The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) awarded a supplemental type certificate (STC) to Soloy Aviation Solutions for conversion of Eurocopter AS350BA helicopters to a Honeywell LTS101-600A-3A powerplant. The upgrade is already approved for operators in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Benefits of the upgrade, which replaces the helicopter’s original Turbomeca Arriel 1B engine, include enhanced performance and lower maintenance costs and fuel consumption, according to Soloy CEO David Stauffer. Soloy’s LTS101 STC originally used parts from Eurocopter’s LTS101-powered AS350D. Because of “increasing difficulty in obtaining these limited-production parts,” he said, “Soloy approved an adaptation of the dedicated B-series conversion kit previously certified for the SD2 conversion kit for the AS350B2.” The significant components used for the two conversions are identical, according to Stauffer, and using them allows for immediate delivery of the modification kit. If an operator chooses to upgrade later to the LTS101-700D-2, 95 percent of the kit can be retained.