All Helicopters articles – Page 244
-
News
US dealer develops Wilga variant
TERRA-SCAN, a California-based PZL Wilga dealer, has developed a special-mission variant of the Polish-built 80-S version of the aircraft, which it is marketing as an alternative to helicopters for law-enforcement roles. Since May, Terra-Scan has been conducting flight trials with its demonstration aircraft, fitted with a Wescam gimbal-mounted ...
-
News
Smiths
Avionics supplier Smiths Industries Aerospace, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has named Jim Wasson director of technology marketing of Defense Systems North America. He was previously senior programme and business-development manager at McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in Mesa, Arizona. Source: Flight International
-
News
Bell pushes US Government on Romanian AH-1 Cobras
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH ROMANIA HAS issued a technical specification for the AH-1F Cobras it requires, as Bell Helicopter Textron pushes for clearance to extend the country's industrial participation in the programme. Bell says that it is campaigning for approval from the US State Department to allow more ...
-
News
Ringing in the new
What does the new Bell 407 offer over its predecessors? Graham Warwick/MONTREAL IF BELL IS renowned for two things in the commercial-helicopter field, they are the Model 206 and the two-blade rotor. These traditional Bell strengths have threatened to become weaknesses, however, as the prolonged ...
-
News
WSK PZL Rzeszow
WSK PZL-Rzeszow of Poland has introduced an up-rated version of its popular GTD-350 turbo-shaft engine, which powers the Mil Mi-2 helicopter. The GTD-350W offers improved compressor efficiency, resulting in an increase in take-off power of 18kW, to 315kW. The improvements are also available as a retrofit for existing engines. To ...
-
News
Turbomeca will dispute US damages
FRENCH AERO-ENGINE builder Turbomeca is to appeal against a Missouri court award of $350 million to the family of a pilot of a Turbomeca Arriel-powered, US-made helicopter killed in a crash near Kansas City, Missouri, in 1993. A Missouri jury awarded $175 million for prejudice suffered and $175 ...
-
News
Turkey Cougar
Turkey is to buy 30 more Eurocopter AS.532 Cougar military-transport helicopters in addition to 20 ordered in 1992. The deal, worth around $370 million, is expected to be approved by the Turkish Government early in August. Source: Flight International
-
News
Changzhou Lan Xiang Machinery Works
Changzhou Lan Xiang Machinery Works, also known as Jiangxi Helicopter Engine Factory, manufactures the WZ6 turbo-shaft engine. The WZ6 is derived from Turbomeca's Turmo IIIC and is rated at 1,145kW. Source: Flight International
-
News
Comanche rotor begins whirl testing
Whirl testing has begun on the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter's bearingless main rotor (BMR) system at Sikorsky's 7,450kW (10,000hp) main-rotor whirl stand in Stratford, Connecticut. The tests will evaluate rotor performance, durability and aeromechanical stability, according to the Boeing Sikorsky Comanche Team. The BMR will also undergo a 100h endurance run ...
-
News
Allison Engines
Allison Engines recently acquired by Rolls-Royce, became a commercial turbofan manufacturer for the first time earlier this year, when the Indianapolis Company gained US Federal Aviation Administration certification, for its 33.5kN AE3007 engine. The power plant is manufactured in two de-rated versions, for Cessna's Citation X business jet ...
-
News
AlliedSignal Engines
Dassault's Falcon 900EX business jet, powered by three new AlliedSignal TFE731-60 turbofans, was first flown on 1 June. The US Federal Aviation Administration certificated the engine in May. Also in May, AlliedSignal confirmed the selection of the TFE731-40 for the Falcon 50EX twin-engine business jet. The company says ...
-
News
Multi-purpose G222
The ALENIAG222 as a multi-role assault aircraft can serve for: carriage of vehicles & light artillery; paratrooper drop; pallet airdrop low-altitude parachute extraction system; ambulance; fire-fighting; spraying; mine-laying; helicopter air refueling; ...
-
News
Agusta Power will 'double A.109 production' rate
AGUSTA HOPES ALMOST to double production of its A.109 twin-turbine helicopter when deliveries of the new A.109 Power begin in mid-1996. The present A.109C and "hot-and-high" K2 will remain in production alongside the Power, and the Italian manufacturer hopes to increase production from the recent level of 20-25 annually to ...
-
News
NASA plans to test forward-looking helicopter radar
NASA WILL flight-test Honeywell's HG9500-based multi-function radar in its Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter testbed in late 1995, to demonstrate the unit's terrain- and obstacle-warning capabilities. The UH-60 Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory will carry the radar as part of the NASA Ames Research Center's automated nap-of-the Earth (ANOE) ...
-
News
MDHS hands over export Explorer
McDONNELL DOUGLAS Helicopter Systems (MDHS) has formally handed over the first Explorer helicopter to go to a non-US customer. The Explorer is the first of 15 sold to Japan's largest helicopter operating company, Aero Asahi. The remaining 14 machines, designated MDJ Explorers, will be delivered over the next ...
-
News
Boeing to build second Heliwing demonstrator
BOEING DEFENSE & Space Group is building an additional Heliwing unmanned air-vehicle (UAV), at its own expense, after determining in initial flight testing that the concept is feasible. A Heliwing prototype was destroyed on 13 June during the last of nine scheduled company-sponsored flights at Moses Lake, Washington, ...
-
News
Weight-lifter
Peter Gray/KUSSNACHT, SWITZERLAND KAMAN AEROSPACE HAS handed over the first K-MAX external-lift helicopter to be delivered to a European customer. The delivery, to Helog of Switzerland, provided an opportunity for a closer look at an unusual aircraft with a growing international presence. The K-MAX is in service ...
-
News
Arrius FADEC
Chandler Evans is to supply a version of its generic full-authority digital engine-control (FADEC) for Turbom‚ca Arrius 2B engines fitted to the Eurocopter EC135 helicopter. The order is a breakthrough for the US company, as previous Arrius FADECs have been made by Sextant. Source: Flight International
-
News
German authorities resist R44 grounding
THE GERMAN Federal Aviation Office (LBA) is resisting calls from the air-accidents investigation authority (FUS) to ground all Robinson R44 light piston-engined helicopters in Germany. The row has been inflamed by the German R44 accident near Riesa, Saxony, in May, in which all four occupants of the helicopter ...
-
News
First Heli places first order
FIRST HELI-NETWORK (FHN), the UK-based helicopter fractional-ownership company, has placed its first order for new helicopters, signing a conditional contract with Agusta for three aircraft. The deal covers two new types launched by the Italian manufacturer at the Paris air show in June - the A119 Koala and ...