is winner of the W.A. (Dub) Blessing Certified Flight Instructor of the Year award. In his career Cole has accumulated more than 20,000 flight hours, nearly 16,000 of them in helicopters. Half of his helicopter time has been devoted to instruction.

A 30-year veteran of Era Helicopters, based in Lake Charles, La., Cole has been an instructor or check airman on nine different airframes. He currently instructs in the AgustaWestland

AW139, the Eurocopter EC225 and the Sikorsky S-61 and S-76.

Jay Slagle, captain with Bristow Group, is the 2012 HAI Pilot of the Year. The award cites Slagle’s efforts in successfully

landing a Sikorsky S-92 with 14 people aboard after loss of tailrotor effectiveness. Inbound to Bristow’s Galliano Base when the emergency occurred, Slagle and captain Chuck Melton

diverted to a nearby airport and flew the S-92 onto the runway without an effective tailrotor, using differential braking once on the ground to bring the aircraft to a controlled stop.

Michael Dee Atwood, president of Aviation Specialties Unlimited of Boise, Idaho, is recipient of the Bell Helicopter Lifetime

Achievement award for his contributions in introducing nightvision technology for civilian helicopters. HAI said, “Atwood and his company took a leading role in identifying and overcoming the challenges of introducing the technology by working with industry and the FAA to develop guidance and training.” o

Come see us at Heli Expo Hall F, Stand 9436

300 300 is the number of customer service professionals deployed around the world who can help helicopter operators and maintenance providers save money with Aviall’s LIFT program. Aviall works hard to provide you with exactly what you need, precisely when you need it. Aviall Delivers.

www.ainonline.com • February 13, 2012 • HAI Convention News 25

EuroAvionics’ Euronav7 moving map system can superimpose a camera footprint onto a satellite map.

It features a dual-head processor unit, enabling two independent maps to be displayed simultaneously.

Euronav moving map system offers dual screen display

by Thierry Dubois EuroAvionics is demonstrating Euronav 7, the latest version of its situational awareness and mission management system, here at Heli-Expo (Booth No. 6020).

Targeting professional operators, the Stuttgart, Germany-based equipment manufacturer is offering moving map systems that can superimpose other data onto the map.

Approximately 1,700 Euronav systems are installed, according to the company.

Euronav 7 features a dual-head-processor unit, enabling two independent maps to be displayed simultaneously.

“In a police helicopter, the pilot can display a navigation map while the mission operator can watch a particular street,” explained Thomas Latacz, head of sales.

The crewmembers still share a common database for waypoints.

It was designed using a modular architecture. As a result, the system can be installed using less equipment and wiring.

Operators can buy modules separately and even can design one in cooperation with EuroAvionics. “We do not provide the display itself, only the map computer,” Latacz said.

Euronav’s end users “don’t just go from A to B, they have a mission between A and B,” as Latacz put it, flying EMS, search and rescue, law enforcement, offshore or firefighting operations. EuroAvionics also has military customers and sells systems directly to operators and through helicopter manufacturers.

German air rescue organization DRF Luftrettung uses Euronav for its aircraft.

“Crews use satcom texting to inform ground stations about the status of the helicopter,” Latacz said. A dispatcher can then request the crew, if available, to divert to an accident site. The dispatcher sends the coordinates, and the

26 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

crew hits the “direct to” button.

Euronav is also installed on the U.S. Army’s UH-72A Lakota, on the mission console in the cockpit. The system is connected to the camera and the navigation system, Latacz said.

Other helicopter models that carry Euronav installations include the Eurocopter EC135, EC145, Dauphin and Super Puma families, as well as the AgustaWestland AW109 and AW139. Sikorsky and Russian Helicopters have Euronavs in service on some of their helicopters.

The Euronav system can be retrofitted or installed as a stand-alone unit. A retrofit will be more complex if the system is deeply integrated into the aircraft.

EuroAvionics’ technicians are skilled in connecting Euronav with other systems.

