Phoenix Heli Flight is equipping its entire fleet with the Jupiter Avionics (Booth 9237) JA94-001 dual audio controller. Phoenix’s recently acquired H130 with a JA94 installed is on display in the Airbus booth (9651) here at Heli-Expo.

The JA94-001 audio controller is a compact dual audio controller for up to eight users. The controller can be programmed and its levels can be adjusted with a laptop interface. It isolates sound when a person is speaking and reduces background noise.

Phoenix Heli-Flight is a charter helicopter company with main base and headquarters in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. The installation work will be performed by Maxcraft Avionics of Vancouver, Canada, with hardware supplied by Dallas Avionics (Booth 6637), the North American stocking distributor for Jupiter Avionics.

VIH Aerospace (Booth 1209) announced a number of achievements at Heli-Expo 2016, including an increased focus on future growth, adding new MRO capacity and “expanding its transactional market share” and working with complementary MRO providers “to further expand capabilities and market reach.”

The company has begun research and development to certify a third tank to add more range to its existing auxiliary fuel tank system for the Sikorsky S-92. R&D should take about four months, followed by 12 months for prototyping and engineering.

Precision Heliparts Canada signed an exclusive inventory management and supply chain support agreement with VIH, and this is effective through Dec. 31, 2019. The agreement includes provision by Precision of inventory sales and rotable asset management to support customer rental, exchange and leasing requirements.

Bell Helicopter has approved VIH to use its structural repair fixture to make third-party repairs on the Bell 205A-a, 212 and 412 tailboom assemblies.

A new wire strike protection system (WSPS) for the Robinson R66 will soon be available from Magellan Aerospace (Booth 6163). The Canadian company announced the system here at Heli-Expo and anticipates receiving a supplemental type certificate (before the end of the first quarter of this year.

The WSPS is designed to provide protection for helicopters that strike horizontally strung wires and cables while in level flight. The system, which consists of an upper cutter, lower cutter and windshield deflector, is expected to be available starting in the fall as both a retrofit kit from Magellan’s authorized dealers, including internal provisions, and as a prefit factory option on new helicopters, allowing for simple installation of the exterior kit.

Vector Aerospace is now approved to repair and overhaul the tail rotor gearboxes of the Airbus Helicopters H130 and EC130B4. The Canada-based maintenance group will provide the new service from its facilities at Langley and Richmond in British Columbia, which already supports many Airbus models, including the H125/AS350, the AS355, the BO105, the H135/EC135 and the AS332.

The company is already providing extensive support to the EC130B4 and the H130 (formerly the EC130T2) with D-level structural repairs, dynamic component repairs (also including main rotor gearboxes), plus scheduled maintenance, including 12-year inspections. Vector also is an authorized repair center for Turbomeca Arriel 2 engines.

The Langley site is a new 88,000-sq-ft facility, incorporating new avionics and structures shops plus 65,000 sq ft of hangar space. Due to open during the first half of this year, it will also feature expanded engineering and STC development capability.

Separately, Vector (Booth 7556) has been selected by the San Bernandino Sheriff’s Department to perform 12-year inspections on three AS350B3AStars. In work to be performed over the next two years, the company will also overhaul a pair of Arriel 2B1 turboshafts for the California customer.

South Africa’s Mercy Air recently contracted Vector to convert its AS350BA helicopter into a -B2 model so that it can be used for humanitarian missions. The work will be done at Vector’s facility in Andalusia, Ala.

“Upgrading our AS350BA to a -B2 provides us with much needed safety and performance margin,” said Mercy Air manager Matthias Reuter. “In Africa we face a harsh operating environment of high density altitudes and long distances between bases. We partner with a host of organizations that bring social, medical and spiritual help in remote areas of South Africa.”

Metro Aviation recently completed a one-of-a-kind Airbus Helicopters H125 to serve as an observation platform for the University of Miami’s Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Metro Aviation (Booth 9337) worked with the school’s Dean Roni Avissar to develop an attachment that holds a system of scientific sensors and a full inertial monitoring system of differential GPS and accelerometers. The helicopter was fitted with a nearly 13-foot-long sensor-carrying rod that was mounted with a Meeker Aviation AirFilm Camera System and vibration-damping device.

“Adapting our scientific instrumentation on a helicopter in a way that eliminates aerodynamic and mechanical interferences with the measurements is a complex engineering and realization project,” Avissar said. “The observations we can achieve in our new aircraft are crucial to improving our understanding of the climate system, especially in relation to weather forecasting and human health.”

