Bell 429 Eurocopter EC 175

The six- to nine-passenger BA609 is newROTORpowered by two P&WC PT6-67As. Maxi- CRAFT Banner year for new mum range (without reserves) is 750 nm, while the maximum cruise speed is 275 by Thierry Dubois and Mark Huber knots. Mtow is 16,800 pounds. To date during a total of approximately Several long-simmering improve handling qualities. configurations. The four-seat configuration 2,400 hours of flight testing (most for devel- The 429 is equipped with two Pratt & will feature 21.5-inch-wide seat cushions opment flight testing), the 609 has achieved new development Whitney Canada PW207D1 turboshafts in a facing “club” setting with center con- a maximum forward speed of 310 knots, (730 shp max), and it will be certified for soles between the seats. The five-seat 25,000 feet pressure altitude in airplane programs are likely to reach single-pilot IFR, have an mtow of 7,000 configuration features two 21.5-inch seats mode, and rearward and sideways flight to pounds and seat the pilot and seven passen- with center console opposite three facing 35 knots. The 609 has flown at mtow, at either first flights or certification gers. Cabin volume is 130 cu ft and 18.5-inch-wide seats; the six-seat layout extreme forward and aft cg, and at speeds this year and, despite an expected standard fuel capacity is 215 gallons. has all 18.5-inch-wide seats. Doors and up to and beyond the maximum operating Cockpit avionics include two Rogerson headliners will have leather insets that redline for various nacelle angles beyond contraction in the medevac and Kratos LCDs, dual Garmin GNS 430s, match the seats. Custom configurations are the gross weight and altitude envelope. three-axis autopilot and EGPWS. also available. Skepticism concerning the 609 program, offshore markets, orders and The first 14 production aircraft are Bell is gearing up its 429 pilot training including division of labor and equity already in sub-assembly build, 429 pro- program. Frasca will be providing a Level stakes between Bell and AgustaWestland, potential orders for these new gram manager Neil Marshall told AIN. 7 flight training device (FTD) for 429 appears to be exacerbated by the unwilling- “The line is moving.” Marshall said Bell training at Bell’s Customer Training Acad- ness or inability of either company to models are likely to be strong. plans to ramp up production of the 429 emy at Fort Worth’s Alliance Airport. The provide timely information about the proj- gradually over the next three to four years, initial transition course will consist of 32 ect. In late 2007 the joint venture officially Bell achieving full-rate production of 115 per classroom hours, 6.5 hours in the FTD and applied for an FAA type certificate, starting 429 year after 2011, and that plans are already 5.5 hours flying the 429. the clock on the certification deadline (three well along to manufacture duplicate pro- years for Part 23, five years for Part 25). Bell expects certification for its new duction tooling. “We need to satisfy this Bell/AgustaWestland The FAA released a draft certification basis $4.865 million (2007 $) light twin in the first demand sooner rather than later,” Marshall BA609 Tiltrotor for the BA609 last year and concurrent quarter, with customer deliveries to begin said. Production plans call for twenty 429s FAA and EASA certification is being pur- shortly thereafter. Bell claims a robust order to be delivered this year, 50 next year and Despite plans to add two more test air- sued. The most recent certification target is book for more than 350. Five aircraft are 80 in 2011. Many of the initial 429s will be craft to the fleet last year, only two 609s are 2011. The BA609 represents the first new currently in flight test, and most testing has delivered to medevac operators, a sector currently flying, one in Texas and one in category aircraft, called “powered lift,” to been completed. Final performance numbers estimated to account for 25 or 30 percent Italy, in “parallel” flight-test programs. apply for FAA certification since civil certi- are expected to exceed preliminary estimates of the 429 order book. A new helicopter However, the two aircraft are under con- fied helicopters were introduced in 1946. in terms of top speed (better than 142 knots ordered today would not be delivered until struction and will be flying next year. Last with skids) and service ceiling. 2014, although Bell is looking at ways to year Bell said that developmental flight Eurocopter Flight testing in late 2007 validated the increase production rate short of licensing. testing had reached “the halfway point” and EC 175 429’s service ceiling of 20,000 feet, and Details are emerging about standard that preparations are being made for certifi- Bell announced that the helicopter’s design options and equipment for corporate-con- cation tests. Two years ago, AgustaWestland The EC 175 medium twin, jointly was “frozen” at the end of October 2007. figured 429s, and Bell plans to have a 429 CEO Giuseppe Orsi said publicly that he developed by Eurocopter and Chinese However, those tests will result in small in corporate livery on display at this month’s does not expect a critical mass of demand company Harbin Aviation Industry changes to the production aircraft, includ- HAI convention in Anaheim, Calif. These for the 609 until at least 2025, some 29 (HAIG), is slated to make its maiden flight ing a more sculpted vertical fin to increase aircraft will feature enhanced noise damp- years after the first customer ordered the during the fourth quarter of this year. On anti-torque authority. Bell has also added a ening insulation, upgraded carpets and a aircraft. Bell currently reports orders for 77 November 15 in Harbin, China, HAIG strake to the left side of the tailboom to choice of four-, five- or six-seat passenger copies of the 609. delivered the first airframe to the European

