Metro Aviation has committed to buy six EC145e e-lite helicopters. The EC145 e-lite is the utility variant developed to provide greater useful load by reducing or simplifying some of the onboard systems. Metro have now sold the first of these to Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, and will carry out the completion work including air conditioning, HeliSAS and specialty pediatric care equi...
Last weekend Courchevel hostet first helicopter event in mountain - Special ski patrol. Rare helicopters - Alouette 2, Bell 206, Agusta 109, Lama, MD 500,BA as 350, B2 as 350, B3 as 350, Ec 120, Gazelle,Robinson 44, Robinson 66, Kompress, Sikorsky. Demonstrations - mountain rescue and transportation; manufacturer exhibition, first flights, helicopter night and photo contest. M...
Test flights of Russia’s new all-weather reconnaissance and attack helicopters Kamov Ka-52 Alligator, produced within the framework of the 2016 state defense order have started at the Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company (Progress AAC, a subsidiary of the Russian Helicopters holding). Progress AAC is based in the town of Arsenyev in the Russian Far Eastern Primorsky territory. In accordance wi...
Bell Helicopter announced that, Petroleum Air Services has been appointed as the first Bell Helicopter Authorized Customer Service Facility in North Africa. “Since 1982, we have been providing both fixed wing and helicopter transportation to the oil and gas and travel industries in Egypt,” said General Yehia Hussein, Chairman and Managing Director Petroleum Air Servi...
Quantum3D, Inc., a leading provider of training and simulation solutions for government and commercial applications, today announced that it has been selected by Reiser Simulation and Training GMBH, a manufacturer of groundbreaking training technology, to provide image generators and synthetic visual databases for Reiser's civil Full-Flight Simulator (FFS) for 4t class helicopters. The planned...
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, announced continued program performance and outstanding customer response for the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X.. Launched at HELI-EXPO 2014, the program has moved from a mockup to prototype in less than two years. Flight testing is underway and the company is making significant progress toward type certification. “The Bell 505 program is proceedin...
Finmeccanica Helicopter Division and Era Group Inc will jointly develop an Emergency Medical Service variant of the AgustaWestland AW609 TiltRotor. Era is a major customer of AgustaWestland helicopters, both as an operator and a lessor. Following the fatal October 2015 crash of the AW609 prototype, Finmeccanica say there is only one aircraft currently flying. Two more are in various stages of c...
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, announced today it has signed an agreement with Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (VNH) to pursue growing opportunities in the Vietnamese market. VNH leadership joined Bell Helicopter at the company’s global headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, to sign the agreement: Pictured: Bell Helicopter and VNH leadership “We were delighted to...
Rolls-Royce has reinforced its position in the light turbine-powered helicopter segment, last week signing with Innova Helicopters for the supply of the RR300 engine for the developmental C630 and formalising a long-term supply agreement with US manufacturer Enstrom. The three-year pact with Innova, part of Naples, Florida-headquartered Innova Aerospace, will see the engine maker prov...
Finmeccania Helicopters has successfully performed the first flight of the AgustaWestland AW109 Trekker – a skid-equipped variant of its popular light twin. Flown from the manufacturer’s Cascina Costa facility in northern Italy on 2 March, the maiden sortie included an assessment of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207-powered Trekker’s handling and systems. Two prototypes...
"There doesn’t seem to be a strategy to expand the industry. We’ve been suckling too long on the oil and gas teat.” However provocative, that stray comment from one of the organising team at the HAI Heli-Expo show neatly captures the state of the rotorcraft sector. Hamstrung by a plunging oil price and allied to global economic uncertainty and shrinking government budgets...
What takes off like a helicopter, flies like a plane, and looks like something Orville Wright might dream up on mescaline? The military’s next X-Plane! On Thursday, aircraft maker Aurora Flight Sciences announced that its LightningStrike design had received the prime contract to continue the development of the VTOL X-Plane project. (VTOL stands for vertical takeoff and/or landing.) The De...