The helicopter, which has been on display at the Donaldson booth (2400) during Heli-Expo, further is equipped with a Donaldson inlet barrier filtration system. The system will protect the engine from potential dirt, dust and salt, as it flies near the ocean and close to the ground while the helicopter’s sensors measures various exchanges between the Earth surface and atmosphere.

Following Heli-Expo, the helicopter will fly to Florida for missions in the Everglades and Biscayne Bay.

Marenco Swisshelicopter continues to bring in new orders for its new SKYe SH09 single-engine helicopter, announcing Wednesday that is has received its first three commitments from South Africa. Saphire Blue placed two orders for the helicopter and David Gold, long affiliated with Saphire Blue, placed an order for a third.

The orders followed months of discussions with Saphire Blue directors Paul Liversage and Phillip Cope about cooperating with Marenco in South Africa.

Marenco said other orders are anticipated shortly, along with the announcement of an agent for sales and service.

The next Helitech International (Booth 6743) conference is set for Amsterdam, from October 11 to 13. Helitech attracted 4,200 visitors from 66 countries in 2015. This year more than 200 businesses are expected to participate including Airbus Helicopters, Marenco Swisshelicopter, Bell Helicopters, Finmeccanica Helicopters, Curtiss-Wright, Kamatics Corporation RWG,Flir Systems, Genesys Aerosystems, Lord Corporation, LCI Helicopters, Turner Aviation, Avion Power and Rockwell Collins.

Helitech International is the largest helicopter exhibition in Europe dedicated to helicopter products, parts, accessories, and services. The exhibition is conducted in association with the European Helicopter Association and the British Helicopter Association.

Finmeccanica Helicopters and Era Group signed a memorandum of understanding at Heli-Expo 2016 on Wednesday to develop an EMS variant of the AW609 civil tiltrotor. Under the MoU, Finmeccanica and Era will engage in joint activities in support of development of the AW609 for the EMS market including regulations, operations, maintenance, configuration optimization and identifying possible areas of enhancement or modifications.

The partners would provide contributions to flying activities toward aircraft maturity and address commercial aspects for potential future AW609 acquisitions. Era already is the largest civil global operator of AgustaWestland (now Finmeccanica) helicopters.

The AW609 has a 275-knot maximum forward speed and a maximum range of 750 nm. Finmeccanica holds orders from 60 customers.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday at the show, AW609 program manager Clive Scott revealed that the company knows the cause of the fatal crash of the second commercial tiltrotor prototype on October 30, but he did not disclose the information. He added that the third prototype, which will be used mainly for icing testing, will begin flying soon. A fourth prototype is under construction and will begin flying in 2017. Prototype 2 will not be replaced. Rather, the first prototype, that began flying in 2003, will be modified to make it more conformal for flight-testing purposes. Scott said certification remains on track for 2018.

Aircraft leasing firm LCI, part of the Libra Group, now has 21 helicopters in service and some 49 on order, with about 20 of these expected to enter service by the end of this year. The fleet consists of AgustaWestland (Finmeccanica) and Airbus helicopters. Last year the firm placed 12 helicopters into service in EMS, offshore wind and oil-and-gas, and it also added its first AW189 to its fleet.

Crispin Maunder, LCI’s executive chairman, said, “Whilst this is a challenging time for the helicopter sector, there are many pockets of demand and we see the future as being about a balanced portfolio of aircraft and lessees.” He added that LCI is “focusing on growing our exposure in buoyant sectors, such as offshore wind and emergency medical services.”

According to its website, “The Libra Group is a privately owned international business group that controls 30 subsidiaries active across six continents,” which is primarily focused on “shipping, aviation, real estate, hospitality and energy…The Libra Group is wholly owned by the Logothetis family.”

Ramco Systems (Booth 9343) recently opened an engineering lab in Singapore that will develop advanced technologies for maintenance, repair and overhaul software applications. The lab folds in a number of projects that Ramco already had under way, as well as takes on new concepts, Amrith Ganesh, head of aviation marketing for Ramco, said this week during Heli-Expo 2016.

The lab is supported by the Singapore Economic Development board and has signed on Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance as an anchor partner.

The research spans everything from use of drones to inspect aircraft on the tarmac to development of an interface that would recognize and respond to hand signals. Other applications include the “Internet of things,” which involves embedded sensors for aviation components for ease of tracking, robotics for the shop floor and wearable devices such at Google Glass for on-ground engineers.

Some of the more mature technologies at the “Innovation Lab” include maintenance optimization software and Fly Anywhere electronic flight bag.

The lab will eventually employ up to 50 researchers.

