New 600 hours at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet AC352 Preliminary specifications are based on and speeds of up to 275 knots. AW main- The AC352 (formerly known as kit helicopters fitted with the Rolls-Royce tains that 85 percent of the flight enve- the Z-15) is the Chinese version of the RR250-C20B/J and call for the KC518 to ROTORCRAFT lope testing is complete and that orders “jointly developed” Eurocopter EC175. be available in five- or six-seat configura- remain for 70 copies of the aircraft. Certification is delayed to 2014. It is to tions, have a cruise speed of 135 knots, an However, many of those orders are price be powered by Turbomeca/Avic Engine endurance of 3.6 hours (96-gallon tanks) 2012 conditional and AW could not immedi- Dongan Ardiden 3C/WZ-16 turboshafts. and a useful load of 1,450 pounds. Com- ately provide additional details on the posite main rotor blades are a contem- new unit price and the viability of those Bell 407AH plated option. With a full complement of Civil helicopter industry orders. When the 609 was announced it Bell passengers and baggage the endurance slips had a price tag of $8 million; that is now Garmin’s G500H glass-cockpit system, to 2.6 hours. Anticipated IGE and OGE faces uncertain future believed to have soared to $30 million. Bell 407GX AAI bulged skylights, inlet-barrier filter, hover ceilings are 10,000 and 8,000 feet, AgustaWestland AW169 The 2012 407GX is priced at $2.795 wire-strike protection system and Meeker respectively, with a maximum altitude of by Thierry Dubois & Mark Huber million, $150,000 more than the 2011 quick-release door pins. Weapons on the 14,000 feet and a 1,000-fpm rate of climb. Avic AC313 Circumstances are colliding that will For now, Bell continues work on its AW149/189 AW announced the 4.5-ton-class Model 407. The GX is equipped with the 407AH include a Dillon 7.62-mm M134T Certified models will be equipped with have significant impact on new civil heli- Magellan program, which is characterized AW169 medium twin program in 2010. In 2010 China flew a “new” home- Garmin G1000H integrated glass-panel mini-gun and M260 2.75-inch seven-shot either the RR300 or RR500, and cargo copter development programs for the in the broad terms of technology research AW announced the 149 program in The eight- to 10-passenger helicopter is grown heavy-lift helicopter for the first avionics system. The GX’s G1000H sys- rocket launcher. Buyers can add options sling and spray system options will be avail- remainder of the decade. In the West, new as opposed to any specific civil program. 2006 and the 8.6-ton helicopter made its being designed for single-pilot IFR oper- time. The AC313 tips the scales at 27,600 tem can be configured to include HTaws, such as chafe/flare controller for counter- able. The version with the RR300 will have civil programs are typically the byprod- Sikorsky, at its own expense, is develop- first flight in 2009. Based on the success- ations and is expected to fly this year pounds, can carry up to 27 people, has a Tcas, synthetic vision and electronic maps, measures, sliding rear doors, cargo hook a max takeoff weight of 2,850 pounds; the ful AW139 medium twin, the 149 is a mil- and receive certification in 2014. The 169 maximum ferry range of 560 miles and and crew seat armor. The 407AH, said derated RR500-powered model will see ucts of defense spending. And when it ing the X-97 Raider compound helicop- Bell 407GX comes to dropping defense dollars and ter, a potential JMR candidate, and that itary variant that is 12 feet longer, 4 feet is intended to compete with the S-76D was built at state-owned Avic, the same Bell vice president Larry Roberts, “will that increased to 3,200 pounds and be euros on new manned helicopter pro- technology could later drive civil models. taller, 5,000 pounds heavier (mtow), has a and even uses a pair of the same Pratt company that recently made Sikorsky meet the needs of a variety of parapub- dedicated primarily to users with high/hot grams, the party might not be over, but it Likewise, Eurocopter is working on the slightly larger main rotor disk and a pair & Whitney Canada Fadec-controlled S-76 airframes under contract. lic agencies at a cost that is far less than requirements. As of January, the company is definitely winding down. X3 and AW has taken over the 609 civil of more powerful, Fadec-controlled GE The AC313 appears to be an out- that of similarly equipped military air- had received orders for 41 helicopters. AgustaWestland AW169 In the U.S., automatic and deep Pen- tiltrotor program after ending its partner- CT7-2E1 turboshafts (2,000 shp each) growth of the 14,000-pound Chinese Zhi- craft, but