At the conclusion of four days of National Transportation Safety Board public hearings on the safety of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations earlier this month, board member Robert Sumwalt summed up what several witnesses had already conceded: “There is no single magic bullet.”
HAI Convention News » February 22, 2009
February 21, 2009 - 5:16pm
The projected certification date for Bell’s new 429 light twin has slipped again.
At a press conference here yesterday, Bob Fitzpatrick, Bell Helicopter senior vice president of business development and commercial programs, said the company now expects Transport Canada and concurrent FAA certification for the helicopter in May.
February 21, 2009 - 5:13pm
Carson Helicopter Services, Sagem Avionics and Vector Aerospace will jointly celebrate a supplemental type certificate issued to Carson for a five-display glass cockpit on its Sikorsky S-61 fleet at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Static Display No. 25. The “Discover the New Sikorsky S-61 Tour” event will include VIP tours of the helicopter immediately following the celebration.
February 21, 2009 - 5:12pm
Van Horn Associates (Booth No, 2012) said it completed flight testing of a new composite carbon fiber spar and skin tail rotor blade for the Bell 206B earlier this month. The company reports that the new blade increases high-altitude hover performance and decreases required pedal pressure compared to the original equipment blades. Van Horn estimates that fatigue and acoustic testing on the new blade will be completed by early summer.
February 21, 2009 - 5:11pm
Precise Flight of Bend, Ore., has received a supplemental type certificate for an L-3 Communications Iris infrared enhanced-vision system (EVS) and its own high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting kit colocated in the nose of Bell 206 and 407 helicopters.
February 21, 2009 - 5:10pm
Savings of up to 40 percent on jet fuel for the Rolls-Royce 250 turbine-engine family? That is the prospect offered by Frontline Aerospace, said company CEO Ryan Wood in describing an emerging aviation technology called gas turbine recuperation.
February 21, 2009 - 4:58pm
At its annual scholarship banquet here on Friday evening, Whirly-Girls International presented scholarships worth a total value of more than $25,000 to six women. The American Eurocopter Flight Training Scholarship went to Tiffany Cobb Till of Houston. Laura Leigh Wendt received the Bell Helicopter Textron Flight Training Scholarship. The Robinson Safety Course Scholarship went to Karen Mall of West Hollywood, Calif.
February 21, 2009 - 3:41pm
Honeywell’s annual market forecast for civil turbine-powered helicopters released Saturday is still predicting flat to slightly higher deliveries between 2009 and 2013 compared to the previous five-year period, but there are caveats aplenty.
February 21, 2009 - 3:37pm
Eurocopter (Booth No. 2754) has opened a customer service center in Hong Kong to better serve the more than 1,200 customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The helicopter manufacturer opened the first customer service facility in France in October 2007.
February 21, 2009 - 3:36pm
SkyTrac Systems of Kelowna, British Columbia, is at Heli-Expo Booth No. 1850 to offer details on its latest satellite communication transceiver featuring automatic global, real-time flight following with audio interface and text messaging.