Inputs can come from TCAS, weather radar, FMS or camera systems. Various man-machine interfaces are available, such as a conventional keyboard, trackball, joystick or touchscreen, which is used on the Lakota installation. o

News Note Sikorsky has selected GE Aviation (Booth No. 1217) to provide the GE YT706-GE-700R engines and engineering support for Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider program. The Raider is the military version of the experimental X2, a single-engine rotorcraft with coaxial counter-rotating main rotors and a pusher propeller. The Fadec-controlled GE engine offers 2,500 to 3,000 shp and is based on the GE T700/ CT7 family. GE said it developed the GE3000 for medium-lift applications and this engine could be incorporated into the Raider in the future. n

Air Technology enters T53 service agreement Air Technology Engines (ATE) of Naples, Fla., signed a T53 service center agreement with Honeywell, authorizing ATE to repair and overhaul Honeywell’s T53 series engine, which powers the Bell UH-1H Huey and other helicopters.

ATE (Booth No. 1205) is an FAA and EASA certified repair station, which also is qualified to ISO9001:2000 quality standards. The company overhauls and upgrades

gas turbine engines, transmissions and dynamic components used in firefighting, military and law enforcement helicopters. ATE provides specialized parts repairs and stocks more than 20,000 line item parts. It maintains all models of the T53 engine, as well as main transmissions and major components for the UH-1H, 205, 212, 206, OH-58 and AH-1.

The T53 has accumulated more than 50 million flight

Design: www.gestaltungswerk.com

Honeywell’s T53 engine powers the UH-1H, Huey II and AH-1F Cobra, the Kaman K-Max and Fuji Bell 205B.

hours since its introduction as the powerplant for the Bell UH-1, according to Honeywell.

More than 19,000 of the model power the UH-1H, Huey II and AH-1F Cobra, the Kaman K-Max and Fuji Bell 205B. “ATE’s extensive MRO capability along with its use of Honeywell parts and technical support will ensure T-53s operate at peak performance for our global customer base,” said Brian Sill, Honeywell vice president of defense aftermarket for the Americas.

ATE is one of two Honeywell-authorized T53 service centers in the U.S. McTurbine of Corpus Christi, Texas, an affiliate of Bell Helicopter Textron, is the second authorized service center.

“Air Technology Engines strives to provide fast and efficient services to operators worldwide,” said Mike Turner, ATE president. “We are very pleased to now be an authorized Honeywell service center and we anticipate that with more business worldwide, we also will be able to create new jobs for southwest Florida. We are excited about both prospects.” –B.C.

Appareo and CHC develop EFB iPad app Appareo and CHC Helicopter are developing an electronic flight bag (EFB) app for the iPad. The app will help standardize CHC’s flight operations around the world, shorten accounts receivable cycles, provide more complete information for crew scheduling and maintenance and eliminate inflight paperwork. It will also provide flight crews with tools for routing, fuel planning and weight-and-balance calculations.

“CHC views partnering with Appareo as yet another way to standardize our safety procedures in the day-to-day operation of our aircraft,” said CHC’s Paul King. “Our business is increasingly datadriven, so the EFB app is a natural step forward in improving and streamlining our operation. By automating the information in and out of our aircraft, the logistics of flight

planning, in-flight operations, accurate customer billing and planning maintenance activities are greatly simplified, something of great value in today’s competitive marketplace.”

Appareo also views the project as positive. “Although Appareo is known primarily for flight data monitoring, the app project taps our considerable software development expertise,” said Barry Batcheller, Appareo president and CEO. The app is expected to be developed by year-end. CHC is deploying more than 500 iPads to be used for flight-related activities including crew training and flight operations. Representatives are on hand to discuss the app at Appareo’s Heli-Expo booth (No. 7834).

–H.W.

ation v o n n t See i tation a n prese

7

#371 lC Hal

1 source – 600 STCs – 3,500 accessories – 2,000 tools We have what you need to improve your helicopter.

Discover a world of innovative helicopter solutions for: AgustaWestland, Bell, Eurocopter, MD Helicopters, Robinson and Sikorsky.

