FlightGlobal reports, “Airbus Helicopters is gearing up for a busy second half of 2023 as it pushes ahead with an ambitious programme that by year-end will see it flight testing a trio of technology demonstrators. To date, those technology demonstrators comprise the H130-based FlightLab and clean-sheet DisruptiveLab – both single-engined conventional rotorcraft – but they should be joined in the autumn by the Racer high-speed helicopter.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
Tag: rotocraft
Airbus H160 Helicopter Close to FAA Certification
Aviation International News reports that the Airbus H160 helicopter got closer to FAA certification this month with the Federal Aviation Administration’s issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking for special condition approval “of the helicopter’s main gearbox redundant lubrication system, designed to enable the helicopter to operate for more than 30 minutes after the primary system has failed.” Airbus first applied “for FAA certification approval for the H160 in 2014 and applied for an extension in 2016.” The helicopter “received EASA certification on July 1, 2020; however, various novel design features outside the existing parameters of FAR Part 29 regulation have sowed the FAA approval process, which Airbus executives had hoped would be received as early as 2021.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
China’s GDAT Buying 50 Airbus H160 Helicopters
Aviation International News reported that during French President Macron’s state visit to China, Chinese helicopter lessor and operator GDAT announced a contract to purchase 50 H160 intermediate-twin helicopters from Airbus Helicopters. The deal, worth more than $700 million, is the largest single order to date for the H160 on the civil and parapublic market. The two companies also signed a strategic cooperation agreement on support and services capabilities.
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Bell Developing Militarized Versions of its Civil Helicopter Line
Vertical Magazine (CAN) reports that Bell is “developing militarized versions of its civil helicopter line to bring a low-cost defensive rotary-wing capability to market, with the main target being countries that may have previously flown Russian-built airframes. … Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the implementation of crippling economic sanctions on the former, and these are having a knock-on impact on any country attempting to operate a Russian helicopter.” According to the article, “Bell’s solution is to offer civil aircraft outfitted with military equipment, and the first type available is the Bell 407.” The militarized helicopter is “equipped with a weapon mounting system – installed along the rear cabin and protruding from the cabin doors – with four mounting stations. A multi-sensor imaging system is mounted under the aircraft’s nose.” Michael Deslatte, VP and program director of H-1/Special Mission Aircraft at Bell, said that the company is “focused on providing a level of capability that was ‘a little more approachable,’ with the aircraft sold either through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program or as a direct commercial sale, depending on the country and licensing required.”
Full Story (Vertical Magazine)
NASA Sends Astronauts on Spacewalk to Upgrade Solar Power of ISS
Aviation Week reported that NASA pressed ahead “with upgrades to the solar power generation system aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with a Dec. 3 spacewalk by astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio for the installation of the third of six planned Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs).”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NTSB Recommends Bell 407 Inspections after Inflight Failure
Aviation Week reported that the National Transportation Safety Board, “citing the risk of a catastrophic inflight failure, is urgently recommending U.S. and Canadian regulators require ‘immediate and more frequent inspections’ of certain Bell 407 helicopter components.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Airbus Helicopters Unveils Continuing Robust Sales When it Comes to US Medical Market
Aviation International News reports that “Japan Aerospace (JAC) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) have signed an agreement with Dart Aerospace to design and certify a fire attack system for the new five-blade Airbus Helicopters H145.” KHI “is partnering with JAC to help test, certify, and install the tank with Dart on the H145.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
French Navy Receives its First Airbus H160 Helicopter
Aviation Week reports that the “French Navy has taken delivery of its first Airbus H160 helicopter, an interim buy that is expected to pave the way for a much larger fleet of military-configured aircraft by the end of the decade.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA Conducting Research Flights with Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft
Aviation Today reports that NASA pilots and researchers “began conducting research flights with the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft, or SARA, in March. The system uses Sikorsky’s MATRIX Technology that is designed to enable operators to autonomously fly any aircraft, or to fly an aircraft as an optionally piloted vehicle.” The pilots and researchers “performing these flight tests are part of NASA’s Integration of Automated Systems (IAS) effort within the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign program.” NASA’s team has partnered with Sikorsky and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to start a “new series of flight test campaigns in the past couple of weeks to continue exploring autonomous technologies.” The “new test flights involve determining how well the SARA platform can interpret a flight path’s four-dimensional trajectories into primitive commands and then follow those commands.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)
US Air Force Takes Delivery of First MH-139A Test Helicopter
Aviation International News reported that Leonardo and The Boeing Company “have delivered the first of four MH-139A Grey Wolf test helicopters to the U.S. Air Force as the service looks to replace its aging fleet of UH-1N Hueys.” The MH-139A Grey Wolf’s primary mission “will be to protect intercontinental ballistic missile bases and transport U.S. government officials and security forces.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Video
First MH-139A Grey Wolf Flight, 25 August 2022.
(NC Military; YouTube)