Vector Aerospace has added the Airbus Helicopters H130 (formerly EC130T2) and EC130B4 tail rotor gearbox (TGB) to its existing range of rotorcraft repair and overhaul capabilities. Vector will offer this expanded support for the H130/EC130 from its facilities in Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, which already offer operators worldwide a range of services for Airbus Helicopters models including the H125/AS350, AS355, H130/EC130, BO105, H135/EC135 and AS332. Vector’s service offerings for the H130/EC130 series include D-level structural repairs, dynamic component repair and scheduled maintenance. Vector is also an authorized Turbomeca Arriel 2 repair center, supporting operators in North America.

Vector Aerospace is in the process of completing a brand-new, 88,000-sq-ft facility in Langley, which will incorporate new avionics and structures shops plus 65,000 sq ft of hangar space. This facility, which will also feature expanded engineering and STC development capabilities as well as a modernized paint facility, will be formally opened during the first half of 2016.

Helicopter Association International (HAI) has named nine recipients for its 2016 Salute to Excellence Awards. To be presented during HAI’s Heli-Expo (February 29 to March 3) in Louisville, Ky., the awards honor individuals or organizations that “exemplify the best of the helicopter industry,” HAI said.

João Bosco Ferreira, who has trained more than 2,300 pilots and established the flight test department for Helibras, is the recipient of the W.A. (Dub) Blessing Award for Flight Instructor of the Year. The Rolls-Royce Excellence in Helicopter Maintenance Award will be presented to Troy Lewis, the area training manager for engine manufacturer Turbomeca USA. He has trained thousands of aviation maintenance technicians annually.

Pat Lawrence, who helped rebuild the Michigan State Police Aviation unit and currently is its commander, will receive the MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award. The Airbus Helicopters Golden Hour Award will go to Eileen Frazer, the executive director of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems that is dedicated to improving medical transportation safety.

The Boston Area Helicopter IFR Infrastructure Team will receive the BLR Aerospace Safety Award for its role in developing instrument approaches to help air ambulance operators navigate through the complex environment of Downtown Boston. The Sikorsky Humanitarian Service Award will recognize the Italian Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard for what is believed to be the largest marine helicopter-rescue ever attempted after the ferry the Norman Atlantic caught fire.

Jason Laing, a New Zealand pilot who has been involved in Mt. Everest rescue missions in the aftermaths of a 2014 avalanche and the 2015 earthquake, will be honored with the Appareo Pilot of the Year Award. The Bell Helicopter Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Dana Kerrick, one of the foremost experts in rotor blade maintenance who retired as vice president of International Aviation Composites after a 56-year career in aviation. HAI also had named former AIN editor-in-chief R. Randall Padfield as the winner of the Lightspeed Aviation Excellence in Communications Award.

A helicopter industry white paper that addresses ways to facilitate IFR flight in Part 27 rotorcraft has formally been forwarded to the FAA for evaluation. Industry groups, which originally released details of the paper in June, have long maintained that equipment requirements make instrument flight uneconomical and impractical under Part 27 rules. This has an adverse safety and economic impact on all operators, but particularly helicopter EMS operators that either fly in marginal weather or do not fly the mission as a result of the requirements, industry groups argue.

The industry associations believe that “it is the FAA’s duty to the rotorcraft industry to provide a practical option for IFR conditions other than 'don’t fly'—especially when that practical option previously existed. Once Part 27 single-engine IFR becomes viable, it will be demanded by hospital organizations as a condition of EMS contracts—much in the way IFR capability is a demanded today for twin-engine (Part 29) rotorcraft in EMS.” The associations also note that adopting Part 23 fixed-wing avionics to Part 27 helicopters, designed as an economy move, can actually be exceedingly costly. 

Waypoint Leasing Ltd. (Ireland) has signed a purchase and leaseback agreement with Brazil's Omni Helicopters covering four Sikorsky S-76C++ helicopters. The agreement is with Omni Helicopters International S.A. (“OHI”), a strategic partnership between Stirling Square Capital Partners and Omni Group. The aircraft are operating for Omni Taxi Aereo (OTA), Brazil’s largest helicopter service operator to the offshore industry by fleet size. All aircraft operate in support of long-term contracts within the offshore oil-and-gas sector in Brazil.