Call 1.613.632.3336 or 1.800.556.4166 DART Catalog iPad® App

www.darthelicopterservices.com/shop Visit us @

DartHSmedia

www.ainonline.com • February 13, 2012 • HAI Convention News 27

Eurocopter Golden Hour Award

Huey crew rescued injured at Reno Races

by Mark Huber The crew of a vintage Bell UH-1D Huey had flown their 1965 helicopter from their base in Concord, Calif., to the 2011 National Championship Air Races at Stead Field in Reno, Nev. There, they were to be part of the National Aviation Heritage Invitational static display and competition, which is held annually at the races. It was a chance for the owners and crew of the meticulously restored “25th Infantry” helicopter to win an award for their work. It was supposed to be a pleasant weekend for the men, answering spectator questions about their helicopter, which was painted in Vietnam-era livery, mingling with other Vietnam vets in attendance and, of course, watching the fastest motor sports event on the planet.

It didn’t work out that way.

On September 16, during the Friday afternoon Unlimited Gold Class race, the elevator trim tab came off the “Galloping Ghost,” a highly modified P-51 Mustang flown by 74-year-old air race veteran Jimmy Leeward, as it entered the straightaway

in front of the grandstands. In a split second the aircraft flew wide off course over the VIP box seats, climbed violently, stalled, rolled inverted and plunged into the crowd, sending shrapnel scattering across more than two acres and pounding a threefoot deep crater into the tarmac.

Leeward and 10 spectators died.

More than 70 were injured, some critically. Witnesses said it was like a big bomb going off, and there was carnage everywhere.

Within minutes, the sheriff’s department requested that the Huey, parked 600 feet from the crash site, be made ready to transport the wounded.

Two crewmembers, retired fire fighter David Dean and California Highway Patrol officer Brent Marker, were already in the middle of what was essentially a blast zone, assisting the wounded and coordinating with EMS workers. Meanwhile, pilot Ray Murphy, who flew two tours in Vietnam before going on to a 25-year career at the FAA, copilot Tim Horrell, another Vietnam vet, along with co-owner Chris

Foley sees helicopter sales growing strongly Aviation analyst Brian Foley is optimistic about prospects for new helicopter sales in the next few years and expects that “sales will trend upward nicely.”

However, that will happen only if buyers realize value in helicopter purchases. “That’s contingent upon the manufacturers’ ability to help customers with all the necessary information and justification needed to make their numbers work,” he said.

The coming decade will “usher in a new era of tightened purchase scrutiny,” and while Foley forecasts “plenty of sales to be had…most if not all will require an indisputable, virtually airtight business-case justification. This could prolong the sales process, so smart buyers and sellers will plan further ahead.”

Each segment of the helicopter industry faces challenges, especially related to budget cuts among government agencies. But while the offshore gas and oil industry offers a huge market, companies don’t

just buy helicopters to serve this market on a whim, Foley explained. “In fact, their procurement process is probably the most disciplined and analytical of any segment, made possible by their vast management and data resources. If it’s not saving or making money, they’re not interested.”

Corporate aviation could be a bright spot because cost is less of an issue for executives who need to save time. “Still,” he added, “even the largest and most profitable corporations were affected by the economic downturn and many are still postponing purchase decisions.”

For helicopter manufacturers, the key to increased sales is to show that adding to the fleet or replacing older helicopters makes financial sense.

“This could include such things as reduced ownership costs or showing how a new model’s additional utility can cut expenses or increase revenue,” Foley noted.

–M.T.

The crew of the vintage Huey will be honored with Eurocopter’s Golden Hour Award. Shown from left are Tyler Peterson, manager of Concord Jet (where the Huey is stored); Christopher Miller, crew co-owner; Brent Marker, pilot; Ray Murphy, chief pilot; Michael Haus, crew co-owner and W.J. Paculba, crewmember. Not pictured are David Dean, crewmember; and Tim Horrell, pilot.

Miller, got the 6,000-pound helicopter wheeled, fueled and pushed–with the help of other volunteers in the static area– into takeoff position. The rear bench seat was folded up and two single jump seats had to be removed to accommodate stretchered patients.