Rolls-Royce and Enstrom yesterday signed a new agreement covering provision of its M250 engines for the five-seat, turbine-powered 480B helicopter. The 480B is powered by the M250-C20W, and more than 220 480Bs have been delivered thus far. So far, the M250 series has logged more than 235 million hours, and Rolls-Royce has delivered more than 31,000 of these engines.

Guimbal Helicopters (Booth 10137) hopes to boost deliveries of its two-seat Cabri G2 to 56 this year, up from 44 in 2015. The $370,000 two-seat Cabri was certified in 2008 and to date 140 have been delivered to customers in 26 countries with the fleet amassing 80,000 flight hours and no serious accidents.

The highest-time ship has accumulated more than 5,000 hours, and most of the fleet is used in flight training, with several ships flying 4,000 hours in less than three years. Ninety percent of Cabris have been sold into the training market. The first one to be delivered in Brazil was handed over three months ago and the first Canadian delivery will take place later this year. There is approximately a one-year wait for new orders.

Oregon’s Precision Helicopters is currently using four Cabris for flight training. Precision president David Rath reports that, compared to the company’s Schweizer S-300, the Cabris have a lower cancellation rate, lower maintenance costs and lower overall direct operating costs. Rath’s operation has flown individual Cabris up to 115 hours per month and they post a dispatch rate of 98 percent compared to the Schweizer’s 76.5 percent. Maintenance man-hours are 0.22 per flight hour compared to 0.83 for the Schweizer. Overall, through 2,000 hours of flying time, the Cabris have posted 33 unscheduled maintenance hours.

Guimbal founder Bruno Guimbal said the company is developing a low-cost air-conditioning option for the Cabri that is “95 percent completed,” new cabin ventilation, added power with the existing engine and new avionics options including an Aspen Evolution display. New mission equipment includes a cargo hook. Guimbal said the Lycoming O-360 engine (derated to 145 hp) is holding its 2,200-hour TBO well. He said the company is looking at many “exciting projects” but was not prepared to make any announcements, and hinted that a new helicopter was likely in the works.

German air rescue operator DRF Luftrettung today signed a purchase and leaseback agreement with Waypoint Leasing for a pair of Airbus H135P2 helicopters. Both aircraft will be operated in Germany, supporting civilian emergency medical services.

DRF is Germany’s largest non-profit air rescue service and this is the first time it has leased aircraft from Ireland-based Waypoint. The leasing group’s portfolio now includes more than 120 aircraft for 16 customers in 27 countries with a total asset value of around $1.5 billion. The number of aircraft it has in emergency medical service has grown three-fold in the past 12 months to 15 helicopters, and it has another 60 on order or option for this sector.

“As we plan for the year ahead, helicopter leasing provides additional flexibility to help manage and finance our fleet,” said DRF chief executive Dr. Hans Eyrich. “Waypoint has proven itself to be a very valuable partner for us in providing a leasing solution with best-in-class technical knowledge and management expertise.” 

Helicopter engine maker Turbomeca has launched an online engine maintenance tracking system called Boost (bank of online services and technologies). The company describes it as a highly secured, web-based application developed in association with IBM that will allow operators to access real-time, personalized engine data, enrich their own fleet maintenance management and provide direct 24/7 support from Turbomeca.

Launch customers are Heli-Union, HeliDax, Helicopters Italia, Advanced Helicopter Services and Bristow Group. The first customer will go 100-percent paperless in June by managing its engines with Boost. The system integrates the electronic engine logbook, technical publications and configuration manager. The electronic engine logbook is linked directly to the interactive electronic technical publications tailored to the configuration of each customer’s engines and an electronic configuration manager to track technical upgrades and modifications. Boost is hosted on an IBM online secured database that uses a digital signature system.

Using Boost ensures that all engines are quality and airworthiness compliant, said Turbomeca senior marketing manager Denis Lefebvre. It also ensures that mechanics working on the engine get the precise information they need for that particular engine, he said. Each time a maintenance task is performed on an engine, Boost performs a consistency check and will warn if something is amiss with the configuration of the engine. The system also scans fleets against service bulletins. Lefebvre said the system is expandable. “The next step for us will be between configuration data, usage data and technical data to build more and more services.”

 “We have an opportunity together to transform the way helicopters are supported in the field,” said IBM’s David Reese, who emphasized the reliability and security of the system. Reese said the data in the electronic logbooks presents a future opportunity. “We know from our work in advanced analytics that there is tremendous value from the data in paper logbooks that isn’t being captured today for predicting and analyzing failure; Boost marries the physics-based information with that from technicians and logbooks.”

Long overlooked, helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in India will get a boost through a civil aviation requirement to be issued by the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in mid-April. This is the first time separate regulations are being set for the HEMS industry in India.