“This is a great opportunity for Waypoint to support one of the leading helicopter operators, and in one of the largest and most dynamic helicopter markets in the world,” said Waypoint CEO Ed Washecka.“Despite the current market conditions, we think there’s significant long-term demand in Brazil and look forward to supporting Omni as it continues to grow worldwide.”

Waypoint’s portfolio exceeds $1.4 billion in total assets comprised of 120 aircraft operating for 16 customers in 26 countries. Additionally, Waypoint has firm and option orders with aircraft manufacturers for more than 125 helicopters valued at more than $1.7 billion, to be delivered over the next five years.

A decade after its founding, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft manufacturer Morgan has filed for bankruptcy. Morgan Aircraft initially planned to build a VTOL business aircraft that incorporated four ducted fans into the inboard sections of the wings of a twin pusher turboprop and later went on to form alliances with other companies to build drones. Company founder Brain Morgan announced plans in 2011 to  invest up to $105 million in Sheboygan County, Wis., and create 340 new jobs there, part of an agreement to obtain a $686,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation government loan. At one point the company said it planned to create as many as 2,000 new jobs. Sheboygan County spent more than $190,000 on airport improvements in anticipation of Morgan's expansion there.  But in the end, Morgan's only assets were its patents, which will now be sold to satisfy the company's various private and public debts.

In 2011 Morgan said that it had raised $8 million, had “quietly made progress toward completing its technical validation process and significant engineering advances in both the airframe and power train configurations” and was “pursuing selling technology licenses to defense industry players for defense and government agency applications.” In early 2012 Morgan announced that it had signed a “strategic cooperation agreement” with UK-based Mineseeker Operations to jointly develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to meet its needs “but with none of the tilting parts which have plagued other such programs in the past.”

A full-scale prototype of the Morgan EM-J aircraft never flew. The design relied on a dual propulsion system. In vertical mode, the ducted fans, what Morgan called the rotor-in-wing system, sustained hover and assisted with forward propulsion only until the aircraft was flying on its wings. Then the thruster pusher propellers were to take over. Morgan claimed this design would produce “much faster speeds and much farther distances than any of the VTOL technology currently being developed” and was the only design “capable of taking off or landing in either a helicopter mode or a fixed-wing mode and is capable of gliding in a complete power-loss condition.”

Russian Helicopters continues to find new export markets for improved versions of the Mi-17 medium multirole machine. The latest deliveries consist of five Mi-171Sh to Bangladesh. But the Russian type could face new competition from the AS332 Super Puma and Cougar series, now that Airbus Helicopters has decided to switch its manufacture to lower-cost Romania.

“The geographies to which we deliver modified Mi-171 helicopters expand every year. Today they are in use in Brazil, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Peru and beyond,” said Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Russian Helicopters. Compared with earlier versions, the Mi-171 series is equipped with all-weather, day/night avionics and additional fuel tanks. The company is currently flight testing another round of improvements in two Mi-171A2 prototypes. These feature a full Fadec VK-2500PS-03 engine and composite rotor blades including a new X-shaped tail rotor, resulting in increased payload, speed and endurance. The Mi-171A2 has a full glass cockpit with five multifunction displays and needs only two aircrew instead of three.

Airbus Helicopters has redesignated the AS332C1e/L1e series as the H215, which will be built in a new 10,000-sq-m factory at Brasov. This location has been performing heavy maintenance on Airbus helicopters, and most notably was tasked with the ambitious upgrading of the UK Royal Air Force SA330 Puma fleet. The Romanian operation will henceforth be responsible for all aspects of the H215, producing up to 15 per year from 2017. “This expanded partnership will ensure that our legacy twin-engine heavy helicopters are more economical than ever on current and emerging markets,” said Guillaume Faury, CEO.

Last year was a noteworthy one for rotorcraft, with confirmation of some trends and the unexpected emergence of some others. Despite a softening commercial market, attributable largely to the dwindling price of oil, airframers do not appear to have scaled back their investment in technology.