Murphy got on the radios and Horrell lifted the Huey into hover and landed on the edge of the debris field. While four patients were being hot-loaded

aboard, a medevac AStar landed next to the Huey. Murphy and Horrell enlisted the help of a patient loader to act as navigator and took off for Reno’s Renown Medical Center. En route the AStar passed them, so they followed it into Renown. The AStar headed for the hospital helipad, so the Huey landed in an improvised landing zone in Pickett Park across the street. Murphy jumped out and helped EMS workers unload the patients, all

Aero Sekur displays flotation apparatus Aero Sekur (Booth No. 8043), which specializes in safety systems and advanced flexible structures for the aerospace and defense markets, is displaying a range of helicopter safety products at Heli-Expo’12.

Highlighted at the company’s exhibit is its flotation/airbag concept, designed to increase survival rates of helicopter

crews. The crash protection system reduces g-forces during impact and controls roll/pitch.

Custom-designed systems can have integrated or external skid mounts, textile or rigid housing options, polyurethane or Kevlar floats, and helium or nitrogen gassing systems.

The core competency of Aero Sekur’s business is the

Aero Sekur’s crash protection system is designed to increase survival rates of crews by reducing g-forces during impact and controlling roll and pitch.

28 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

of whom survived. Murphy and Horrell then quickly flew back to Stead to offer further assistance, but none was required.

The men of the 25th have heard from at least one of the survivors they transported, who called to say thanks. More thanks are being delivered here at Heli-Expo, as the Huey crew receives the coveted Eurocopter Golden Hour Award at tonight’s Salute to Excellence Awards dinner. o design and development of advanced engineered structures using flexible materials. The company’s engineering developments for aerospace include a retrofitable non-pyrotechnic inflation system that can be actuated more than 100 times without performance degradation. Crashworthy, self-sealing fuel tanks, manufactured from rubber, offer advantages over metal products such as eliminating weld failures, it claims.

Complex shapes can be produced and maximum use is made of available space, the company said.

Aero Sekur’s parent company, Aero Sekur Group, was formed in 1993 by the merger of Irvin Aerospace and the Sekur division of Pirelli. That year, it moved into the facility it currently occupies in Aprilia, Italy. The group also has a UK branch, based at Farnborough Business Park outside of London. –B.C.

uContinued from page 1

awareness. We not only listened, we acted. We developed a new super-medium helicopter that is truly in a class by itself.” “We are relentlessly pursuing commercial business,” Garrison said.

The 525 is a culmination of the “Project-X” and “Magellan” research programs that first came to light in a series of leaked intercompany memos more than a year ago. Bell has been working on the 525 “on and off” for more than a decade, said company senior vice president Larry Roberts. The helicopter’s value proposition is to offer medium helicopter economics while delivering large helicopter comfort and capabilities. It will be powered by a pair of GE CT7-2F1 engines (1,800 shp each) driving an all-composite fiveblade main rotor system and a four-blade tailrotor. Roberts said the rotor system and transmission have been optimized for the engines. The aircraft will incorporate a triple-redundant fly-by-wire flight control system with a BAE flight computer that borrows lessons learned on the Bell/Boeing V-22 and AW609 (formerly Bell/ Agusta 609) tiltrotors.

The big helicopter also will feature the new Garmin G5000H touchscreen-controlled glass panel integrated avionics suite with four main displays and Telligence voice-command capabilities, two key components of Bell’s new ARC (awareness, reactive and control) cockpit. The ergonomic cockpit features pilot seats that J-track, pushing back and swivel outward, for ease of egress.

Right-hand, fly-by-wire side sticks replace the conventional cyclics. The ARC cockpit gives flight crews a level of comfort and awareness “they have never had before in a helicopter,” Roberts said. That includes the ability to see over the helicopter’s nose.

ARC is intuitive and can sense, for example, when system failures require an autorotation and it automatically sets up the helicopter to enter one. “The system gives the crew the ability to react very quickly,” Roberts said. “The pilot can think about other critical things in those five to six seconds rather than worrying if the collective is down and the aircraft is in the right attitude.”

“In critical situations the system identifies the problem and does something about it,” said Larry Thimmesch, Bell vice president of commercial programs.

While chock-full of new

technology, Thimmesch said that the 525’s cockpit will not be so complicated as to befuddle pilots.