Issues to be addressed include eliminating the requirement for HEMS operators to file a flight plan and allowing helicopters to fly point-to-point without prior air traffic control clearance in airspace below 5,000 feet and outside of prohibited or restricted areas. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is simultaneously working on a plan to coordinate with the National Highways Authority of India, hospitals, insurance companies, on-ground ambulance services and airports to facilitate rapid medical evacuation.

“HEMS is critical for India, which has a poor road infrastructure. There is no dedicated HEMS operator in India, whereas worldwide it comprises 15 to 20 percent of total helicopter operations,” CAV Aero Services CEO Vishok Mansingh told AIN.

HEMS also presents opportunities for investors. For example, an MoU was recently signed by India’s largest private air company, Global Vectra Helicorp, and Houston-based transport operator Era Group to jointly develop HEMS for the Indian market.

“We believe that the recent regulatory initiatives will facilitate the development of the emerging HEMS market in India by experienced operators like Era and Global Vectra,” said Paul White, senior vice president for commercial at Era Group. An earlier HEMS effort in early 2013 stalled, despite India’s Aviators Pvt Ltd. signing a firm order for an initial batch of seven Eurocopter H135s. It is likely that project could be revived with the introduction of the new policy.

In its recently released final report, the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) cited the crew’s ineffective monitoring of the flight instruments and poor crew resource management in the fatal ditching of a CHC Scotia-operated Airbus AS332L2 Super Puma near Sumburgh Airport in August 2013. Four of the 16 passengers died in the crash.

According to the AAIB, the helicopter’s decreasing airspeed went unnoticed by the pilots until the helicopter was in a critically low-energy state. The captain’s attempt to recover was unsuccessful and the helicopter struck the surface of the sea approximately 1.7 nm west of the airport, the report said. The helicopter rapidly filled with water and rolled inverted, but was kept afloat by the deployed flotation bags.

Each pilot also had a different understanding of how the approach was to be flown, adding to the lack of crew coordination. Further, the first officer tended to defer to the captain’s decisions and neither adhered to standard phraseology.

The operator’s standard operating procedures at the time did not optimize the helicopter’s automated systems. Thus, the non-precision approach was flown with the autopilot in three-axes with V/S mode, requiring the captain—the pilot flying—to control the airspeed with the collective pitch lever. The AAIB suggests this should have been accomplished by engaging IAS mode on the cyclic pitch axis and adjusting the vertical speed with the collective pitch lever, which crews have since been instructed to do.

As the world rotorcraft community looks at new ways to attack the helicopter accident rate, the FAA and industry partners are spooling up the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing System (ASIAS) for rotorcraft. Rotorcraft ASIAS began in late 2014 and currently 30 operators, 13 of them from law enforcement, are participating in the program, in which operator flight recorder data gets confidentially downloaded, converted, validated, checked for consistency, de-identified, then uploaded into a central database currently administered by the Helicopter Association International (HAI). Then standard measures, metrics, data analysis and queries run against the data, and format processes can be run on events to generate studies and spot safety trends. The FAA does not get access to individual operator data.

Airlines have successfully used the ASIAS tool and a similar system has been developed under the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (Pegasas) for general aviation.

Cliff Johnson, FAA research lead for rotorcraft ASIAS, said the program promises to be particularly useful in light of the comparatively static rate of fatal helicopter accidents. “Flight data trend monitoring can be used as a proactive tool, not just after an accident or incident has occurred. You can use it to prevent one from happening in the first place. It is about what you do with the data and how you use the data. It’s about how we help you improve safety in your daily operations. We solicit participating operators to provide data through the research effort to help them improve safety. We can get smarter about data, how we bring it in, and develop some new safety analysis tools.” Johnson assured operators that the “FAA doesn’t touch any of the data” and that the program is based on “voluntary, non-punitive data sharing.” He said operators would have access not only to their own data but also would be able to compare it to that from similar operators flying similar aircraft to see how they measure up. 

Keith Cianfrani, HAI flight data monitoring specialist, reports that the program is going well among operators who have already signed up for ASIAS. Cianfrani calls it a “Fitbit” for the aircraft and a particular flight. “Participants look at ASIAS and say it could be part of an SMS [safety management system] program. It fits a cog in the wheel to enhance safety.”