Airbus Helicopters unveiled the H160 medium twin (until then codenamed X4), a clean-sheet design in the 12,000- to 13,000-pound-mtow category (typically 12 seats). As expected, it will succeed the AS365 Dauphin/EC155 series.

However, contradicting what then-CEO Lutz Bertling suggested in 2011 when he revealed the existence of the program, the H160 has a relatively conventional cockpit. The controls are not fly-by-wire and the man-machine interface lacks the windshield-size head-up display Bertling envisioned. Airbus will therefore not be the first helicopter manufacturer to offer a civil fly-by-wire rotorcraft. Bell Helicopter is poised to cross that finish line first with the 525 Relentless, which made its first flight in July. A second test aircraft was set to join the fleet late last year. It is safe to say this turn of events has left some Airbus engineers disappointed. Innovations on the H160 include swept-tip main rotor blades for quieter operation.

The H160 made its first flight on June 13 and Airbus plans to begin taking orders this year, so we will soon see how the H160 fares against its main target, the AgustaWestland AW139.

Airbus Helicopters also unveiled the first artist rendering of the long-awaited X6, a new helicopter in the heavy category. The X6 will eventually replace the H225 Super Puma and will have fly-by-wire controls.

Those disappointed engineers at Airbus might have drawn some comfort in July when their company unveiled the Bluecopter, a demonstrator based on the H135. One notable feature is a power management system that could shut down one engine in the cruise phase and use the other one at a higher (and thus more fuel-efficient) output. Such smarter use of engine power, including some level of hybridization with an electric motor, has been talked about for four years or so. Actual progress, however, has been erratic and the outlook for what to expect in the next couple of years is murky.

Lockheed Martin completed its $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft, a purchase the U.S. defense contractor announced in July. Lockheed Martin will maintain the Sikorsky brand, as well as the military and civil product lines, the latter including the S-76D medium and S-92A heavy twins. UTC disposed of its helicopter business because it saw a lagging profit margin and lackluster growth projections, which some industry observers (Lockheed Martin among them, apparently) deemed short-sighted.

Sikorsky logged a major technology advancement in May when the S-97 Raider semi-compound helicopter made its first flight. A follow-on to the X2 demonstrator, the S-97 combines two rigid coaxial, contra-rotating rotors and a pusher propeller to achieve speeds unattainable with a conventional rotorcraft. Sikorsky is looking mainly at military applications but civil use is in the cards. Sikorsky intends to dispatch the Raider on a demonstration tour this year.

AgustaWestland suffered a setback on the AW609 civil tiltrotor program after the fatal crash of prototype two on October 30. The aircraft crashed in Italy outside Santhia in Vercelli province, killing company test pilots Pietro Venanzi and Herb Moran. The aircraft was scheduled to perform high-speed testing at the time of the crash. Two more test aircraft are under construction and the bulk of the flight-test work is being moved to AgustaWestland’s Philadelphia campus in the U.S. Before the accident, AgustaWestland had hoped to have the AW609 certified by late next year and begin customer deliveries in 2018. The company has not released a revised schedule, but it has reaffirmed its commitment to the program.

Marenco Swisshelicopter, an outsider with ambition, made little progress last year. The company has had to redesign the main rotor head of its SKYe SH09 light single, which was already in flight-test. The Honeywell-powered SH09 is positioned at the higher end of the single-engine helicopter segment. An EASA rotorcraft expert told AIN he finds the project daring and exciting. We, in turn, hope Airbus Helicopters will not try to kill the SH09 in the nest by offering unbeatable discounts on the H125.

Describing Russian Helicopters as an outsider would be unfair but, even if it is a real competitor for Western airframers, it cannot be characterized as a major player either. Last year several civil programs remained stuck at various stages of development. The exception was certification of the Ka-226T. Communications are close to non-existent.

China’s Avicopter has made even slower progress, notably with the AC352 medium twin, the H175’s counterpart in a 50-50 program with Airbus Helicopters.

