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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 0108.PDF
Helibus speeds up The wraps are coming off Sikorsky's S-92 after more than two years of work GRAHAM WARWICK/STRATFORD SO LITTLE HAS been said about the S-92 I Ielibus programme since its 1995 launch that the sight of two near-complete proto types at Sikorsky's Stratford, Connecticut, factory comes as something of a surprise. The wraps are coming off now - nine months before the first flight - in a bid to confound competitive disinformation about die project's status, and to prepare for the long-awaited campaign to sell the private-venture helicopter. The S-92 was conceived as a companion to Sikorsky's S-70 family of medium-weight mili tary helicopters - the UI1-60 Black Hawk and SH-60 Seahawk. The aircraft is aimed equally at commercial and military medium-helicopter markets, particularly those requiring a larger cabin than die H-60 series provides. The pro gramme uses S-70 technology where possible, upgrading it where necessary, always with an eye to retrofitting the result to the H-60 series. Programme vice-president Kenneth Kelly describes the S-92 as a "latter-day S-61". The company sold 1,431 S-61 s into commercial, as well as military, markets and this success tonus the basis for die S-92 programme. Sikorsky has sold some 2,370 S-70sso far, and the aircraft will remain in production into die next century, but it has not tapped the civil and other markets so successfully served by the S-61. Sikorsky forecasts the demand for replace ment of S-61-class civil helicopters at 340 units over 20 years. "This is not a big market," Kelly admits. The S-92 is also being aimed at the "largely government" international-utility market, which die company forecasts will account for sales of 1,390 aircraft over 20 years. "The Black Hawk does not satisfy the market totally," Kelly believes. "Some customers want a larger cabin." Sikorsky estimated that it could sell 240 civil and 520 military S-92s, but based its business case on a "conservative" 600-700 sales over 20 years. "That would be a good programme," Kelly acknowledges. The company has subsequently updated its assessment, and the sales target has stayed relatively unchanged. "The helicopter market is going up worldwide, and die medium segment has die biggest potential," he believes. To meet the needs of civil and international- military customers, the S-92 will be available in two versions: a 19-passenger civil transport with airline interior and commercial avionics and a utility transport with 22 side-facing seats in the cabin and a 1553 databus for military avionics. The civil version has 1.82 m stand-up headroom and three-abreast seating: "The cabin is about the same size as the S-61 's," Kelly says. Performance for both versions is the same: a 155kt (260km/h) cruise and 910km (490nm) range at a gross weight of 11,430kg. The utility S-92 has a 12,020kg gross weight and 4,540kg cargo-hook capability. The likely price for the civil version is about Si 3-14 million. DRIVING COSTS DOWN Lowest cost has been the driving factor in designing the S-92 - both in terms of purchase price and operating cost. "Targets have been broken back to the design teams tied to selling price," Kelly says, "and, for the first time, we have taken in operating cost and broken that back to the individual product-development teams, so they have two types of cost target. Major parts have their own targets." Design requirements include the latest US and European FAR/JAR 29 certification regu lations, which include more-stringent rules for damage-tolerant dynamics and single-engine performance. "We shot for the best cost and performance in the medium class," Kelly says. The fuselage, for example, is a mix of metal 54 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 14 - 20 January 1998
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