Johnson said the ASIAS team is beginning to develop performance models and metrics around parameters involving the most common causes of rotorcraft accidents: loss of control, unstabilized approaches and helipad overruns. “In your typical FDR [flight data recorder] report you are not going to get every single parameter on the helicopter but you can synthesize the parameters. Almost one-third of accidents involve some sort of loss of control, whether because of autorotation, settling with power or some type of dynamic upset,” Johnson said. “The modeling allows us to mine for the data and determine what differentiates a good autorotation from a bad one. All these are physics-based models and can help us stay out of these events if used as a predictive tool. The same with vortex ring state [settling with power]. We can model rotor downwash to see where we get into the state. We also looked at dynamic rollover, tipover accidents in high crosswinds, and we would like to be able to calibrate that data.”

Johnson said the ASIAS team is also looking at cockpit audio and video data. “Some of the recorders are not going to record everything. But if the recorder fails you can look at the video data and using image processing techniques you can translate the image into digital data, such as flight instruments, and also look at engine and background noise, including alarms. You can use an algorithm to read the gauges and image processing to gather the data, including that from engine torque and attitude indicators. You can also analyze the spectrum and frequency of audio data.”

The FAA is currently flying data analysis flight-test missions in its S-76A to define and validate some of the ASIAS techniques that have been devised. The S-76 is outfitted with three separate flight data recorders. It is also being used to test low-cost mobile devices such as the general aviation airborne recording device, developed by the FAA and Mitre as a low-cost flight data management device alternative.

Johnson said average participating operators can use ASIAS to “address risks in their own operations.” He gave the example of an operator using ASIAS data to plot flight trend proximity to obstacles and weather as an example. But globally, he acknowledged that the program will need more participants and more data to generate meaningful information. “To do this and really make it accurate you need large amounts of data from various operations. If you just have data from onesies and twosies here and there, patterns really don’t show up.”

New rules proposed by EASA are intended to address what the European agency sees as inadequacies in the existing certification rules (CS-27 and CS-29) governing offshore operations. In an otherwise survivable water impact, EASA said, most fatalities occur as a result of drowning because the occupants are unable either to rapidly escape from a capsized and flooded cabin or to survive in the sea long enough to be rescued.

Furthermore, the testing environment in which helicopters are type certified for ditching “bears little resemblance to the sea conditions experienced in operation,” EASA said. The Notice of Proposed Amendment would revise CS-27 and CS-29 to mitigate design-related risks to new helicopter types. Retroactive rules are to be considered in a second phase of this effort.

The proposed changes establish a new ditching certification methodology by which a target “probability of capsize” following a ditching can be determined. This target probability would be verified in sea conditions following a defined tank-test specification using irregular waves. Additional changes are proposed to maximize the chances that occupants could get out of the helicopter and survive until being rescued. Comments are due by June 23.

Genesys Aerosystems received FAASTC approval for retrofitting its HeliSAS stability augmentation system and two-axis autopilot on Robinson R66s. It has been an option on factory-new R66s since last year and was previously STC’d for the Airbus Helicopters EC130 and AS350 series; Bell 206B JetRanger, 206L LongRanger and 407; and Robinson R44. EASASTC approval for the R66 is pending, Genesys said.

Weighing less than 15 pounds, HeliSAS reduces single-pilot workload while providing precise “hands off” control of the aircraft during all modes of flight, regardless of wind conditions or shifts in the aircraft’s weight, according to the company. Its attitude stabilization and force feel features also enhance the helicopter’s handling characteristics to mitigate inadvertent cyclic control inputs that could result in dangerous attitudes or loss of control, it added.

With the addition of the optional two-axis autopilot, HeliSAS can provide altitude hold, NAV hold, heading hold and vertical modes, which can track an ILS approach. HeliSAS with the two-axis autopilot costs $71,509, not including installation or attitude source. Without the autopilot, the price is $62,530.

The company plans to add at least three more helicopter models to its HeliSAS FAASTC list this year.

Two Bell 505 Jet Ranger X signings this week at FIDAE 2016 in Santiago have boosted the order backlog for the in-development light single helicopter beyond 360 units, Bell Helicopter announced today. Eagle Copters, which has a base in Colina, Chile, and an undisclosed private Chilean operator each signed for a single corporate/VIP-outfitted Bell 505 at the show.

“The Bell 505 is suited to fit the needs of the Latin American market, and we are pleased to see the growing numbers of customers signing for the aircraft,” said Bell vice president of global sales and marketing Patrick Moulay. In fact, Latin American customers account for nearly a quarter of the backlog for the five-seat helicopter.

Meanwhile, three flight-test Bell 505s have logged more than 575 flight hours and work has begun to prepare for initial production at the company’s assembly center in Lafayette, La. The company is aiming to have the light single FAA certified in the first half of this year and plans a fast production ramp-up that could increase to 200 helicopters per year by 2018.