As part of a wider overall corporate reorganization plan that merges Finmeccanica's aerospace, defense and security assets, AgustaWestland has been renamed Finmeccanica Helicopters. Finmeccanica announced the change at the end of last month, effective January 1.

The company will be divided into four areas and seven divisions, succeeding the previous structure of a holding company and subsidiaries. The four sectors are helicopters; aerospace; electronics, defense and security systems; and space. The seven divisions are helicopters; aircraft; aerostructures; avionics systems and space; defense electronics land and naval; defense systems; and security systems and information. The combined company is expected to achieve various synergies and economies of scale.

“We are proud of the work accomplished, which has allowed us to introduce the new organizational and operational model of the group,” said Finmeccanica CEO Mauro Moretti. “This will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the activities of Finmeccanica, reducing operating costs, thanks to maximizing economies of scale and synergies. With this one company, Finmeccanica consolidates its competitive position in international markets [for] aerospace, defense and security, increasingly complex and global, leveraging areas of technology leadership and product enhanced by belonging to one large industrial group.”

A new FAA Information for Operators (InFo 15016) recommends that helicopter pilots avoid conducting running landings in skid-equipped aircraft on runways with lighting systems embedded in the pavement. Contacting lighting of this type can cause damage to the skids, the agency said.
 
If a pilot chooses to perform a running landing due to operational safety considerations, the FAA suggests “landing off center to the side of centerline lights, landing beyond touchdown zone lights and avoiding high-speed taxiway centerline indicator lights to ensure that, throughout the maneuver, the skids do not contact the embedded lighting fixtures.”

Runways with centerline lights are at least 150 feet wide and touchdown zone lights occupy the first 3,000 feet of pavement beyond the threshold or half the runway length on runways that are less than 6,000 feet long. The InFo was published as the result of several incidents, including a May 7, 2015 event in which a Bell 206L-3 contacted the recessed centerline lights on a paved runway surface while practicing running landings, causing damage to the skids.

After lengthy preparations, an Mi-24K testbed equipped with a new main rotor flew for the first time on December 23 last year at Tomolino near Moscow, which is Mil’s flight-test base. The Russian government is funding the development of a high-speed helicopter (Russian acronym PSV). Although the Russian defense ministry is interested in such a machine, Mil parent company Russian Helicopters is downplaying its commercial prospects.

The Mi-24 PSV demonstrator features two Klimov VK-2500 turboshafts, which are slightly more powerful than the two TV3-117s found on standard Mi-24s. The new blades have curved ends to avoid flutter. Cruise speeds of up to 215 knots are expected, according to Mil. The company describes some hardware elements installed on it as “specimens for improving in-service helicopters” of the current Mi-24/35 and Mi-8/17 series. This might be a reference to new avionics that have reportedly been developed by KRET, as well as the new blades.

Tentatively, the Russian defense ministry plans to fly the prototype of an all-new high-speed rotorcraft design in 2018, with production to follow in 2022. According to Russian Air-and-Space Force commander Col. Gen. Victor Bondarev, the service wants a next-generation rotorcraft that can develop a level speed up to 270 knots.

But the scientific-technical council of Russian Helicopters concluded last September that the technology level currently available does not permit it to meet the specification set by the government. The council said the specified maximum level speed can be achieved, but the operational and maintenance cost would be too high for commercial operators.

This conclusion has led to termination of governmental funding for a number of R&D programs launched earlier. However, the government continues to provide funds for the PSV demonstrator amounting to 630 million roubles ($8.5 million), including bench trials of rotor system components.

Finmeccanica Helicopters (formerly AgustaWestland) is studying ways to enhance main gearbox performance in case of loss of lubrication. At the EASA rotorcraft symposium in December, Marco Tamborini, one of the company's experts in transmission system design and development, gave details on Finmeccanica's strategy in gearbox durability.

Unless the possibility of such a failure is extremely remote, EASA rules call for continued safe operation for at least 30 minutes. In November, Finmeccanica announced it had demonstrated to the Italian airworthiness authority a “60-plus minute 'run dry' capability” for the AW139's improved main gearbox.

