DAY 1 February 27, 2018 HAI PUBLICATIONS Convention News A Bell 407GXi touches down at the Las Vegas Convention Center in advance of 2018’s Heli-Expo. The 407GXi is Bell’s just-announced upgrade of the 407GXP and will feature a Garmin G1000H NXi integrated flight deck and new Rolls-Royce Fadec engine. Shaanxi Helicopter will receive the first 407GXi. Heli-Expo Largest Ever? BARRY AMBROSE BARRY 2018 event has the potential › page 4 Bell surprises with 407GXi Avoiding LTE Awareness, training are by Mark Huber key › page 9 Bell (Booth C5122) unveiled an updated offered high/hot performance, it had one keeping the same performance for hot version of its 407 single yesterday at computer controlling the engine, explained and high.” Airbus Shelves Heli-Expo 2018. The 407GXi features the Bell program director for light helicopters Nault said the G1000H NXi is “five X6 Project Garmin G1000H NXi integrated flight deck Michael Nault. “If that fails you could go times faster” than the G1000H. “Its LED and a new Rolls-Royce M250-C47E/4 engine and control the throttle with the twist grip displays are cooler, easier to manage and May re-emerge as with dual channel Fadec that delivers bet- and go in manual mode. just have so much more processing power ter high/hot performance, full automatic “So we went from one computer to two and capabilities.” military project › page 12 relight, and the ability to cruise at 133 knots. computers and each of the computers Customers with existing orders for the The 407GXi was certified by Transport have two channels. We added three layers GXP will receive the 407GXi at no addi- Sikorsky Sells Canada on January 19 and first deliveries of redundancy with this new engine while tional cost. n are scheduled for mid-year. Schweizer The G1000H NXi features high-defini- Texas-based RSG tion displays and faster processors with increased brightness and clarity, faster is owner › page 26 startup and map rendering, and connec- Era is AW609 launch customer tivity to smartphones and tablets. New options for the 407GXi include a rede- by Curt Epstein Robinson Rebounds signed executive cabin; Garmin Flight- Offers new R66 version Stream 510 that allows pilots to upload A Leonardo Helicopters order announce- into service. They will be used in a variety flight plans from devices; Garmin Surface- ment on the eve of Heli-Expo will pave the of missions, including offshore/utility, VIP › page 28 Watch that provides runway identification way for the AW609 tiltrotor to enter com- transport, EMS, and SAR. and alerting technology; a 3,100-pound mercial service with U.S. launch customer Era has been a part of the AW609 program Garmin’s Rotorcraft cargo hook; and health usage monitoring Era Group. Under the terms of the deal, Era, since the two companies signed an MoU to (HUMS) for aircraft systems diagnostics. one of the world’s largest rotorcraft opera- develop an EMS variant of the aircraft at Flight Control System The -C47E/4 engine replaces the Rolls- tors, will take delivery of two of the VTOL Heli-Expo 2016. “Era Group’s decision to The new GFC 600H Royce 250-C47B/8 in the 407GXP that aircraft in 2020, along with a dedicated operate the AW609 marks a new milestone Bell launched in 2015. While the 407GXP training package to support their entry continues on page 37 › page 34 Honeywell: Purchase plans by region helo sales to grow by 10% by Curt Epstein Honeywell’s 20th annual “Turbine-pow- ered Civil Helicopter Purchase Outlook,” released on the eve of Heli-Expo 2018, anticipates a better long-term global economic outlook and increased cus- tomer confidence, predicting deliveries purchase plans, followed by medium percent, while India plunged by more than of between 4,000 and 4,200 new heli- twins at 27 percent, light twins at 20 per- 40 percent. Only 10 percent of operators Purchase plans by Emergency Medical Services and Search and Rescue higher, copters over the next five years—5 to 10 cent, and large cabin multi-engines at in the Middle East and Africa expect to Oil & Gas lower. percent more than the 3,800 handed over 5 percent, up from just 1 percent in last purchase a new helicopter over the next helicopter size between 2013 and 2017. year’s survey. Thirty-four percent of those five years. “In addition to better global economic purchases are expected to occur within Among expected usage for the planned conditions expected in the coming years, the next two years. purchases, medevac and search and rescue potential positive impacts of U.S. tax reform By region, 13 percent of North American (SAR) rose significantly, from 13 percent in on new helicopter demand and lower vol- respondents indicated they would either last year’s survey to 22 percent this year, atility in oil and gas-related markets have replace or expand their