50aaAviation International News • February 2009 • www.ainonline.com Bell/AgustaWestland BA609 Tiltrotor PZL-Swidnik SW-4 H S O T N I c M

D I V A D HAL Dhruv

manufacturer. Final assembly of the proto- Hindustan Aeronautics. A tentative sched- type will take place at Eurocopter’s ule referred to “early 2009” for this H

R CRAFT S O

headquarters in Marignane, . milestone. According to a spokesman, T N I c

EASA certification is pegged for 2011, “government-to-government cooperation M

D I V

with certification from Chinese authority formalization” is a prerequisite. The vali- A CAAC to follow the next year. Deliveries dation should then “move fast.” D will begin the same year. Shakti engine trials are continuing, and the R66, although it is expected to be Development of the main gearbox is HAL hoped to start high-altitude/cold- around $1 million, and is not taking orders. well under way. Ground tests started in weather trials last month. These engines “[Company founder] Frank [Robinson] Marignane, France, in late 2007. The shape will be installed on production helicopters stressed that we are not under the gun to get of the gear’s teeth has been reworked to beginning this year or next. Replacing the the ship out,” said vice president Kurt reduce cabin noise. The main gearbox will Turbomeca TM333, the Turbomeca-HAL Robinson. “We want to make sure we get it link the two 2,000-shp Pratt & Whitney Ardiden 1H (Shakti, under its local desig- right. Demand and interest is high and the Canada PT6-67E turboshafts to the five- nation) is intended to enhance the last thing we want to do is disappoint.” blade Spheriflex main rotor. helicopter’s reliability and performance Robinson said the R66 will be offered Harbin Aircraft is in charge of the air- under “hot and high” conditions. with the same avionics packages and frame, main rotor, tail transmission, flight HAL claims the Dhruv is “at least 10 to options currently available on its R44 pis- controls and fuel system. Eurocopter is 15 percent” less expensive than its com- ton helicopters and that there were no plans responsible for the main gearbox, tail petitors in the 12,000-pound-mtow class. to offer integrated “glass panel” avionics. rotor, avionics, hydraulics and electric sys- Although the company is promoting the The company expects to start flight test- NEW ROTORCRAFT tem. Integration and flight testing also fall Dhruv for air ambulance, parapublic, exec- ing with a certified Rolls-Royce RR300 CERTIFICATION TIMELINE under Eurocopter’s purview. Two produc- utive and passenger transport missions, turboshaft early this year. The R66 has a tion lines will be set up, one in Marignane most of the sales have come from the mili- luggage compartment large enough for 2009 and one in Harbin. tary. Deliveries began in 2002 in India. golf clubs and shares many of the design The EC 175 (or Z15, under its Chinese The Dhruv has been designed for high- and control features of Robinson’s piston- Bell 429 designation) is understood to be designed altitude operations in India’s mountains. powered four-seat R44, including a T-bar Dhruv, EASA certification for two-pilot IFR and single-pilot VFR For example, it can land as high as 20,000 cyclic, two-blade main rotor and open Robinson R66 operations when carrying up to 16 passen- feet. For an offshore mission, with 10 pas- cabin configuration. The new helicopter gers. AIN understands the cruise speed sengers and a crew of two, HAL says the has a somewhat longer and wider fuselage, 2010 will be in the 140- to 150-knot bracket. Dhruv can fly 300 nm. Its best-range speed longer tailboom and taller main rotor mast Range is expected to be at least 200 nm. is close to 120 knots. than the R44. Sikorsky S-76D The companies hope to sell 800 EC 175s Robinson PZL-Swidnik 2011 over 20 years, and Eurocopter has already Bell/ BA609 received orders and options for at least 116 R66 SW-4 copies. The EC 175 will compete with the Eurocopter EC 175, AgustaWestland AW139 in the six- to seven- Robinson Helicopter expects to com- The Polish-designed SW-4 light single EASA certification metric-ton class. Their common primary plete its second, five-seat turbine single- is now EASA certified and is starting to be 2016 target is the offshore market. engine R66 prototype this month and to seen as a low-cost alternative to the Euro- add a third test aircraft to the fleet later in copter EC 120 and Bell 206B3 JetRanger. X-Hawk Hindustan Aeronautics the year. Certification is expected late this According to one operator, endurance is Sikorsky is not pursuing certification of the X2 Dhruv year. The company does not plan to display much longer than that of the Bell competi- technology demonstrator. Rather, it will certify the R66 at HAI in Anaheim, Calif., but tor, at 5.6 hours versus three hours. Cruise the technology on other aircraft. EASA validation of Indian certification does plan to display it at an open house at speed, at 125 knots, is said to be 15 knots Schweizer declined to provide a certification of the Dhruv light twin is in motion, its Torrance, Calif. facility during the show. faster. All five seats comply with the latest estimate for the 434. according to India-based manufacturer The company has not set a price for Continues on next page u

