by Andrew Healey

Last year was a good one for Newfoundland as well as the humid the industry. Aerospace Indus- Gulf of Texas. It also scored a last- tries Association figures indicated that minute coup to provide SAR facilities in US-101 the export performance of U.S. civil the UK. We heard, finally, that the V-22 helicopter manufacturers is currently at Osprey will be built in bulk for the U.S. and the air and ground crews immediately flying with Model 429 components, and “record levels.” Sales activity represented Air Force and Marine Corps. began familiarization training. first flight of the complete airframe is what the association called a “surge” in In addition, the U.S. embraced R&D Technically, the test helicopter is a leased scheduled for the third quarter. At press export activity for the sector–up nearly for . Bell revealed more about Italian Navy EH-101. Because of the pro- time, Bell had successfully completed con- 60 percent over the previous year. its MAPL (modular affordable product gram’s tight schedule (first deliveries are cept demonstration tests, wind-tunnel tests According to the report, overall civil line) project, which includes an innovative slated for 2009), program managers decided and inlet and exhaust testing. Detailed de- helicopter sales activity–domestic as well anti-torque device, and Sikorsky intro- to lease an airframe to get a head start on sign is nearing completion, and the com- as exports–grew to a record $750 mil- duced a new concept in rotorcraft design flight and maintenance training. Testing on pany is building parts and tooling to lion, the equivalent of 120 more aircraft that offers an aircraft with a potential a real helicopter will also help the program construct the first prototype. than manufacturers delivered in 2004. VNE of 250 knots. Actually it wasn’t new team figure out where to place antennas The Bell 429 will be the first to feature More specifically, last year turned at all–the OEM’s advancing blade concept and other airframe-mounted devices. new MAPL components, including a 70 out to be the year a lot of decisions demonstrator flew back in the 1970s– Engine integration testing of the VH- percent larger cabin (compared with the were made–for good or for ill. We know but the technology required to make it a 71A began on a contractor vehicle during earlier Bell 427i) and a new composite now who will build the President’s next practical proposition is now in place the summer, at ’s Owego, horizontal stabilizer that was test-flown helicopter, that the BA609 can indeed (see AIN, July 2005, page 100). N.Y. facility. last May. Work continues on anti-torque fly like an airplane and that–although But above all else, when it comes to many suspected it–something drastic a cataclysmic natural disaster–a tsunami, Bell Helicopter needed to be done at MDHI. a hurricane, or an earthquake–the heli- Bell 210 We know that the Bell 427i needed copter is the one vehicle that can bring more than just an autopilot and that the swift and effective relief to the point of The Bell 210 achieved FAA certifica- S-92, despite teething troubles and los- need. The assets are available and the tion in July, 18 months after launch and ing out on the U.S. Presidential con- operators are ready to respond: all it seven months after first flight. The Huey tract, can walk the walk for offshore takes is money, coordination and the lookalike features dynamic components Bell 429 operators–over the freezing waters off political will to make it happen. from the Bell 212 (main rotor hub and blades, tail rotor, main and tail-rotor sup- devices, including a rotorless assembly known port structure, transmission, rotating con- as PATS (propulsive anti-torque system). AgustaWestland performance record of the out-of-produc- trols and tailboom), and a Honeywell Bell plans this year to run an engineer- A109S Grand tion A109 K2 and is aimed at the search- T-53-517BCV engine. The result, accord- ing ground-test rig using a full-size gas tur- and-rescue (SAR) market. Sliding doors on ing to Bell, is a zero-time, FAA-certified, bine engine, inlet fan, bifurcated ducting The order book for this uprated 109 both sides of the cabin offer improved single-engine medium and a series of test thrusters. PATS provides variant currently stands at almost 60. access and, as such, should attract public- for about $3 million, compared with $5 anti-torque directional control and propul- AgustaWestland received EASA approval service operators as well. million for a similarly sized off-the-shelf sive thrust without a conventional tail rotor. for the type in June (as its first customer, a The FADEC-equipped Pratt & Whitney commercial product. Combined with reductions in main rotor Briton, took delivery) and FAA certification Canada PW207C turboshaft engines, pro- speed, it could enable helicopters to cruise is expected by next month. The company viding a combined 815 shp, and an up- comfortably at 160 to 170 knots. planned to have delivered five airframes by rated transmission give the Grand good press time and 10 more later this year. performance in terms of hovering-out-of- Bell/ Aerospace The Grand draws upon the high-altitude ground-effect and speed in forward flight. AB139 According to the company, the 7,000-pound-mtow helicopter has With the AB139 now certified and a 