with increased lethality.” The tagon budget cuts likely will not be felt ship with Bell last year. that give the helicopter good high/hot 8. That medium helicopter is based on 407AH is being developed primarily for until Fiscal Year 2013 under the debt ceil- At the same time R&D spending performance and satisfy the 6,000-foot, the 1970s-vintage Aerospatiale SA321 the export market. It will be available to Eurocopter ing expansion and spending reduction becomes more strained, demand for 95 degree F OGE standard. The air-con- Super Frelon, a design that dates back to qualified customers directly from Bell, as deal fashioned between the President and current production civil helicopters in cer- ditioned 409-cu-ft cabin is 25 percent the early 1960s. However, the AC313 has opposed to via contracts from the U.S. EC145T2 Congress last summer, after the bipar- tain segments is dropping off. The U.S. larger than that of the AW139 and the been updated with modern avionics, a trio Defense or State Department. The Eurocopter EC145T2, a major tisan congressional Super Committee helicopter EMS industry fleet currently baggage hold offers 71 cu ft. of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6B-67A ADS-B, high-speed data bus, global Roberts said the AH was designed to upgrade of the EC145, is slated for FAA failed to produce an alternative. However, numbers approximately 900 rotorcraft but The AW149 can hold 12 fully pro- engines (1,200 shp each) and composite worldwide weather and connectivity and be rapidly reconfigurable and that cus- certification next year. In the middle of the just-enacted FY12 National Defense with not all of them in service the market visioned troops or seat 18 passengers, displays all electrical, engine and engine tomers could take the guns off or put last fall, it completed “hot and high” Authorization Act is a reason for caution appears saturated and faces continued con- cruises at 150 knots and has a maximum McINTOSH DAVID power parameters, all on a pair of 10.4- them back on. “This is a non-integrated testing. The manufacturer has thus seen already. Helicopter defense spending is solidation. There were several acquisitions range of 635 nm. It has a full glass-panel PW210S engines (1,000 shp each) that inch LCD displays. Optional kits include system,” he emphasized. “It does not fire “promising” performance. Eurocopter largely confined to programs that rebuild last year, including Air Methods’ purchase avionics system that is NVG compatible, power the Sikorsky. The 169 features a the Garmin GDL 69AH XM weather directed munitions. By doing it this way or modernize legacy airframes, including of OmniFlight. Decreased local, county Eurocopter EC145T2 fitting some with unmanned control sys- a four-axis autopilot and can be ordered digital, three-screen glass-panel avionics and radio; Garmin GDL 59H datalink it is really a commercially armed aircraft and state tax revenues also have caused the with optional rotor ice protection. The system, a 222-cu-ft cabin and a 45-cu-ft and flight parameter recorder; Garmin and we can offer it outside the scope of the tems. One of the few exceptions is the $2.2 elimination or reduction of numerous heli- billion authorized for continued acquisi- AW149 was a contender for the Turkish baggage hold. AW plans to offer search- GSR 56H Iridium voice/data transceiver; military process. All the necessary licenses copter law enforcement units. Utility Helicopter Program but ultimately and-rescue, EMS, offshore and corpo- Garmin GTS 800 traffic advisory system have been applied for or acquired.” tion of Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotors. How- However, the international market Avic AC313 lost that competition to Sikorsky last year. rate variants. AW anticipates a market (ADS-B IN), ELT, radar altimeter, auto- ever, the V-22 will become a prime target continues to show signs of growth, par- for cuts or elimination under any future Following the loss of that contract, AW for 1,000 copies of the $10- to $12 mil- main rotor blades. Avic plans to pursue matic speech recognition and 3-D audio. ticularly among offshore oil and gas pro- Composite Helicopters budget. If this happens, it would be a set- duction (OGP) service operators, spurred announced its intention to offer a civilian lion AW169 over the next 25 years. certification of the AC313 in export mar- The G1000H system will be able to back for Bell, which is counting on con- variant of the AW149, the AW189, aimed kets, including the U.S. China Daily, the monitor system parameters that can be on by $100 per barrel oil and expanding KC518 Adventourer tinued V-22 revenues to help fund its $1 deep-water operations.