Rotorcraft
News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.
Rotorcraft
USAIG Safety Bucks Fully Cover Airbus Helo IIMC Course
Aircraft insurer USAIG customers can now use their $2,500 Safety Bucks To Cover Airbus Helicopters' IIMC Course.
Rotorcraft
Bell Embraces Virtual Reality to Design Helicopters
Bell is using augmented and virtual reality, computer gaming technology, to develop new aircraft.
Rotorcraft
One in Five S-92 Helicopters Parked
Some 39 Sikorsky S-92s, comprising 19 percent of the global market, remain parked during the downturn.
Rotorcraft
Torqued: It Shouldn’t Take an Act of Congress To Mandate Safety Improvements
Changing regulations takes a long time, and there ought to be a simpler way to create mandates for safety improvements.
Finance, Taxes, Insurance
GECAS Slashes Milestone's Value by $729M
GECAS has written down the value of its Milestone Aviation helicopter leasing unit by $729 million.
Rotorcraft
Pandemic Pounds New Helicopter Deliveries
While deliveries of new civil helicopters collapsed, OEMs were buoyed by their military business.
Rotorcraft
NASA Chief: Uncrewed Aircraft 'Safer'
The agency's administrator touts advanced UAM technologies.
Charter & Fractional
Guimbal Cabri Helicopters Remotely Serviced by Precision
Precision Support Services has competed multiple remote inspections of Guimbal Cabri helicopters.
Finance, Taxes, Insurance
HeliValue$: 'The Worst Helicopter Market in 40 Years'
Used helicopter values sink under the pressures of pandemic, cheap oil, and scarce credit.
Rotorcraft
UK Mulls Puma Replacement Plans
The UK operates an aging fleet of Puma support helicopters rapidly approaching the end of their service lives.
Maintenance and Modifications
Wysong Enterprises Keeps First Responders Airborne
The helicopter MRO has worked on more than 20 aircraft during the Covid-19 pandemic in the last 12 weeks.
Regulations and Government
EASA Grafts Cybersecurity Onto Certification Standards
New EASA cybersecurity standards include helicopters.
Maintenance and Modifications
Honeywell Opens New T55 Engine MRO Facility
Honeywell Aerospace's T55 Repair and Overhaul Center of Excellence is located near its Phoenix headquarters.
Avionics
Leonardo AW139 Gets Honeywell Primus Epic Upgrade
The new Honeywell Primus Epic Phase 8 software will be available in the Leonardo AW139 intermediate twin.
Rotorcraft
NHV's Airbus H175 Fleet Tops 40,000 Hours
NHV’s fleet accounts for more than 60 percent of the Airbus Helicopters H175’s 66,000 flight hours to date.
Maintenance and Modifications
Mecaer Gets EASA Mx Approval for Philadelphia Base
Italian MRO provider Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG) has received EASA certification for its Philadelphia Part 145 rotorcraft repair station.
ATC
FAA's New Urban Air Mobility ConOps Raises Questions
Morphing existing helicopter VFR corridors into dedicated urban air mobility routes is among the challenges identified by critics of ConOps 1.0.
Maintenance and Modifications
Bell Buys Chinese MRO Zhenjiang Aerochine Aviation
Bell is acquiring Zhenjiang Aerochine Aviation Limited to increase its MRO capacity in China.
Maintenance and Modifications
Piedmont Expands Helo Rotor Blade Capability
Piedmont Propulsion Systems has received FAA certification for repair and overhaul of the Van Horn Aviation 206/OH-58 tail rotor blade.
Rotorcraft
Airbus Helicopters Marks 60 Years in Japan
Airbus Helicopters marks 60 years in Japan with new maintenance facility, orders.
Accidents
Helo Accidents Fall During Pandemic
Reduced helicopter flight activity translated into fewer accidents during the first six months of 2020
Rotorcraft
Bell Delivers First ENG Helo to China
Bell has delivered the first dedicted ENG helicopter for service in China.
Maintenance and Modifications
StandardAero Completes Helo MRO Consolidation Early
The consolidation integrated three StandardAero helicopter maintenance facilities into one.
Rotorcraft
Helicopter Laserer Gets Federal Prison
A California man who lasered a sheriff’s helicopter in 2017 has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.
Aircraft
Leonardo Lands First Commercial IFR AW119Kx Order
Leonardo announced the first commercial and EMS order for its IFR-certified AW119Kx single-engine helicopter.
Aircraft
U.S. Approves Hawkeyes for France and Ospreys for Indonesia
The latest round of U.S. State Department approvals of Foreign Military Sales includes a prospective deal to supply MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors to Indonesia.
Accidents
NTSB: Los Angeles Newscopter Hit Drone
A-Star sustained minor damage after "an inflight collision with a hard object of polycarbonate construction."
Regulations and Government
Counterfeit Kamov Helicopter Ring Busted
Moldovan police raided a factory in Cruileni allegedly making unauthorized copies of Russian Kamov-26 coaxial rotor utility helicopters.
Rotorcraft
Congressmen Continue Push for Safer Helo Fuel Tanks
Two Colorado congressman are continuing push for mandatory crash resistant fuel systems (CRFS) in all helicopter air ambulances.
Rotorcraft
Airbus H160 Gets EASA Nod
Airbus Helicopters’ medium twin H160 received EASA type certification approval on July 1.