12,000-foot ceiling on a single Bell 210 being delivered around the world, Bell/ engine and, with both power- Agusta’s new challenge is to keep its plants running, offers a rate- Bell said the 210 has direct operating production rate in step with customer of-climb of 1,900 fpm. Agusta- costs of less than $650 per hour–offering demand. With more than 100 airframes Westland also claims that operat- what the OEM terms a “significant reduc- on order and capacity still set at around ing costs are up to 36 percent tion in operating costs”–and comes with 50 per year, the company will have to lower than its competitors. an “excellent” commercial products war- juggle numbers and customers for some ranty. An airframe will be on display at time to come. The recent announcement US-101 Heli-Expo later this month in Dallas. First of an extension of the Philadelphia facil- deliveries are scheduled for May. ity to accommodate a second and domes- The U.S. military selected a tic AB139 line has not come a moment variant of AgustaWestland’s EH- Bell 429 too soon. 101 as the new Presidential heli- copter last year. Development Program development of this IFR twin of the helicopter–christened the is proceeding on schedule with Transport VH-71A Kestrel–is now under Canada and FAA certification expected way. A first airframe, which will during the third quarter of next year. Bell serve as a testbed until three said it has taken nearly 140 orders for the actual test vehicles arrive in the new helicopter, which will enter a market spring next year, landed at a U.S. sector crowded with established types. A109S Grand Navy test facility in November, Modified prototypes are already AB139

62 Aviation International News • February 2006 • www.ainonline.com With the roles of the AB139 becoming flew in 1963, at this month’s Heli-Expo. the company added that it has not yet as diverse as those of the smaller A109– Owners of existing aircraft will be able evaluated turboprops. from flying limo to search-and-rescue–Bell/ to install the improvements as a retrofit, Agusta has stolen a march on the competi- although they will also have to install Hindustan Aeronautics tion. If it manages to keep all its customers the latest Rolls-Royce 250-C20B engine, Dhruv on board, it can expect to continue doing which currently powers only a handful of well, perhaps even until the Sino-European the 80-odd original FH1100s still flying. The HAL Dhruv is a multi-role heli- EC 175 (see below) enters the fray in 2011. The rest use the obsolete-C18 unit. copter in the 12,120-pound weight class Bell is to sell its 25-percent interest in built to meet FAR 29 and certified by the program to AgustaWestland (giving EC 225 India’s Director-General of Civil Aviation the company complete ownership) so the (DGCA). Currently powered by two helicopter will be renamed the A139. Inci- North Sea duties with . Turbomeca TM333-2B2 engines, it is dentally, AgustaWestland has launched It was certified for unrestricted operations claimed to meet Category “A” takeoff and a military variant, christened the A149. in icing conditions in time for the north- landing performance requirements. ern winter and, by next year, a new FAA First civil deliveries of the Dhruv are BA609 level-D simulator will be commissioned said to be “imminent.” The first of two heli- in Marseilles, France. FH1100 copters for the regional government of The can now hover like a heli- The EC 225 has a maximum weight of Jharkhand is ready, with the second due for copter and fly forward like a turboprop. nearly 23,000 pounds and can carry two The company claims that the FH1100 completion later this year. A reported order Bell/Agusta restarted the flying program pilots and 24 passengers or more than has the lowest operating costs in its class. for 20 civil airframes, from Mumbai-based last summer, and the aircraft converted 11,000 pounds of cargo. Its twin Tur- The FAA has yet to issue a production offshore operator Azal Aviation, never ad- fully to airplane mode in July and pro- bomeca Makila 2A engines deliver a cruise certificate for it, and Van Nevel could not vanced beyond memorandum of under- gressed rapidly to expand the flight enve- speed of 149 knots. predict when one would be forthcoming. standing stage. However, AIN has learned lope–up to 255 kcas and 15,000 feet. “However it is a two-year process and we that a recent change of management at Before grounding it again for “adjustments,” EC 175 are getting to that point now,” he told AIN. Azal might present new opportunities. the crew also demonstrated 2g positive and 0g negative in airplane mode. Aviation Industries of (AVIC II) Groen Brothers A second prototype is preparing to join and Eurocopter have agreed to jointly Heliplane the flight program in northern . With develop a new six-ton (13,230 pounds) live data linkage between Italy and Texas, helicopter–the EC 175–to fill the niche This new gyroplane is a revival of testing has become a continuous process. between the five-ton AS365 Dauphin and Britain’s Fairey Rotodyne that flew in Every change made to aircraft one is re- the 10-ton Super Puma. the late 1950s and achieved 166 knots peated, often in real-time, on the aircraft- A five-year development phase is due forward speed, a record at the time. Dhruv two setup in Italy. Milan retains program to start soon. The