Almost exactly two years after AgustaWestland unveiled the AW109 Trekker at the 2014 Heli-Expo in Anaheim, California, the helicopter has made its first flight. The inaugural flight was successfully completed at the Finmeccanica helicopter division in Cascina Costa, Italy.
Test pilots Giuseppe Afruni and Giuseppe Segreto took the controls of the Trekker and tested the helicopter’s general handling characteristics and basic systems. The pilots reported that the helicopter performed as expected.
With a cabin that can accommodate up to six passengers, the Trekker is designed for a variety of operations, such as emergency medical services, search and rescue missions, law enforcement, surveillance, passenger transport and more. The AW109 is AgustaWestland’s first light twin-engine helicopter designed with skid landing gear. However, since January, AgustaWestland is no more and the AW-series helicopters were absorbed under the Finmeccanica umbrella.
One more prototype will be used for the certification effort of the AW109, and Finmeccanica expects to have EASA certification by the year’s end. Finmeccanica also announced it has 20 orders for the Trekker.
