Celebrating 70 Years, HAI Lines Up Busy 2019 Heli-Expo

HAI is coming into this year’s Heli-Expo celebrating its 70-year heritage with a continued focus on safety as its core mission and myriad issues on its plate from workforce shortages to IFR approvals in single-engine helicopters, said association president and CEO Matt Zuccaro. While the association has hosted conventions since its founding, this year is marking a first for Heli-Expo: its initial appearance in Atlanta. Heli-Expo 2019 officially opens tomorrow at the Georgia World Congress Center, with more than 700 exhibitors, some 60 helicopters on static display, and around 18,000 expected attendees.

As always, he stressed, safety is the top priority for the association and a focal point of Heli-Expo, including the return of its Rotor Safety Challenge, designed to encourage participation in the nearly 40 safety sessions that will take place over the three-day expo. This is in addition to committee meetings, workshops, and other events that will highlight safety.

Heli-Expo will also focus on making sure that “operator members are not overburdened with legislative and regulatory initiatives,” Zuccaro said. On HAI's radar is the possible rewrite of Part 27 and 29 helicopter certification regulations and a simplified path for IFR single-engine helicopters. HAI is also focused on unmanned flight and the pilot and mechanic shortage.

Bell Working On IFR 407, Finishing 525 This Year

Bell is working with the FAA on gaining IFR certification for the 407 by August and driving to certify its 525 Relentless by the end of the year, according to CEO Mitch Snyder. Gaining IFR certification for the 407 offers the company advantages in the air ambulance, offshore, and law enforcement markets, he said.

Bell’s 525 super-medium twin is also progressing well, Snyder said, noting that two aircraft are currently in cold-weather testing in Yellowknife, Canada, and another is flying heavy snow testing in Rome, New York. Currently, four 525 aircraft are in flight testing and have accumulated 1,000 hours. The FAA joined the flight-test program in November.

A fifth test ship has been fitted with a production interior and is undergoing ground tests at Bell’s Amarillo production facility. “It’s going to start flying pretty quickly, and we plan to have all test aircraft flying for the remainder of the year,” Snyder said. “We’re still driving to certify the 525 by the end of the year.”

Meanwhile, he revealed that the company plans to offer its 407 long single for the Navy’s THXX helicopter trainer competition. Bell is the current legacy provider of training aircraft for the Navy with the TH57.

Honeywell Outlook Calls For Modest Helo Deliveries

Honeywell Aerospace is forecasting 4,000 new turbine helicopter deliveries over the next five years, according to the company's 21st annual Turbine-Powered Civil Helicopter Purchase Outlook released today at Heli-Expo 2019. This is down 200 helicopters from its forecast last year.

The latest outlook’s worldwide purchase plan rate is 15 percent, down 3.5 percent from last year, largely affected by economic and political uncertainty in some parts of the world, Honeywell said. Its forecast is based on a recent worldwide survey of more than 1,000 chief pilots and flight department managers of companies operating 3,334 turbine and 321 piston helicopters.

Still, the company expects an annual helicopter delivery growth rate of between 3 and 4 percent from 2019 to 2023. In the first three years, that rate will be driven by new helicopter models coming to market, followed by more favorable exchange rates and higher oil prices in the last two years.

Light single-engine helicopters will account for most new purchases during the five-year period, accounting for an estimated 51 percent, followed by medium twins, 31 percent; light twins, 13 percent; and heavy twins, 5 percent. Purchase plans call for light and medium-twin helicopters to account for a greater share of deliveries than in Honeywell’s 2014 to 2018 forecast period.

New Airbus H145 To Have Five-Blade Rotor, Fadec

Airbus Helicopters is introducing, and displaying, an upgraded version of its H145 twin this week at Heli-Expo 2019. Scheduled for EASA certification in early 2020, the improved model will feature a new five-blade, bearingless main rotor system; two Safran Arriel 2E engines with Fadec; four-axis autopilot with the Helionix digital avionics suite; and an integrated wireless airborne communication system (wACS).

Cumulatively, the improvements will give the H145 an increased useful load of 330 pounds and boost maximum takeoff weight to 8,377 pounds. Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even said the improvements emanated from customer feedback “over the years about the aircraft.” Deliveries will begin later in 2020, he said, adding that the upgrade will be offered as a retrofit for legacy H145 aircraft. 

The new rotor system provides a useful load equivalent to the H145’s empty weight, reduces maintenance requirements, improves reliability, and shrinks overall rotor disk diameter, allowing the aircraft to operate in more confined areas. The wACS wireless communications system will enable real-time data transmission from the helicopter facilitating live health and usage monitoring.

Victoria Police Order Trio of Leonardo AW139s

The Victoria, Australia Police Air Wing will be adding three new Leonardo AW139 intermediate twins as part of its fleet-modernization program. The helicopters will be supplied by StarFlight and will be used for law enforcement, surveillance, and maritime search-and-rescue operations from the police air wing base at Essendon airport. They are slated to be delivered later this year from Leonardo’s Vergiate, Italy assembly plant and enter service in 2020.

Custom mission equipment to be fitted onto the aircraft includes advanced mission console, camera, wire cutter, and rescue hoist.

Nearly 120 Leonardo helicopters are currently flying in Australia. Worldwide, more than 1,100 AW139s have been ordered by some 270 customers in 70 nations. The model is widely used by law enforcement, maritime, and border patrol agencies in Italy, the UK, U.S., Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Sweden, Spain, Estonia, Netherlands, Brazil, and UAE, among others.

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