Helicopters

At a press conference at the Heli-Expo in Las Vegas, Rolls-Royce senior vice president, helicopters, Greg Fedele introduced the newest member of the M250 engine family — the M250-C47E. The more powerful version features a dual-channel full-authority digital engine control system, which Fedele said may soon allow for on-condition maintenance. Fedele said the fuel burn […]

At a pre-Heli-Expo press briefing yesterday in Las Vegas, Bell Helicopters president and CEO John Garrison announced the company’s latest Bell 412 version, the 412EPI, with new bells and whistles and the promise of better performance. The 412EPI boasts an integrated glass flight deck named Bell BasiX Pro, which provides single-pilot IFR capabilities and incorporates […]

Apparently helicopters are the getaway vehicle of choice for high-profile inmates in Greek prisons. But this time the attempt failed. Last Sunday, convicted murderer and racketeer Panagiotis Vlastos was waiting in the courtyard of Trikala Prison, about 205 miles northeast of Athens, when the chartered helicopter swooped down. It is not yet clear if the […]

“I’d never scared off a mountain lion before using a helicopter,” said Monty Emery, a pilot with the California Highway Patrol based near the town of Colfax. But on Saturday, he got his chance. He and copilot David White received a dispatch call about a hiker on nearby Stevens Trail. David Nash had called 911 […]

Eurocopter’s first production EC175 medium-size, twin-turbine helicopter has successfully completed its first flight at the company’s headquarters in Marignane, France. With test pilot Augustin Dupuis at the controls, the flight confirmed handling characteristics and basic performance as Eurocopter advances the design toward a late-2013 certification goal. “With this first production series aircraft now airborne, the […]

The FAA has approved the type certificate for Sikorsky’s long-anticipated S-76D, opening the floodgates to a nearly half-billion-dollar order backlog from customers who have waited patiently through three years of program delays. The FAA signed the S-76D type certificate on Oct. 12, capping an intensive flight test program that originally called for certification of the […]

While ultra-modern prototypes like the Sikorsky X2 and Eurocopter X3 are garnering most of the attention, two small, innovative helicopters are set to make their marks on the rotorcraft industry as well. The first of these is the e-volo personal helicopter, the ingenious result of a collective effort of a group of German professionals who […]

Even as Eurocopter continues with the rapid development of its X3 compound helicopter, the company is planning a two-phase introduction of the advanced X4 helicopter, with the first version entering service in 2017 followed by the second in 2020. The X4 is an EC 155 replacement that Eurocopter says will test the boundaries of what […]

Suddenly there’s a red-hot competition under way to develop rotorcraft capable of flying at sustained speeds well above the theoretical limits of conventional helicopters. To meet the challenge, engineers at some of the top helicopter manufacturers are turning out radical concepts that look downright bizarre. But the big surprise is these odd birds actually fly […]

Looking ahead at the future of rotorcraft design, Eurocopter has launched two concurrent research and development programs that are aimed at producing the company’s next generation of civil and military helicopters. To say these designs are extreme in appearance and operation is an understatement. Quite simply, nothing like the Eurocopter X3 and X4 has ever […]