www.ainonline.com • February 2009 • Aviation International Newsaa51 Robinson R66 newContinued from preceding pageROTORCRAFT u crashworthiness standards. The helicopter’s and are “exceeding expectations.” The -D 30-cu-ft baggage compartment can accom- will feature new composite main rotor modate four sets of golf clubs. blades, a quiet tail rotor, rotorcraft icing The UK dealer said the SW-4 is priced protection (for flight into known icing con- at £750,000 ($1.2 million), versus £1 mil- ditions), a health and usage monitoring lion ($1.5 million) for the JetRanger. Fuel system and a , including inte- burn is estimated at 26 U.S. gallons per grated digital maps. hour. The three-blade main rotor and two- The TopDeck system is integrated blade tail rotor are powered by a 450-shp directly into the flight management system Rolls-Royce 250C20-R2 turboshaft. to allow dynamic construction of flight Maximum takeoff weight is just under plans and easy access to other information, 4,000 pounds. The airframe is made of including Jeppesen charts that can be aluminum alloys and several kinds of com- loaded onto the system via flash memory posite material. The design of the main cards. The system features four eight- by gearbox provides 20 minutes of operation 10-inch LCD displays (one primary flight after loss of oil. display and one multifunction display for each pilot position). The displays are com- Sikorsky patible with night-vision goggles. TopDeck Sikorsky-Schweizer 434 is designed to be upgradable for synthetic vision. It uses a cursor-control device and The Schweizer 434 made its first flight can load flight plans from laptops via flash on December 18 at Horseheads, N.Y. and drives and a USB port. deliveries to overseas military customers The S-76D will cruise at 155 knots, are scheduled to begin next month. A com- have a maximum takeoff weight of 11,700 pany spokeswoman declined to speculate pounds and a maximum range of 441 nm on when the new light turbine single would (no reserve). The price tag is estimated to Sikorsky S-76D gain U.S. certification. be $11.5 million. Schweizer announced this more power- Sikorsky X-2 technology demonstrator ful and updated $933,000 version of the X2 Technology Demonstrator single-engine 333 last year and 15 initial Thirty-eight months after Sikorsky for- orders. The company is targeting the utility mally announced it, the X2 “technology and lift markets, as opposed to its tradi- demonstrator” compound helicopter made tional training customers for the 333. Many its first flight on Aug. 27, 2008, from a of the improvements on the 434–including taxiway at the Sikorsky-Schweizer rapid a more powerful engine (Rolls-Royce 250- prototyping facility in Horseheads, N.Y. C20W, 320 shp max takeoff power) and a More test flying is scheduled for the aircraft four-blade main rotor–were derived from at Horseheads and Sikorsky West Palm the unmanned MQ-4B Fire Scout VTUAV Beach before the X2 makes a run at setting the company developed for the Pentagon. a new helicopter speed record late this year. The improvements boost useful load of the “We think the aircraft has the capability to 434 by more than 30 percent over the 333, go after the record,” said Steve Weiner, Sikor- Urban Aeronautics X-Hawk to 1,855 pounds. The 434 also has slightly sky’s director of engineering sciences. The X2 technology, including offshore support, X2 more fuel capacity (84 gallons, compared current record, 216 kts/249 mph, was set in EMS, SAR, escort/gunship and UAV. “If with 73 in the 333), will be nominally faster 1986 by a heavily modified Westland Lynx. an S-76 can fly three missions a day to [an (105 knots compared with the 100-knot Sikorsky is self-financing the fly-by- offshore oil] rig, the X2 could run four or 333), and have more comfortable seats. wire X2 with an eye to deploying its five. And in EMS and commercial search- Deliveries are expected to begin in 2011. key components in future manned and and-rescue, time is critical. So for those unmanned military helicopters. The X2 is applications, the X2 has caught