Finmeccanica's target is to achieve the longest durability after loss of oil, Tamborini said. It has adopted five ways to prevent or mitigate such an event: minimizing the probability of oil loss, minimizing power losses, maximizing heat rejection, increasing high-temperature capability and managing residual oil.

First, to minimize the probability of a major oil loss, the company has replaced external pipes with integrated oil passages, a process that makes casting more complex. Redundancy is provided by dual pumps working in parallel. For those pressurized items with fittings, fail-safe design is ensured in the event the gearbox loses a fastener.

Then, assuming oil is lost, design engineers want to minimize power losses. To do so, they have reduced the number of reduction stages. They prefer roller bearings to ball bearings. Moreover, they have adopted fine-pitch gears to reduce sliding velocity.

They have also used ceramic rolling elements to further minimize power losses. Surface finishing of gear teeth and integral bearing raceways has been improved by fine grinding or super-finishing, Tamborini explained. The AW189, which demonstrated 50-minute run-dry capability and was certified in 2014, was a key step in gearbox design, according to Tamborini. Some features were transferred to the improved AW139.

Better ventilation in the transmission bay improves heat rejection. Some 10 percent of the heat is normally rejected by convective exchange, Tamborini said.

Maintaining clearances throughout the highest expected temperatures is another design measure to increase the operating endurance after loss of oil, he went on. For instance, loss of clearance on gear tooth and bearings is likely to generate an uncontrolled increase of contact forces. Adopting special materials for bearings and gears enables them to withstand operating temperatures up to 350 degrees C, “without dramatically losing their hardness.”

As a result of these changes , the gearbox has maintained a steady thermal balance during run-dry conditions for more than 50 minutes (AW189) or 60 minutes (AW139) in certification testing. Finmeccanica, however, has not released an entry-into-service schedule for the upgraded AW139.

A next step might be using “ultra hybrid” bearings, involving a combination of ceramic rolling elements and low-friction coating of the raceways, Tamborini suggested.

Four California law enforcement agencies recently took delivery of six new Airbus Helicopters H125AStars—two each to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, and one each to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and Ontario Police Department.

The CHP took delivery of its fourth and fifth H125, part of a five-year contract to upgrade its entire helicopter fleet. It has been flying AS350-series helicopters for 30 years, and its new H125s are equipped with hoists. Hangar One Avionics in Carlsbad, Calif., performed completion services for the CHPH125s.

Meanwhile, the LAPD recently took delivery of its second H125, part of a multi-year contract to upgrade the department’s fleet of AS350B2 helicopters to H125s. LAPD Air Support Division has flown Airbus Helicopters for 25 years and operates its AStars some 17,000 to 18,000 hours per year.

The Ontario Police Department accepted its first H125, an addition to its fleet of two AS350B2s. Hangar One is performing completion services on the Ontario PD helicopter, which will enter service this spring. The Ontario PD is also having an autopilot installed on its H125.

Bell Helicopter delivered the first EMS-configured 407GXP to Air Methods at a ceremony at Air Methods headquarters in Englewood, Colo., on Monday. This is the first of what could be up to two hundred 407GXPs delivered by Bell to Air Methods over the next decade.

All of Air Methods'407GXPs are being outfitted by company subsidiary United Rotorcraft. The emergency medical services interior can accommodate a single patient or specialty transport and includes an articulating loading system.

Derived from the Bell 407GX platform, the 407GXP has an additional 50 pounds of payload capability, coupled with the new M250 Rolls-Royce engine that improves hot-and-high performance and fuel efficiency. The aircraft is also equipped with new avionics features, such as an improved hover-performance calculator and a transmission TBO extension of 500 hours.

Air Methods began with a single Bell 206 and has since grown into the world’s largest air medical provider with more than 400 aircraft, some 300 bases and eight maintenance centers. It serves 48 states and transports more than 100,000 patients every year.