“This is the first touchscreen interface in a Part 29 helicopter, but we are not over-designing this thing so it is the Starship Enterprise.

This technology makes sense to the operator,” he said. That includes “unparalleled” real-time health usage and monitoring systems data transmitted via uplink with trend monitoring and diagnostic capabilities.

The 525’s composite and metal airframe also features an emphasis on ease of maintenance and durability. “Our design goal is to be able to remove and replace any (line replaceable unit [LRU]) aircraft component in ten minutes, and that includes access,” said Thimmesch. “To do that we used quarter-turn fasteners for nonstructural aircraft panels and standard link fasteners to get around structural panels. Also, you don’t have to remove one LRU to get at another,” he said.

Thimmesch said Bell evaluated more than 20 years of data to

identify maintenance-cost drivers for the offshore industry in designing the 525 and found that 32 percent of maintenance is related to fighting corrosion. Bell is using monolithic composites in places susceptible to corrosion, such as the lower airframe structures, and also designing in floor drainage.

“Once you get water into a structure, you can’t get it out so the best solution is to not let it get in there,” he said. Conversely, metal airframe parts are sometimes easier to inspect, so Bell has not totally eschewed them on the 525. “It comes down to using the right materials in the right place,” Thimmesch said. “Composites make sense for reducing the parts count and for complex curves, but for simplicity of design and structural integrity, metal makes sense in the ‘big bones’ structures.”

Thimmesch calls the approach “hybrid construction.”

Roberts said the 525’s tailboom has been designed to provide less resistance and more lift that translates into higher hover out of ground effect altitude than

Shaking hands on the unveiling are Bell director of sales Larry Roberts (left) and Al Gonsoulin, CEO of PHI Inc. At far left is John Garrison, CEO of Bell and Larry Thimmesch, v-p of commercial programs for Bell.

conventional designs. “The placement of the tailrotor and the torque derived from it is based on a different formulation than anything you have ever seen before in the helicopter market,” he said.

The boom’s aerodynamic shape will allow 88 more horsepower to be directed to the main rotors compared with conventional designs. It directs downwash to provide counter-torque. Roberts called it “lift assist tailboom design” that, in combination with the canted tailrotor, not only provides more main rotor power, but improves the center of gravity (CG) range.

While the five-blade main rotor is a commercial first for Bell, its design will be fairly conventional.

“It’s a conventional airfoil with canted blades to broaden the center

Continued on next page u

MARIANO ROSALES

Between the cockpit display from the Relentless and the light show at the unveiling, yesterday’s festivities resembled of a George Lucas production.

BILL BERNSTEIN

Bell ‘Relentess’ in Model 525 launch

www.ainonline.com • February 13, 2012 • HAI Convention News 29

Bell ‘Relentess’ in Model 525 launch

Launch customers for the Eurocopter EC130 T2 include Maverick Helicopter, Papillon Helicopters, Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, Scandanavian Helicopter Group, Air Commander, Europavia and Enloe FlightCare.

BILL BERNSTEIN

uContinued from preceding page

Eurocopter debuts EC130 T2: 105 sold uContinued from page 1

“The day we flew it, we said, ‘You hit it on the head 100 percent,’” Buch told attendees at the unveiling. Blue Hawaiian and Papillon each signed for 20 aircraft.

Neither pricing for the new aircraft nor the value of the launch customers’ purchases were made public.

Optional features include new-generation air conditioning, tinted windshield and a right-side sliding passenger door.

Future development plans for the EC130 T2 call for a 1,500-kg (3,307pound) cargo sling and Eurocopter’s Stylence interior, which merges ergonomics and advanced technology.

Bertling pointed to the range of missions of the launch customers–air tour, transport, utility, and EMS–as further proof of the aircraft’s appeal to the single-engine helicopter market, predicting that the model “will set the standard for single-engine helicopters for years to come.” o

Dr. Lutz Bertling, CEO of Eurocopter, explains some of the improvements in the EC130 T2.

Powered by the Turbomeca Arriel 2D engine, the T2 will have 10 percent more average power and lower specific fuel consumption than the current powerplant.