our com- S-76D designed to have a maximum forward mercial customers’ eyes.” Sikorsky anticipates the latest variant of speed of 250 to 265 knots. Power for the One military option for the X2 would be its S-76 medium twin will fly in the first 6,500-pound (mtow) X2 comes from a to serve as a scout/escort/gunship for quarter of this year, a few months behind single LHTEC (Light Helicopter Turbine the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, according to assembly is planned to be completed this schedule. The first flight-test aircraft was Engine Company, a Rolls-Royce and Hon- Kagdis, as conventional helicopters are too month. The engine will be a Turbomeca shipped late last year from Sikorsky’s eywell partnership) T800 turboshaft engine slow for the mission. Arriel 1D1. The two six-foot-diameter lift Keystone plant in Pennsylvania to the com- rated at up to 1,680 shp. rotors each have five blades. One version pany’s Flight Test Center in West Palm Sikorsky had previously flown the Urban Aeronautics of the Mule, still in the wind-tunnel test Beach, Fla. Sikorsky blamed the delay on LHTEC engine on the RH-66 Comanche X-Hawk phase, targets speeds of 200 to 250 knots. “supply chain and some resulting rework scout and prototype In the future, the Mule could also spawn a issues.” Two other prototypes are currently developed for the Army. That program was Israel-based Urban Aeronautics is devel- manned variant. From the start, the design under construction at Keystone. Sikorsky canceled in 2004 after expenditures of $6.9 oping the X-Hawk, an unconventional complies with FAR 27 rules, according to says it has orders for “more than 100” billion and 20 years of development. How- rotorcraft featuring two shrouded main CEO Rafi Yoeli. S-76Ds. Certification is anticipated in early ever, Sikorsky’s positive experience with rotors in tandem configuration. The com- The two rotors are located fore and aft to mid-2010. integrating the T800 into the Comanche pany is simultaneously working on a of the cabin. Two smaller shrouded rotors The company achieved power-on elec- led it to select the engine for the X2, full-size, 11-passenger version and scaled- act as thrusters. The aircraft is inspired by trical and avionics on the first prototype in LHTEC has developed a civilian variant of down unmanned vehicles. However, the the Piasecki flying Jeep of the 1960s. September. The Thales TopDeck avionics the T800, the CTS800. focus has successively moved from the pas- Its architecture, with its shrouded rotors, suite is undergoing qualification bench The T800 drives the twin four-blade senger aircraft to an unmanned freighter and enables it to fly in a city without the dan- testing and the Thales autopilot is being Eagle Aviation contra-rotating coaxial main then to a small unmanned demonstrator. gers usually associated with open rotors. evaluated in the S-76 simulator. The new rotors and the Aero Composites six-blade The electrically powered demonstrator, For example, the design allows operation composite main rotor blades are in fatigue pusher propeller/propulsor mounted at the dubbed the Panda Fancraft, first flew in Feb- right up to the side of a building. Its main testing and the tail rotor blades were whirl end of the tail boom. The propulsor was not ruary 2008 and began forward flight-testing drawback is fuel burn, much higher than tested in December. Seven Pratt & Whit- engaged during the X2’s initial flight. in July. Its mtow is close to 30 pounds. that of a helicopter. The full-size, manned ney Canada PW210S engines (FADEC, According to X2 program manager Jim The first flight of the bigger Mule, a X-Hawk is now on the back burner and 1,050 shp for takeoff) have accumulated Kagdis, Sikorsky envisions a variety of “logistics support” UAV, has been delayed Yoeli hopes to boost work on it once the 1,800 hours in test-cell runs at OEI power commercial and military applications for from late last year to April this year. Final Mule has begun flight testing. J

52aaAviation International News • February 2009 • www.ainonline.com