new civil type is sched- The Heliplane project is being funded lead with the introduction of a third aircraft uled to make its first flight in 2009, with by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Normal seating capacity is two crew nearing completion in Italy, and a fourth European and Chinese certification, and Projects Agency) with a combat search- and 12 passengers or 14 passengers in “green” example is currently in the Bell production, set for 2011. and-rescue role in mind. Potentially a high-density configuration. XworX hangar at Fort Worth, Texas. Each company will invest $322 million worth $40 million, the work could lead Turbomeca’s upgrade of the TM333, to develop the new helicopter. Production to flight testing of a technology demon- known in Europe as the Ardiden and in will be shared on a 50/50 basis and each strator, based on Adam Aircraft’s A700 India as Shakti, is designed to deliver an country will have its own assembly line. very light jet, by mid-2008. additional 10 percent performance and is Sales forecasts suggest a potential world- The objective for the demonstrator will currently under dynamic test in southern wide market for some 800 helicopters over be a twofold improvement in forward-flight France. HAL gets a 30-percent offset in the BA609 the next 20 years. performance over a conventional helicop- unit’s development package. A joint-venture Eurocopter president Fabrice Brégier ter, including a 350-knot cruise speed and company is currently being set up with Israel AgustaWestland has also taken an said, “The program guarantees more than 1,000 nm range with a 1,000-pound pay- Aircraft Industries (IAI) to market the ad- increased 40-percent stake in the BA609 30 years of work and 2,000 high-tech jobs load. The goal is a lift/drag ratio greater vanced light helicopter, in return for HAL’s program. for Eurocopter and its partners. Over 20 than 10, compared with five to six for a installing IAI avionics into the platform. years, the program will be worth close to conventional helicopter and 15-plus for Eurocopter E10 billion ($10.7 billion).” a fixed-wing aircraft. Kamov Groen’s concept uses a reaction-drive Ka-32 In September, Eurocopter’s experimental rotor, with tip jets powered by com- BK117 lifted off from its Donauwörth, Ger- pressed gas from an engine mounted in With certification or validation held in many site for the first time with an electrical the belly of the aircraft. The rotor will be six countries outside Russia (Canada, South flap control system. Adaptive rotor systems powered for vertical takeoff and landing, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland and Tai- promise to reduce vibration as well as the but will autorotate during forward flight. wan), Kamov will seek approval for the noise caused by rotor blade tip vortices. To reduce drag, the rotor will be slowed export variant of its specialist loadlifter from EC 175 and lift transferred to the wing, as for- the European Aviation Safety Agency this ward speed increases. A pair of Williams year. Last year the OEM established a service The EC 175 will have a five-blade main turbofans will power the Heliplane but Continued on next page u rotor and an energy-absorbing airframe. It will be certified for two-pilot IFR and single- pilot VFR operations and carry up to 16 passengers. The helicopter will have a radius of action of 200 nm at a speed of 151 knots. Eurocopter AS 350 B3 FH1100 Manufacturing The FAA has approved Eurocopter’s FH1100 request to build 350 B2 and B3 AStars at its U.S. facility in Columbus, Miss. The company has upgraded its FH1100 with a new EFIS cockpit, replacement stain- EC 225 less steel rotor blade and a KaFlex lubrica- tion-free driveshaft. President Georges Van This new-generation Super Puma entered Nevel told AIN that the company will dis- service last year with the government of play a latest-build model FH1100, based Algeria (as a presidential transport) and on on the original Fairchild Hiller that first Heliplane

www.ainonline.com • February 2006 • Aviation International News 63 uContinued from preceding page carrying passengers or cargo, as well as with increased service life, “anti-vibration complete with the Thales cockpit, will be center in the Republic of Korea and plans search-and-rescue operations. crew seats” and a large cargo compart- on display at Heli-Expo this month. The to open another in southern Spain by July. It is equipped with a simplified main ment. Triple-redundant electric and hy- first S-76D is planned for delivery by Logging and firefighting are the Ka-32’s rotor hub with elastomeric hinges and draulic systems are also included. the end of 2008. main roles. Spain’s government recently composite main and tail rotor blades. The recognized the type as a principal rotary- helicopter is powered by a single VAZ- PZL Swidnik X2 wing asset in responding to serious fires 4265 piston engine. SW-4 (defined as those covering more than 1,235 Sikorsky’s new light helicopter, based acres). Neighbor Portugal, which also Aktai Celebrating 50 years of helicopter on two contra-rotating rotors and a rear depends on helicopters to contain summer manufacturing this year, the Polish manu- propulsion fan, promises a maximum fires, is said to be a potential customer. facturer is close to UK CAA certification speed