and a ceiling of 11,000 feet. Power will operations training or limited amphibious come from a Fadec Turbomeca Arrius use. The base price for the Robinson R66 2R (rated at 450 to 550 shp), and Turbine Marine is $875,000. Garmin will provide the G1000H glass- NEW Scott’s-Bell 47, Model 47GT-6 panel avionics. The 505 also features a fully flat-floor cabin and rear clamshell Scott’s acquired the Model 47 type cer- loading doors for cargo or medevac. Bell tificate from Bell in 2009 and announced is adapting proven drivetrain elements its intention to put the iconic ship back from the 206L4 LongRanger to contain into new production with a Rolls-Royce costs. The 505 will be certified initially RR300 engine in 2013. It took delivery of ROTORCRSPECIALA REPORTFT Enstrom 480B-G by Transport Canada, and production its first test engine last year and expects to models will then be built at a new Bell make deliveries of the new, $820,000 Model facility in Lafayette, La. 47-GT6 next year at an eventual produc- A price has not yet been set, but Bell tion rate of two per month. The GT6 will be CEO John Garrison told AIN last year based on the 47G-3B-2A widebody design that hitting near a $1 million price was (3,200-pound max gross weight with exter- viewed as critical to the 505’s market suc- nal load, 1,400-pound internal useful load, cess and achieving that number hinged and external load 1,650 pounds). It features on Bell’s success in applying cost pres- a host of modern upgrades beyond the sure on its suppliers. “We’re using suppli- Rolls-Royce engine (300 shp for five min- ers’ capabilities to get to the price point. utes, 240 shp maximum continuous) that The 505 is designed to cost this much. will enable the helicopter to hover in and The price elasticity is very clear,” he said. out of ground effect at better than 12,000 feet at 2,750 pounds on a standard day Enstrom 480B-G and post direct operating costs of less than Piston Singles R44 and the Sikorsky 300C, with a deliv- Enstrom’s 480B five-seat light tur- $400 per hour. The civil market continues to slow, ered price in the range of $400,000. bine single is now available with Garmin The GT6 is being fitted with an G1000H glass-panel avionics. The basic upgraded interior, LED lighting, new com- Marenco Swisshelicopter SKYe SH09 Enstrom TH180 Turbine Singles price for the 480B-G this year will be posite main rotor blades and a new drive- but OEMs look to the future Enstrom planned to fly its new two- $1.415 million. The 480B-G was certified train. The GT6 will feature Sagem digital seat piston-powered trainer last month. Bell 505 Jet Ranger X in July last year and the first customer avionics glass panel displays, including pri- by Thierry Dubois and Mark Huber The company is using the com- Bell announced its five-seat Short delivery was made in October 2014. The mary flight display (PFD) and engine mon- mon type certificate held by all its other Light Single (SLS) at the 2013 Paris G1000H system in the 480B features a itoring system, split map/engine screen models to speed the TH180’s develop- Air Show and later christened it the stacked configuration that mimics the mode, display of an externally mounted n early January oil traded below $50 per Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) ment. Powered by the naturally aspirated 505 Jet Ranger X. The aircraft first aircraft’s original instrument panel and camera, and VGA inputs and custom user barrel for the first time since 2009 and the for the first nine months of 2014 were down Lycoming IO-390, the two-seat TH180 is flew on November 14 last year and has allows the display screens to be equally databases such as display points for the I U.S. dollar was wiping the floor with most 32.4 percent compared with the same period expected to be able to use unleaded avi- already logged substantial orders; cer- accessible from both pilot positions. moving map. The system will feature back- of the competitive currencies around the globe. a year earlier. “It was brutal all over,” one OEM ation fuels–when they are approved for tification is expected late this year or up flight instruments and will also function Marenco Swisshelicopter Just one month earlier, most industry analysts spokesman said of 2014 sales. Perhaps more the engine–and deliver relatively lower early next. as an engine indication and crew alerting SKYe SH09 were putting a brave face on all of this rela- interesting is to see what is selling the best direct operating costs on fuel burns of Performance goals for the 