Volume 7 Number 4 August/September 2013 The flying doctors Aeromedical transportation focus EAST SIDE ENERGY STREET STORY SUPPLEMENTS SMARTS Asian market report Powerplant technology Urban flight safety www.rotorhub.com RH_AugSep13_OFC.indd 1 19/08/2013 10:18:30 RH_AugSep13_IFC.indd 2 19/08/2013 10:25:14 ROTORHUB CONTENTS 1 CONTENTS 8 Volume 7 Number 4 August/September 2013 Comment 3 News 4 • Canadian Coast Guard project heads to the courts • EC225 resumes full mission operability worldwide Cover story 13 • Bell Helicopter launches new light single The largest provider of air • Scepticism greets Eurocopter rebranding medical transportation Payloads: Right down the line 39 services in the US HEMS Platform for Industry: A variety of different sensor technologies are now market, Air Methods Methodical approach 8 available to assist helicopter operators carrying out operates around 390 Air medical transportation is a fundamental infrastructure inspection flights for utility companies. helicopters across 45 states. element of a country’s comprehensive healthcare RotorHub weighs up the options. (Photo: Air Methods) infrastructure. Aaron Todd, CEO of Air Methods, 13 talks to RotorHub about how his company is Type Focus: Eurocopter AS332 46 providing both widespread and reliable services in Despite more advanced platforms at a similar this hectic sector. size being available – even from the same manufacturer – the AS332 Super Puma is still EMS: On a role 13 holding its own. RotorHub charts its history and HEMS has become big business for operators and considers its place in the current market. airframers alike. RotorHub looks at some of the latest offerings in terms of platforms and mission Urban flying: Street smarts 51 31 equipment. With recent tragic events once again highlighting the issue of safety in urban flying, the relevant Market report: East side story 23 authorities and key industry figures are discussing The emerging Asian rotorcraft sector is a hive of what needs to be done to ensure pilots, their activity as Western OEMs look to secure market passengers and the public remain protected. share, while countries in the region seek to develop domestic industry. RotorHub provides an overview. Rotorcraft Guide (part 36) 55 From Kamov Ka-26 to Kamov Ka-32. 39 Powerplants: Energy supplements 31 As growth resumes and new markets open up Collective Pitch 56 in the civil helicopter sector, RotorHub finds out Peter Lewis, CEO of Alpine Air Support, describes what operators and airframers can expect in terms the benefits of utilising aftermarket helicopter of performance improvements and technology parts over visiting repair shops or purchasing new development from their engine suppliers. components. 51 Subscriptions Shephard’s aerospace and defence publishing portfolio incorporates six titles: Defence Helicopter, Digital Battlespace, Land Warfare International, Military Logistics International, RotorHub and Unmanned Vehicles. Published bi-monthly, all have become respected and renowned for covering global issues within their respective industry sector. For more information, including editorial content in the current issues, visit shephardmedia.com/magazines. Subscribe today via: www.subscription.co.uk/shephard or +44 (0)1858 438879 subs_portfolio.indd 1 23/8/10 17:15:02 ROTORHUB August/September 2013 RH_AugSep13_p01_Contents.indd 1 19/08/2013 10:27:39 Distinct Capabilities, One DNA Family AgustaWestland presents the AW Family – the AW169, AW139 and AW189 helicopters are distinct in size, common by design. The 4.5 tonne class AW169 and 8 tonne class AW189 are developed from the globally successful, class-leading 6.5 tonne AW139 - each exceeding the latest, most stringent safety standards. A unique proposition among rotorcraft manufacturers, the multi-role AW Family serves a wide range of missions, minimises operating costs and enhances operational flexibility thanks to commonalities in maintenance: common parts up to 20%, common tools and ground support equipment up to 30% and 40% reduction in training time. Welcome to the Family advantage. LEADING THE FUTURE agustawestland.com AgustaWestland mobile App for Helitech International 2013 Available Now! Keep up to date with the latest news View multimedia content Get the latest product information RotorHubRH_AugSep13_p02.indd Family New Helitech.indd 2 1 19/08/201302/08/13 10:28:08 17:01 ROTORHUB COMMENT 3 Name dropping EDITORIAL Editor here have been plenty of corporate rebranding exercises Tony Skinner, [email protected] over the years that at the time were derided as heralding the Tel: +44 1753 727020 demise of a company, or the end of an era. Staff Reporters T In most of these cases, the new company branding was quickly