Humming bird

Eurocopter’s EC120 Colibri

So you’re a helicopter pilot. You have a PPL(H) and you’ve been flying for quite a while. Having probably learned initially on an R22, or maybe one of the Schweizer 300 series, you then converted on to the R44 so that you had more space for friends and family, and perhaps you’ve done a bit of helicopter touring. Now you’re moving on again, considering a turbine conversion, and looking to buy your own helicopter. So what should you buy?

Until fairly recently there wasn’t much of a contest. Bell’s Jet Ranger fitted the bill well, and had been doing so for many years. But Jet Rangers are maybe a little staid and ponderous to fly, and are they perhaps just beginning to look a little old-fashioned? You might consider an MD150, or, more recently, one of the ex-military Gazelles. Certainly both are fast and great fun to fly, and considered by many as the sports cars of the skies. But like sports cars, passenger comfort and luggage space just weren’t considered a priority in their design. Surely, surely, someone has designed something for the helicopter pilot who wants a machine that’s fast enough to tour in, with plenty of luggage space and comfort for passengers, yet still great fun to fly. Our fixed-wing colleagues have been doing it for years. Enter…the EC120.