505 include system (Eicas) with a multifunction display tive to its impact on the world civil helicopter in this down market: legacy products. AW’s less than 12 gallons per hour. The TH180 a speed of 125 knots, a range of 360 to The Marenco Swisshelicopter SKYe (MFD) for items such as pilot checklists. A market, while the OEMs themselves remained best-seller remains the AW139 medium twin; is designed to compete with the Robinson 420 nm, a useful load of 1,500 pounds SH09 performed its first two flights– variety of options will be available, among sanguine or speechless or a little of both. The at Airbus it’s the AS350B3e and EC130 sin- in hover mode and totaling less than them interfaces to GPS and transponders. euphoria surrounding the new helicopter mar- gles and the EC135 light twin; at Bell it’s the 40 minutes–in the fourth quarter of Scott’s is offering three levels of war- 2014. In Molis, Switzerland, the start- ranty for the 47GT6: two years/2,000 Robinson R66 Turbine Marine ket a year ago has degraded to nervous opti- 407 heavy single and 429 light twin. Industry up company has slated EASA certifi- hours, pro-rated after the first 200 hours; mism amidst the discovery of coughing billings for the first nine months of last year cation of its Honeywell-powered single two years/1,000 hours, non-prorated; and canaries in the coal mine. The party might dropped more than 20 percent compared with for late this year. With a 5,842-pound three years/500 hours, non-prorated. The not be over, but the attendees are nursing the same period in 2013, according to GAMA. mtow, it is designed to carry one pilot warranty on spare parts will be for one their cocktails and speaking more softly. And And it could be worse if not for a combination and seven passengers, which positions year/1,000 hours, pro-rated after the first nobody is dancing. of some heavy discounting and cost containment it at the higher end of the single-engine 200 hours. About the time helicopter lessor Mile- going on, reflected in lower margins at both Air- helicopter market. Marenco says it has stone Aviation was being acquired by Gecas bus and United Technologies’ (UTC) Sikorsky, received orders for more than 50 copies Twins last October, Bell was acknowledging that the with the former posting a thin profit margin of of the SKYe since its unveiling in 2011. first flight of its new super-medium 525 twin just 6.4 percent, down half a point from 2013. At the time, the first flight was pegged Airbus Helicopters would be delayed into 2015. Meanwhile, much The latter’s margins have dipped below 10 per- for 2012. The composite construction EC135 T3/P3 of the forward number-crunching related to the cent for the first time in recent memory, rekin- enables, for a given weight, a higher The first Airbus Helicopters assumed price of oil is out the window, as could dling speculation that UTC is getting ready to cut level of performance and a greater 6,560-pound-mtow EC135T3 light twin be the helicopter services demand forecasts it loose. New UTC CEO Greg Hayes gave stock Enstrom TH180 cabin volume, according to Marenco. was delivered to Italy-based Aiut Alpin Scott’s Bell 47GT-6 www.ainonline.com by the offshore energy industry. Fortunately, analysts a mixed message in December, telling www.ainonline.com The SH09’s list price is $3 million, Dolomites shortly after EASA certifica- many new deep-water projects are still profit- them, “We’re not going to sell Sikorsky…but the which includes basic avionics and two tion, in October. What looks, technically, able at $50 per barrel, but not much less than fact is, we’re going to take a hard look at the port- sliding doors. Preliminary data indicate like a minor set of modifications yields a that. Unfortunately, a good bit of that activity is folio [of UTC companies] and do what’s right.” 140 knots high cruise speed, 430 nm major boost in performance, especially in off the Brazilian coast and controlled by major- For Sikorsky and for other OEMs, “doing range and five hours endurance. critical conditions. As a result, mountain ity state-owned Petrobras, already the world’s what’s right” in the short-term for the civil mar- operators can expect a valuable reserve Robinson R66 Turbine Marine most indebted oil company ($139 billion) and ket could involve lowering expectations, slow- of power when at altitude with a full currently mired in a multibillion-dollar corrup- ing new programs in progress, shelving more Robinson Helicopter is making its team of rescuers and one or two victims.