Beth Stevenson, adopted by the majority of users and the name change became [email protected] Jonathan Tringham, simply a matter of corporate history. [email protected] The EADS board will be hoping that its brainwave of dissolving Business Reporter the Eurocopter brand in favour of the clunky construct that is ‘Airbus Joyce de Thouars, Helicopters’ will come to be regarded as less of a PR disaster and [email protected] more a stroke of marketing genius. There are plenty of indications at Contributors this early stage, however, that the verdict will lean closer to the former than the latter. Rob Coppinger, Peter Donaldson, The corporate reasons behind the move are pretty clear – EADS wants a globally recognised brand Jim Dorschner, José Higuera, Alexander Mladenov, Barry D Smith, that instantly conjures up an aerospace powerhouse able to compete with the big US primes across a Matthew Smith, Jim Winchester range of sectors. The move to merge Airbus Military, Astrium and Cassidian into one defence and space division emblazoned with the Airbus brand makes some sense. Astrium’s strong branding and heritage PRODUCTION Production Department Manager aside, the other two divisions were largely unrecognisable outside the aerospace/defence industry. David Hurst, [email protected] Following the failed merger with BAE Systems last year, the company is clearly keen to reposition itself, and leveraging the success of Airbus as of one of the two leading commercial Sub -editor Adam Wakeling, aerospace manufacturers is one obvious means to do that. [email protected] However, adding all these factors together, it still seems strange that EADS came up with ‘Airbus ADVERTISING Helicopters’ at the end of the equation, even a week after the news was announced. Commercial Manager The aviation forums, admittedly not the best place to gather measured comment, were filled Jane Smith, [email protected] with derision following the news, as were most industry analysts once they were off the record, with Tel: +44 1753 727004 many reactions simply unprintable. Many pondered why EADS did not just rebrand the rotorcraft Junior Sales Executive division as ‘Eurocopter, an Airbus company’ to retain the strength of both brands. Sara Sheperia, [email protected] While some commentators have argued that the European nature of the name was limiting Tel: +44 1753 727003 the perception of Eurocopter as an international player, this is outright nonsense. Tell that to its competitors in Latin America and parts of Asia where the OEM stole a march years ago by SUBSCRIPTIONS Tower House, Lathkill St, Sovereign Park, positioning itself as a local player. Market Harborough, Leics LE16 9EF, UK In these markets, the ‘Euro’ in Eurocopter no more held the company back than Sikorsky has Paid subscription contacts: ever been constrained by the Russian heritage of its name. Even the oxymoron that is ‘American Tel: +44 1858 438879 Fax: +44 1858 461739 Eurocopter’ had begun to gather its own US identity. Email: [email protected] Furthermore, the Eurocopter brand was equally strong in the civil and military realms, with MANAGEMENT recognisable products and loyal customers across both sectors. In many aspects, the new name E-mail: [email protected] will not sit as comfortably – to label a VIP helicopter as an ‘Airbus’ looks as strange as the EC665 Tiger attack helicopter being badged with a commercial airliner logo. Editor-in-Chief – Tony Skinner Managing Director – Darren Lake A further distraction, albeit a minor one, is waiting to see what Airbus Helicopters decides to do Chairman – Nick Prest with the naming conventions of future types, as AB is associated with the Agusta-Bell partnership ROTORHUB (ISSN 1754-520X) is published 6 times and AH implies attack helicopters. Eurocopter itself has coped quite well with having aircraft per year – in February, April, June, August, October and December – by The Shephard Press Ltd, 268 Bath Road, prefixed with SA, AS and EC in its portfolio, so this is unlikely to be a significant issue. Slough, Berkshire, SL1 4DX, UK. Subscription records are maintained at CDS Global, Tower House, Lathkill Street, More importantly for Eurocopter in the near term is how readily its new identity will be accepted Sovereign Park, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9EF, UK. Air Business Ltd is acting as mailing agent. Articles and by its customer base. Strong helicopter brands have been discarded before – think Vertol, Hughes, information contained in this publication are the copyright the various companies that themselves merged to become Eurocopter – but these were the result of the Shephard Press Ltd and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers. of mergers or