fleets with a new while oil-and-gas declined year-over-year helped fleet managers confirm what they helicopter over the next five years, with from 13 percent to 7 percent. In North told us last year,” said Ben Driggs, the pres- more than 50 percent expected to be light America, fully one-third of the planned ident of the Americas at Honeywell Aero- singles and 20 percent each for light and purchase mentions concerned medevac space (Booth C1329). medium twins. More than 20 percent of and SAR use, up from 11 percent last Overall, light, single-engine helicop- European operators plan to make a new heli- year. Asia and Europe also showed strong ters make up approximately half of the copter purchase through 2022. Notably, 12 growth in plans for the segment. percent expect to purchase heavy-twin heli- In a change this year, brand experience and copters, a 10-point increase over last year. customer support were noted as the lead- INDEX In Latin America, the region’s purchase ing motivators in new rotorcraft purchases. plans exceeded the world average, with 35 “Typically, cabin and range are always num- Advanced Composite Structures Florida .......32 percent of respondents reporting intention ber one,” said Gaetan Handfield, Honeywell’s Advanced Torque Products ...................... 6, 36 Airbus Helicopters ................................2, 12, 16 to purchase over the next five years, an senior manager of marketing analysis for the Airwolf Aerospace ...........................................6 increase of 12 percent from the previous year. helicopter, business and general aviation Astronautics .....................................................6 It is the only region to anticipate increased markets. “We saw a move from technical Avidyne ............................................................8 purchases based on oil and gas sector usage. attributes of the helo to actually more the Avinco ..............................................................8 More than 50 percent of these purchases are intangibles of the OEM. This is a first, so we Bell .................................................1, 27, 33, 35 anticipated to be light singles. will see if it repeats in the future.” Billings Flying Service ....................................36 Eighteen percent of Asia-Pacific opera- Over the next year, rotorcraft fleet utili- Cadorath ..........................................................8 tors plan to purchase helicopters over the zation is expected to increase significantly Conklin & Decker ...........................................36 forecast window, with China increasing by in North America, and more modestly in Dart ................................................................33 9 percent year-over-year, to more than 21 Europe and Latin America. n Donaldson .....................................................33 East/West Industries ......................................38 Erickson ........................................................ 22 EuroTec ..........................................................33 the field to competitors such as the Leon- Eye in the Sky ..................................................6 ardo AW139 and AW169. Frasca International....................................... 10 Airbus' new H160 lands in Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Garmin ...........................................................34 GlobalParts.aero ........................................... 13 Faury, who is shifting over to become head HAI ...................................................................4 Vegas for its first U.S. visit of Airbus Commercial Airplanes, had set HAI Salute to Excellence ................................ 31 a target for the H160 of 35 to 40 percent Honeywell..................................................2, 10 by Mark Huber market share, about equal to that of the HQ Aero Management .....................................4 H155 in the past. Airbus Helicopters has HTAWS .......................................................... 22 Airbus Helicopters’ new H160 medium Bridge, Airbus Helicopters executive v-p not detailed total firm orders, but has Kopter ........................................................3, 33 twin is making its U.S. debut. Prototype for global business. The three H160 pro- noted that Falcon Aviation has ordered Leonardo ........................................ 1, 10, 14, 36 number two (PT2) arrived in Las Vegas for totypes have accumulated approximately six H160s in VIP configuration. Milestone Aviation .........................................24 this year’s annual Heli-Expo show and is 650 flight test hours to date. Airbus is aim- Airbus Helicopters is eyeing a potential NGTI ...............................................................36 on display