Rotor Torque

Sikorsky president Jeffrey Pino said receiving the trophy was a “tremendous honour” for the company, recognising the “hard work, dedication, skill and vision of many people. Sikorsky has a long and storied history of innovation, starting with the invention of the world’s first practical helicopter and continuing today with X2 Technology and the exciting new possibilities it opens for our company and our industry.”

Added Sikorsky vice president of research & engineering, Mark Miller, “As the X2 Technology program transitions to its first application, we are confident that the X2 design has a tremendous future and is scalable for a variety of rotorcraft sizes and applications. This recognition is warm acknowledgement of the great things that can be achieved when the spirit of innovation and dedication to the task are the foundation.”

The X2 Technology program began in 2005 when Sikorsky first committed resources and full funding for the development of a co-axial, auxiliary propulsion helicopter. The X2’s recognition marks the second time Sikorsky has won the Collier trophy, after its S-92 program team achieved the same feat in 2002.

Interestingly, the X2 project has a key Australian angle to it, with one of the aircraft’s designers and patent holders being born and raised in Victoria. Matthew Tarascio was born in Geelong in 1976 and grew up in Melbourne’s west. He attended RMIT in Melbourne and completed an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, before heading to the US in 1999 to complete his PhD at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, part of the University of Maryland. Today, Tarascio is chief engineer and program lead for an advanced development program within Sikorsky dubbed ACR.

The Collier Trophy will be formally presented at the Annual Collier Dinner to be held on May 5 in Arlington, Virginia. It is the 100th trophy to be awarded since the inception of the prize, with previous winners including leading aviation identities such as Orville Wright, Chuck Yeager, and the F-22 Raptor Team. Named after notable aviator, humanitarian and sportsman, Robert J Collier, the trophy is awarded annually to recognise significant achievements in aeronautics or astronautics in the United States over the past year.

Aust Chinooks Back To Afghanistan

Australian Army Chinooks have returned to Afghanistan, with the deployment of two of the heavy lift helicopters to Kandahar Air Base.

Supporting International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations, the CH-47Ds from Townsville’s 5th Aviation Regiment, which form the Rotary Wing Group (RWG) will be embedded with the US Army’s 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, and have already conducted trial missions and maintenance to ensure both helicopters and crew are well for the coming Afghan summer.

The Rotary Wing Group last returned to Australia in October 2010 to break for the Afghan winter and to undertake mandatory maintenance on the Chinooks. During that deployment, aircrews completed over 737 flying hours and moved in excess of 691,000 kg of supplies.
The Australian Army first deployed Chinooks to Afghanistan in 2006.

Heliwest Continues Expansion

Perth-based Heliwest has moved into the offshore operations business, securing contract with Roc Oil Company (ROC) to provide service and maintenance crew transfers for the Cliff Head oil rig off the coast of Dongara.

Heliwest is operating a BO105LS twin on the ROC contract, and will augment that with a Bell 212 for crew changes when required.

Heliwest CEO David Grimes hailed the contract as a major win for the local company. “The move into regular offshore operations is an exciting one for us and sits perfectly within our strategic aims,” he said. “ROC is a great client for us and we’re delighted to have been given the opportunity to provide their service and maintenance crew transfers between Dongara and the nearby Cliff Head facility.”

Heliwest takes over the ROC Cliff Head contract from Bristow Group.

In addition to gaining the ROC contract, Heliwest has also expanded its operations in Papua New Guinea, with the expected completion of a new contract to supply two Bell 212s to support offshore oil and gas operations for Saipem. The company currently operates six B212 helicopters in PNG in a joint venture with Port Moresby based Helifix.

Further, Heliwest is also expanding into Queensland, opening two new bases at Toowoomba and Mt Isa, with the Mt Isa base to support the operations of the North Queensland Helicopter Rescue Service.

Chief pilot Ash Williams said Heliwest is “confident of the longer-term opportunities in Toowoomba and the Mt Isa regions, especially given the increasing demand for services by the resources and energy sectors. We have already responded to the dramatic events of the January floods by deploying extra machines and staff to Toowoomba to assist with search and rescue and recovery operations.”

Also, Heliwest co-founder and managing director Alan Bailey said the company was on the verge of signing another long term agreement with the Jawoyn Association Aboriginal Corporation relating to helicopter land management and tourism on their 50,000 sq km of land.

Eurocopter Moves On Vector

EADS subsidiary Eurocopter has launched a C$625m (A$m) takeover bid for Canadian helicopter maintenance firm Vector Aerospace Corporation (VAC).

VAC’s board of directors has unanimously approved the offer, with shareholders representing 60 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares entering into irrevocable lock-up agreements with Eurocopter.

Eurocopter says Vector Aerospace would become its independent multi-platform MRO services provider.

“This opportunity will provide the Eurocopter group with a high-level of expertise, especially in public-private partnerships for the maintenance on governmental aircraft,” Eurocopter Holding CEO Lutz Bertling said in a statement. “The complementary nature of our worldwide network of subsidiaries and Vector Aerospace’s own network will enable us to develop our activities jointly, both faster and more efficiently. Vector Aerospace will be managed as an independent multi-customer platform MRO.”

Kiwi A109s Touch Down

The first AgustaWestland A109LUH training and light utility helicopters for the RNZAF have arrived in New Zealand.

The two helicopters, one of which is a non-flying airframe which will be used as a source of spares, arrived at RNZAF Base Ohakea mid last week.
To be operated by 3SQN at Ohakea, the A109s will replace the RNZAF’s ageing piston powered Bell B47G-3B-2 Sioux trainers. They are being acquired under a NZ$139m (A$m) contract signed in May 2008 for the acquisition of the six A109s including one airframes to be used as a source of spaces, a simulator, and a spares and support package.

The New Zealand government has options on an additional three A109LUHs and is believed to be close to converting those options to firm orders.

Zulu Cobra Achieves Ioc

Bell Helicopter has announced that its AH-1 ‘Zulu’ Cobra attack helicopter has achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for the US Marine Corps ahead of schedule during February.

Program manager for the US Marine Corps Light and Attack Helicopters, USMC Colonel Harry Hewson, said reaching IOC for the AH-1Z had “been a huge achievement for the entire team. Now we get to put the Zulu in the hands of the Marines and prove that it is indeed the most capable marinised attack helicopter in the world,” he said.

The IOC announcement follows the AH-1Z being cleared for full rate production in December last year.

Rotor Torque Briefs

Eurocopter has received French government backing to consolidate its activities in Paris from La Courneuve to its Dugny facility near Le Bourget Airport in the city’s north, and to build a new blade production facility at Dugny.

The Eurocopter AS350 B3e Ecureuil (Squirrel) launched at March’s Heli-Expo 2011 has received its first customer order from Canada’s Slave Lake Helicopters. The B3e features a Turbomeca Arriel 2D turbo shaft engine, digital FADEC, and an engine data recorder.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has issued a notice to all Robinson R44 operators encouraging them to perform inspection, testing, maintenance and repairs on their machines’ flight control systems, specifically on the security of the hydraulic-boost servos on all hydraulic system-equipped machines. The call comes after the release of a preliminary report into the fatal crash of an R44 at Cessnock Airport on February 4 this year where it was found that a bolt securing part of the machine’s flight control system had detached.