Airbus Group has teamed with on-demand transportation network specialist Uber to offer helicopter flights during the Sundance film festival between Salt Lake airport and Park City, Utah, where the festival takes place. Salt Lake City-based Air Resources will operate the flights, from January 21 to 24. Air Resources was chosen because it is a local operator of Airbus Helicopters'H125 light singles. Using a dedicated app, passengers can book a trip starting with a car ride to a heliport near Salt Lake City airport, continuing with the helicopter flight to the festival's heliport and ending with a car ride direct to the ticket holder's gate at the venue.

This is one of the first projects Airbus Group's A³ innovation center in the Silicon Valley has launched. The stated goal is to explore a new business model for helicopter operators to access a broader customer base. “This is not a partnership, rather a market pilot,” an Airbus Group spokesman told AIN, emphasizing the experiment could help helicopters become a common means of transportation. He declined to say whether Uber is paying Airbusor whether Airbus is providing strengthened technical support to Air Resources.

Robinson Helicopter delivered 347 aircraft in 2015, a modest increase from the 329 it delivered in 2014. The turbine R66—with 117 delivered, up from 101 in 2014—led all models in delivery value. The remainder were divided among Robinsons piston models: 152 R44 Raven IIs, 44 Raven Is, and 34 R22s. Robinson continues to employ 1,200 from its plant in Torrance, Calif.

Company president Kurt Robinson said a strong U.S. dollar coupled with a sluggish global economy continued to hamper further sales growth, noting that Robinson relies on the export market for more than 70 percent of its sales. Robinson expects the softness experienced in the second half of 2015 to continue into 2016.

Robinson plans to unveil more details on its new two-place R44 Cadet, aimed at the training market, at Heli-Expo in February. “We are very focused a low-cost, reliable, economical helicopter that we think will make a good trainer and also a variety of missions that need only two people,” Robinson said. “There's a lot of demand for that.”

Bell's second super medium 525 Relentless twin-engine helicopter first took to the sky on December 21, and overall, the flight-test program has now accumulated 78 hours.

Flight Test Vehicle 2 has performed basic maneuvers, including hover with hover taxi work; 360-degree pedal clearing turns; control inputs including left and right cyclic up and down; collective left and right pedal; low speed controllability left, right, forward and rearward flight; and all of the aforementioned flown with both aug on and aug off.

Three more flight-test vehicles will join the program later this year, and Bell remains on track to certify the 525 in 2017. Build started on the first customer production aircraft in November 2015. As of the end of last year, Bell held 75 letters of intent from customers, the majority coming from the offshore energy services (OGP) industry. Bell has yet to formally release a price for the aircraft. 

Orders and deliveries at Airbus Helicopters last year fell to 333 and 393 helicopters, respectively, down from 402 and 471 in 2014. Revenues were even between French helicopter manufacturer's civil and military activities, it said.

CEO Guillaume Faury blamed low oil prices, which have hurt Airbus Helicopters' offshore oil customers, and “delays in key military campaigns.” A mere two orders were thus received for the H225 family. Nevertheless, the company claims a slight increase in market share for civil and parapublic operations, to 45 percent by volume. A strong performer was the H175 super-medium twin, with 36 orders booked. The order book will open this year for the new H160 medium twin, the second prototype of which has just flown with Turbomeca engines.

One year ago, Faury predicted that 2015 would be a year of steady deliveries and brisker orders, while heavy helicopters would keep their increased importance in the mix. Despite the opposite outcome, he stated that the company is “now harvesting the fruit of our strategic transformation plan that puts us in the best position to operate successfully despite a challenging market environment. Our focus on customer satisfaction, quality and safety, as well as competitiveness, has produced tangible results on our journey to go from the biggest to the best.”

Global offshore helicopter association HeliOffshore has commissioned industry expert Jarvis Bagshaw Ltd. to conduct a research study in Aberdeen that uses eye-tracking technology to understand how pilots monitor flight instruments. Twenty-six pilots participated in the first phase of observational study, which seeks to improve pilot performance in the cockpit.

Optimizing the training and tools provided to offshore crews is a safety priority across the industry, according to HeliOffshore CEO Gretchen Haskins. “This is the focus of HeliOffshore’s collaborative eye-tracking research, which started this month,” she said.

