Helicopters

AgustaWestland this morning showed off the AW609 prototype for the first time in a public venue — and in the process gave clarity to the future direction of the civil tiltrotor market with a paint scheme boasting Bristow and Eastern Airways colors. Bristow Group, one of the world’s largest offshore helicopter operators, has committed to […]

Airbus Helicopters answered many of the questions surrounding its X4 medium twin-engine helicopter development program today by officially unveiling a full-size mockup of the new H160 on the show floor at Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida. A successor to the Dauphin family, the H160 features newly developed Blue Edge main rotor blades that are quieter and […]

In anticipation of the upcoming HAI Heli-Expo, which is set to open its doors next week in Orlando, Florida, Garmin has announced two new ADS-B products for the helicopter market. The GDL 84H and GDL 88H will allow operators to comply with the upcoming ADS-B Out regulations, set to go into effect in 2020, and […]

Less than a year after the launch of Enstrom Helicopter’s latest trainer, the TH180, which the Menominee, Michigan-based company unveiled at last year’s Heli-Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California, Enstrom has successfully completed its first flight. Test pilots flew the helicopter for about one hour and the company said in a press […]

As part of ringing in the new year, Robinson Helicopter has added new avionics options to its R66 Turbine helicopter. Customers can now choose Garmin’s G500H glass panel and the Genesys Aerosystems HeliSAS autopilot. Previous glass-panel options for the R66 include Aspen Avionics’ PFD and MFD solutions. Garmin’s G500H brings primary flight and navigation information […]

International car service company Uber has branched out to provide helicopter flights at certain times through what the company calls UberChopper. The flights are posted on Uber’s blog at blog.uber.com. Most recently, Uber offered a free promo Christmas flight for four over the Silicon Valley. The flights are conducted through local helicopter operators. Most of […]

Torrance, California-based Robinson Helicopter has achieved FAA certification for inflatable floats for its turbine-powered R66 — an option named the R66 Turbine Marine. The floats were primarily added for emergency purposes in case of a forced landing while flying over water. While primarily designed for emergency use, the floats are approved for water takeoffs during […]

Light helicopter manufacturer Enstrom Helicopter announced the delivery of its first Enstrom 480B-G. The Garmin G1000H-equipped helicopter went to Rick Boswell of New Hampshire, who was greeted together with his instructor Roger Sharkey by a large group of employees at the Enstrom factory in Menominee, Michigan. “When I heard about the G1000H, I had to […]

A totally new helicopter from a completely new company made its first flight in Mollis, Switzerland, recently, kicking off the certification program for the single-engine SKYe SH09 built by Marenco Swisshelicopter. With chief test pilot Dwayne Williams at the controls, the SKYe SH09 performed five short hover flights on October 2, logging 20 minutes in […]

Sikorsky revealed the first two S-97 Raider helicopter prototypes, giving the world a glimpse of what future direct-fire-support rotorcraft may look like. The words stunning and lethal spring to mind. Based on Sikorsky’s record-setting X2 rigid-rotor coaxial demonstrator, the S-97 features next-generation technologies in a faster and smaller package than traditional helicopters, a combination that […]