Rotor Torque

The helicopter had just lifted off from Jaspers Brush for a filming mission over Jervis Bay with renowned film makers Andrew Wight and Mike deGruy, when it abruptly pitched nose-up and the tailskid struck the ground. It then pitched forward and rolled to the right before the blades hit the ground, and a fuel fed fire quickly engulfed the machine, killing the two occupants.

The preliminary reports says, “although the circumstances of this accident are still under investigation, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has, in the interest of transport safety, issued a Safety Advisory Notice suggesting that operators and owners of R44 helicopters fitted with all-aluminium fuel tanks actively consider replacing those tanks with bladder-type fuel tanks… as soon as possible.”

New Zealand welcomes NH90s

New Zealand Defence Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman officially welcomed the first two of the RNZAF’s new NH90 helicopters at Wellington Airport on March 9

The NH90s will replace UH-1H Iroquois in RNZAF service. In a statement, Dr Coleman said: “This is a very significant day for the Air Force and the wider NZDF. The NH90 helicopters are state of the art machines with better capabilities and full self–protection. They are the most advanced and capable helicopters the Air Force has ever had.”

The NH90s will undergo a an operational test and evaluation phase based out of Ohakea lasting up to 18 months before achieving an initial operating capability (IOC) late next year.

“The NH90s will deliver the priorities outlined in the Defence White Paper and improve the Defence Force’s ability to conduct disaster relief, search and rescue, or other operations. The NH90 is particularly important for our future Joint Amphibious Task Force,” Dr Coleman said.

Sikorsky Logs Biggest S-92 Order

UK based Bond Aviation Group has ordered 16 Sikorsky S-92 medium lift helicopters, the largest single order in the aircraft’s history according to Sikorsky.

Terms of the deal were not announced. The 19-passenger S-92 is aimed at the offshore oil and gas industry, which operates 60 per cent of the 150 S-92s in use worldwide.

Bond, a subsidiary of World Helicopters Group, provides emergency air ambulance services and support to offshore oil and gas platforms, wind farms and lighthouses.

Agustawestland Presses Ahead With Tiltrotor

AgustaWestland says it is pushing ahead with development of its long delayed AW609 tiltrotor after taking full control of the project late last year.

The program, which dates back to 1996, had previously been developed as the BA609 in a joint venture with Bell Helicopters.

Similar to the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey but roughly half its size, the AW609 is targeted for FAA certification in the first half of 2016, AgustaWestland says. The aircraft had previously been planned for certification by 2011. The company says its two prototype aircraft have completed more than 650 flight hours, with work continuing at facilities in Italy and Texas and employing about 500 people in all.

Originally targeted at the government and military market, AgustaWestland has more recently also sought to pitch the AW609 as an alternative to corporate jets and helicopters.

The company says it has received around 70 orders from 40 customers.

Bell Sells 15 429s To Turkish Police

Bell Helicopter has announced the signing of a contract with the Turkish National Police for 15 Bell 429s, with deliveries to begin in May 2013.
Bells says the 429 was selected after an extensive evaluation period during which members of the Turkish National Police, Undersecretariat for Defence Industries SSM, and Turkish Aeronautical Industries (TAI) visited helicopter manufacturers in the US, Canada and Europe. It says the 429s will be used as multi-mission airborne platforms flown across the full array of law enforcement missions from surveillance to air support of ground operations.

Larry Roberts, senior vice president, Commercial Business for Bell Helicopter said: “It is a measure of great satisfaction to see the right helicopter matched with the requirements of a great customer with the benefits to Turkey and the service that these helicopters will provide the men and women of Turkish law enforcement and the Turkish people.”

Lakota Hits 200

EADS North America delivered the 200th UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter (LUH) to the US Army on March 2.

Based on the successful EC145 civil helicopter, the 200th UH-72A was also the first delivered with new Security and Support (S&S) Battalion Mission Equipment Package (MEP) for use with National Guard units to integrate with law enforcement agencies.

Company Chairman and CEO Sean O’Keefe says the UH-72A program remains 100 per cent on schedule and on budget. “The success of this program stems from the strong partnership we’ve built with the Department of Defense and the Army over the past seven years.”

The US Army has a requirement for 346 UH-72As which will be employed on domestic utility and disaster relief operations, while a further five H-72As have been delivered to the US Navy Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River near Washington DC.

EADS North America is pitching a variant of the UH-72A for the US Army’s Armed Aerial Scout requirement, dubbed the AAS-72X.

Briefs

• An Australian Army Eurocopter Tiger ARH helicopter made a forced landing on March 8 after it struck powerlines while flying near Oakey in southeast Queensland. A Defence statement said the machine landed safely and the crew wasn’t hurt, and an inspection was carried out to ascertain the extent of any damage.