The research involves pilots wearing eye-tracking glasses while flying a helicopter sim under IMC. This replicates a “realistic workload that immerses both crewmembers in duties and has a number of different task components to be monitored,” Haskins said. “Airbus Helicopters UK donated time in its Aberdeen-based H225 simulator and pilots from Bond Offshore, Bristow and CHC Helicopter are participating in the study.”

The results will be used to improve training and standard operating procedures, as well as give feedback to the manufacturers about the design of automation and cockpits, according to HeliOffshore operations director François Lassale. Results will be shared with HeliOffshore members at the association’s annual conference in Prague in mid-May. Then a working group will determine the best way possible to further improve safety via pilot training, procedures, policy and system design.

Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG) has validated its luxury interior for the Bell 429 with Russian authorities (IAC-AR). MAG developed and branded the MAGnificent for the Bell 429 under an EASASTC in 2015 and then applied for Russian validation. The MAGnificent provides multiple options and configurations for VIP passengers, who can choose from four-, five- or six-seat layouts, with options for up to two center consoles, MAG’s proprietary I-Feel (In-Flight Entertainment Enhanced Lounge) and passenger controlled electro-chromic windows. 

The interior includes two of MAG’s proprietary technologies. The “SILENS” noise-canceling system reduces the cabin noise to a level that allows passengers to conduct normal conversation without headsets. MAG’s I-FEEL technology provides passengers with moving jet maps and audio/video entertainment, along with internal Wi-Fi interface to personal smart devices.

“The STC validation in Russia is a significant milestone for MAG,” said Armando Sassoli, co-general manager of Mecaer Aviation Group. “It was critical we receive this validation, as we have many clients in line for our interior in Russia.”

Helicopter EMS operator Norsk Luftambulanse is installing a network of cameras in Norway to gather remote weather information, mainly about visibility, with the aim of dispatching easier and safer missions along a fog-free route and landings using GPS approaches.

Each sensing unit comprises three cameras–looking in three different directions–a thermometer and an optional barometer, all contained in an aluminum housing. The cameras are semi-professional DSLRs. “They can take high-quality images at night, which is the main difference between our system and a conventional webcam,” Jens Fjelnset, the pilot in charge of the HEMS Weather Camera project, told AIN. The information is sent to a server via the cellular network.

To determine visibility, the system uses geographic references, such as the height of a mountain and the distance to a ridge. Each camera takes a picture every 15 minutes, allowing the sensing unit to send a picture every five minutes. Pressure and temperature data are sent every two minutes.

Bad-weather Operational Improvements

“Norway’s CAA has just approved the way we estimate visibility,” Fjelnset said. The way the operator now receives pressure information has been certified, which is required to use GPS approaches. Previously, Norsk Luftambulanse personnel were allowed to call local ambulance companies at the destination and along the desired flight path to ask about visibility, a method that yielded incomplete, relatively inaccurate information.

Weather cameras have improved operations. “They save us time in bad weather, as they avoid us trying more than one valley to arrive at the destination,” Fjelnset said.

Crews use the information for flight planning. Currently, the iPad mini they use as an EFB remains connected until takeoff. Then the dispatcher on the ground can communicate, on the radio, updated information. Fjelnset hopes that eventually crews will be approved to receive updated information on their EFB in flight.

The oldest sensing unit is 2.5 years old and has suffered no major issue, according to Fjelnset. Norsk Luftambulanse has installed 27, including six for GPS approaches. The company expects to complete the 63-unit network this year. GPS approaches are the priority, and the company hopes to have them in place by the summer. “What takes time is to find the owner of the land and reach an agreement,” Fjelnset explained.

Norsk Luftambulanse is funding the network of HEMS weather cameras on its own. Each unit costs $10,000 to $15,000, depending on the number of cameras and the inclusion of a barometer. The information it provides is made available, currently at no charge, to every professional user. In the future, the system’s creators would like to have other users contributing to maintenance costs. However, Fjelnset considers the project is still in the development phase so such details will be studied later.

Selling sensing units to other countries–as has already been done to Denmark, for testing purposes–is in the cards, too.