30 HAI Convention News • February 13, 2012 • www.ainonline.com

EUROCOPTER/JAY MILLER

BILL BERNSTEIN

The EC130 T2 is powered by the Turbomeca Arriel 2D engine, which provides 10 percent more average power and lower specific fuel consumption than the current powerplant, and has a higher time between overhaul (TBO) interval. New and updated features include an active vibration-control system, improved air ventilation, distribution and demisting systems, a redesigned cabin interior with full flat floor, and enhanced man-machine interface in the cockpit. New energyabsorbing seats and a crashworthy fuel

tank provide safety enhancements.

About 70 percent of the EC130 T2’s airframe has been modified.

Performance improvements include a higher maximum gross takeoff weight (2,500 kg–5,512 pounds–for internal loads and 3,050 kg–6,724 pounds–with sling loads) and a speed increase of up to 10 knots. External sound level remains within the rules mandated for flights in Grand Canyon National Park, an important benchmark for air tour operators.

Air-tour company Maverick Helicopter, which currently flies the world’s largest fleet of EC130s, accounted for 50 of the orders for the newest Eurocopter model. Maverick was among the operators Eurocopter asked to provide input on the new variant’s development, and Maverick president John Buch was on hand for the unveiling, as were representatives for five other launch customers.

of gravity envelope,” Roberts said. “You won’t see any big dihedrals on the tips.”

Entry to the 525’s 4.5-foot tall cabin is through a pair of hinged doors located between the cockpit and the first row of four seating areas or through a pair of large aft sliding doors. Each seating area offers comfortable four-abreast seating for a total of 16 passengers. Roberts said the passenger seats will be the “widest in the industry.” A higher-density passenger cabin is anticipated. The aft baggage compartment will be configurable, possibly with an easy-sliding cargo pallet similar to the one on display here in the mock-up, with room for the equivalent of 37 sets of golf clubs. “The key for us was architecture,” said Roberts. “Small on the outside, big on the inside.”

First Flight in 2013

Roberts said the 525’s first flight would likely occur sometime in 2013 or 2014 and that the company is aiming for certification in 2015.

He said the Relentless will likely be priced between the AgustaWestland AW189 and Eurocopter EC225. The 525 was designed to be cost competitive from a value perspective for any mission between 50 and 400 nm currently performed by helicopters ranging from AW139s to Sikorsky S-92As, he added.

Concurrent to designing the 525, Bell is developing various kits for the aircraft and plans to have the most popular available when the aircraft is delivered. Bell plans to have a flight simulator on line by the time the first 525 is delivered. Second-tier kits will be available during the first year of delivery with more specialized kits coming later.

In addition to offshore, Bell envisions a variety of uses for the 525 including law enforcement, EMS, SAR, coastal patrol and VVIP configurations.

Last month Bell CEO Garrison announced that the 525 would be built at the company’s Amarillo, Texas plant, currently home of the Bell/Boeing V-22 final assembly line. That program has been a cash cow for Bell, but is widely seen as winding down in the face of anticipated Pentagon budget cuts. (Newly released Pentagon budget figures for fiscal 2012 indicate funding for the Boeing/ Bell V-22 program will be cut from $2.6 billion for 35 V-22s to $1.91 billion for 21 aircraft.) Roberts said it was a safe bet that Bell would offer a military variant of the 525 in the future.

Currently, 320 Bell employees in Fort Worth, Texas, and Mirabel, Quebec are working on the program. Roberts expects that number to increase to 500 in the near future. The 525’s program costs are estimated near $500 million and are part of a $1 billion facility, research and development and inventory investment program Bell announced earlier this year. o

MONDAY, MAY 14; TUESDAY, MAY 15; & WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 PAlExPO AND GENEvA INTErNATIONAl AIrPOrT GENEvA, SWITzErlAND

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

LEARN MORE AT

www.ebace.aero

Every second counts

EMS professionals strive to provide the best care to the patient.

AgustaWestland provides unique, integrated and affordable products to the global healthcare delivery system.

Together, bringing care to the patient with the best aero-medical solution.

agustawestland.com