Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

Writer

Thierry Dubois

An Airbus Helicopters H175 underwent unscheduled maintenance at Courchevel Airport, at 6,500 feet of altitude in the French Alps earlier this month.&nbsp;A prototype being used for optional system testing, the aircraft had one of its Pratt &amp; Whitney Canada PT6-67E turboshafts removed. Another one had to be shipped from the manufacturer's Marignane, France, headquarters overnight. The replacement started on site immediately.

 


“It was a preventive removal and is part of our standard process and procedure,” Pratt &amp; Whitney Canada said. An Airbus Helicopters spokeswoman said that “inspecting one of the engines appeared useful.” Company technicians performed the removal without any particular difficulty, which thus showed the maintainability of the helicopter, she added.

 


The prototype was at Courchevel to test “systems for flight in snow conditions.” AIN understands it includes tail rotor blade de-icing, as the photo suggests. The spokeswoman added the simulated conditions were beyond those encountered in real life.

 


The H175 medium twin has been in service since December 2014.

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