approaching 250 knots. A two-seat Similar contracts are being negotiated of its SW-4 light single, after which demonstrator, to be built at Sikorsky sub- farther east, in Cyprus and Turkey. Leased EASA approval will be sought. The com- sidiary Schweizer at Elmira, N.Y., is sched- Ka-32s are also in , and some 40 are pany has signed a deal to purchase uled to fly before year-end. The helicopter’s already flying in South Korea on utility and 10 Rolls-Royce 250-C20R light turbine fly-by-wire package has already taken to coast guard duties. engines for the program. the air aboard a Schweizer 333 testbed. Company spokesman Jan Mazur says Ka-32 PZL has also signed a memorandum of X2 understanding with Rolls-Royce, to pursue The Aktai’s main design principle, said the idea of using the 650-shp 250-C30 to Kazan, is to provide simple and low-cost power a SW-4 growth variant. “Upgrading operations combined with decent flight the engine would be a relatively easy pro- performance. cedure,” he said, “due to the R-R unit’s small size and high parts commonality Ansat with the current unit.” The SW-4 is claimed to deliver ranges approaching 500 miles. Production of this light twin started in 2004 and five airframes are now in service with South Korea’s forest service. Its sole Sikorsky CEO Steve Finger said the X2 Ka-115 Russian certification is aligned with FAR/ will “maintain or improve” all the vertical JAR-29 standards. flight capabilities of rotorcraft while still A full-scale mockup of this new utility delivering the speed increase. “Aircraft single was exhibited at an airshow in such as the V-22 tiltrotor and the vertical- Moscow last summer. Funding is currently landing Joint Strike Fighter are compro- being sought to encourage the OEM to mises–they deliver the speed but at the start building a working prototype. SW-4 expense of hover performance. We believe Another co-axial rotor design, the there is a market for a true helicopter that Ka-115 has a single engine and should Poland’s army has ordered 30 airframes offers this significant speed increase, not deliver a 372- to 434-mile range. Despite for use as trainers, and a further 40 sales only for the military but in civil applica- its basic configuration, it will include rotor may go to the country’s navy and air tions such as offshore support.” blade de-icing and engine anti-icing as Ansat force. The first civil variant was delivered Finger added, “A true helicopter that standard. The company is currently target- in December for use on gas pipeline goes fast has the widest market potential; ing the domestic market. Mi-38 patrols in eastern Russia. “If it proves its everything else is just niche.” worth,” said Mazur, “a substantial follow- The X2 bears a striking resemblance Ka-226 In partnership with the Mil design on order may follow.” to Sikorsky’s advancing blade concept bureau and Eurocopter, Kazan continues demonstrator that reached similar speeds Kamov is seeking FAA certification for to develop the latest Mi-38 (based on the Sikorsky in the 1970s. That aircraft suffered partic- this lightweight (7,480 pound) twin this ubiquitous Mi-17 transport), with plans S-76D ularly from vibration and inherent drag, year. The Ka-226 has a replaceable cabin to begin flight testing next year. Three drawbacks that Finger said the company “pod” enabling quick interior changes, variants–VIP, passenger transport and Launched at last year’s Heli-Expo in has since overcome. “It’s a matter of tech- such as from a six-place passenger interior medevac–will be offered. The plan is to Anaheim, Calif., the S-76D variant will nologies developed over the past 30 years to EMS configuration in less than an hour. meet FAR/JAR 29 requirements and be feature composite rotor blades, a quiet tail coming together.” With the cabin detached, the helicopter can suitable for single-pilot IFR operations in rotor, a rotorcraft icing protection system The X2 fly-by-wire (FBW) system made carry 2,860 pounds underslung. temperatures ranging from -60 degrees C (RIPS, which was recently certified on the its first flight at Elmira, N.Y., in Novem- Production of the Ka-226 started in to 50 degrees C. S-92), a Thales cockpit with an integrated ber. The FBW testbed was said to perform 2004. Rolls-Royce is contracted to supply avionics system and P&WC PW210 engines. “flawlessly” during the 30-minute flight, 50 additional 250-C20R engines for the An announcement about the blade sup- while demonstrating the basic capabilities program this year. Turbomeca’s Arrius 2G2 plier and wind-tunnel tests was expected of the Hamilton Sundstrand/Honeywell is also listed as an option. at press time, and a full-scale mock-up, fly-by-wire package. I

Mi-38

According to Kazan, the helicopter’s performance and fuel consumption will Ka-226 offer “significant advantages” over other types in its class. Its PW-127T/S engines, rated at 2,500 shp, were developed by Kazan a Pratt & Whitney Canada/Klimov joint Aktai venture and enable the helicopter to carry up to 13,200 pounds internally or 17,600 Still being prepared for flight tests, now pounds externally. expected “sometime in 2006,” the Aktai is The helicopter has an EFIS cockpit and designed for commercial VFR operations the airframe features composite blades S-76D

64 Aviation International News • February 2006 • www.ainonline.com