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Contributing Writers: Chris Baur; Lee Benson; Shannon Bower;

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A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 3

 Editor’s Notebook
Operators Keep Faith in
EC225; Foster Courage
E
urocopter anticipates that a
fix to the main gearbox issues
with the EC225 will be avail-
able in April. The model was
temporarily grounded after two ditch-
ing incidents in the UK’s North Sea
during 2012. “We have to fix the
technical issues which we are cur-
rently facing with the 225. No doubt,”
said Eurocopter President & CEO
Lutz Bertling during a March 5 press
briefing at Heli-Expo. “This has been
priority one since October, and it will
continue to be: for an airframe OEM,
safety always needs to be priority 1a.
But 1b is fixing the EC225 issues.”
During an exclusive interview
with Rotor & Wing, Avincis CEO
James Drummond explained that the
EC225’s return to service is not a mat-
ter of if, but when. Avincis is the par-
ent company of Bond Offshore Heli-
copters, which is one of the operators
that experienced an EC225 ditching
in the North Sea. Eurocopter “is doing
absolutely everything they possibly can
to get to the root cause of this, and also
to understand the propagation,” Drum-
mond said. “We’re working closely
along with the other operators to sup-
port Eurocopter in that. We’ve made
available to Eurocopter and also the
investigation board all the data—every-
thing has been transparent, and that’s a
vital part of the investigation and solv-
ing the problem,” he continued.
Any root cause analysis, Drum-
mond insisted, is always complex. “If
you lay it out like an issue tree, it’s a
pretty big tree with lots of branches
and twigs off it. Eurocopter is work-
ing very methodically through those
issues. The process they’re using is
very robust, and I’m sure they’ll find
an answer in the end. We’ve just got to
go through the process.” The EC225 “is
a really good aircraft, it will return to
service, it’s just a when question,” he
added, pointing out the importance of
4 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
being “careful and considered” when
the model rejoins the fleet in order to
“maintain the confidence of the oper-
ators and people who fly on it, and
make sure that they are confident that
the EC225 is a high-quality, airworthy
helicopter, which we believe it is.”
If a healthy order book is any indi-
cation of the market’s faith in the
model, then Milestone Aviation has a
lot of it. The helicopter leasing com-
pany inked an order for 14 additional
EC225s during Heli-Expo, adding to
an existing order placed in 2012 for 16
of the type. Milestone also purchased
five EC175s and 30 helicopters from
Sikorsky, consisting of 23 S-92s and
seven S-76Ds.
While operators are certainly feel-
ing the impacts of the groundings,
most who spoke to Rotor & Wing still
view the EC225 as a long-term work-
horse that is a valuable asset to their
operations.
Encourage Moral Courage
Life is made up of choices—some easy,
some very tough. Getting out of bed
each morning is the first conscious
decision of the day (and if you’re a
night owl like me, that is sometimes
a hard choice to make!). For pilots,
mechanics and others involved in the
aviation industry, go/no-go decisions
can be among the most challenging to
make when faced with a maintenance
issue that could force a temporary
grounding, due to the inherent
pressure of shutting down or delaying
a mission, costing the company money
and lost time.
In order to create a “safety first”
culture within an organization—
something that is almost universally
said but not as often practiced—tough
decisions must be made at times to
choose safety over profit and even at
the expense of “getting the job done.”
It’s important to highlight the times
aparker@accessintel.com
when the right choice is made. Talk
with any pilot or mechanic and it’s
almost a guarantee that they have a
story where they “shouldn’t have done
that” or who is “lucky to survive” a
stupid mistake. We’re all human. But
get them in front of their bosses, and
those near-misses will never see the
light of day. The point is that these
types of stories need to be told, and
organizations should foster a culture
where people feel comfortable to
tell their tales about close calls and
mishaps—whether for attribution or
anonymously.
That’s why I was happy to hear
that the U.S. Transportation Safety
Institute chose Bond Aviation Group
as one of two winners of its first Moral
Courage award (the other is USCG
Alaska, see story on page 19). TSI
heard about the situation at Bond
from a November column in Rotor &
Wing (see “Editor’s Notebook: Every
Day Safety Plan” on page 4), where
two technicians—Sean Newlands and
John Crowthers—made a tough no-go
call and as a result, were brought in
front of the entire company as an
example of the correct decision-
making process.
Crowthers and Newlands should be
commended for their actions. But it’s
not just the folks who “made the right
call” in this situation—the company’s
leadership deserves kudos for making
an example of their decision, because
that will pay dividends toward creating
the type of safety culture that Avincis/
Bond executives are striving to foster.
Let’s hope that TSI’s newly estab-
lished Moral Courage award is another
step in the right direction to show
others that “making the right choice”
each day isn’t just a catch phrase or lip
service, but an actual life-long philoso-
phy that enters the mind second only
after the decision to get out of bed each
morning.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

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 THIS MONTH FROM
Personal|Corporate Commercial Military Pub

10 DEPARTMENTS
10 Rotorcraft Report
24 People
24 Coming Events
M5 Military Report
48 Training News
49 Classified Ads
50 Ad Index
(Above) Eurocopter booth during EC135 T3/P3 unveiling at Heli- 53 Coming Up in R&W
Expo. Photo by Ernie Stephens (Bottom) Gearbox display on the
show floor. (Right) Sikorsky S-92. Photos by Barry Schwartz

COLUMNS
FEATURES 4 Editor’s Notebook
8 Feedback
26 ■ Heli-Expo Wrap M3 Military Insider
Big orders, new engine variants dominate headlines for 2013 version of
the world’s largest helicopter tradeshow. By Andrew Parker, Editor-in-
Chief and Andrew Drwiega, International Bureau Chief/Consultant
52 Leading Edge
54 Safety Watch
COVER STORY
M8 ■ Flying Through the Ceiling
CAE and HAL joint venture HATSOFF is gearing up for growth in
demand for synthetic training as the Indian market expands.
By Andrew Drwiega, International Bureau Chief/Consultant

M12 ■ FVL: New Hope in Tough Times

When the U.S. Army Aviation community met early in the new year,
frugality and the need for platform change seemed to be the message to
the industry. By Andrew Drwiega
18
40 ■ Training News
Embry-Riddle’s Daytona and Prescott campuses both strive to “live the
safety culture.” By Keith Cianfrani

On the Cover: Simulator training for Bell 412 operators is one of the platforms offered at HATSOFF in India.
Photo courtesy of CAE, cover design by Gretchen Saval

6 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

 Vol. 47 | No. 4
April 2013

blic Service Training Products Services

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W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 7

 Feedback
Personal|Corporate Commercial Military
Bell 206 Track Record
I’d like to comment on the well-written
column by Lee Benson on page 60 of
the March issue of Rotor & Wing. He
makes many good points about the Bell
206, and its proven track record—both
from a cost/simplicity standpoint, and
its docile autorotational characteristics.
Also, it truly is a very easy helicopter to
fly… but that’s one of the issues I’d like
to address; the other is the source of the
conversation he mentioned overhear-
ing, U.S. Army pilots. From a training
point of view, it’s my opinion that the
Bell 206 isn’t the best primary trainer
because of something I’ve observed over
the years flying helicopters.
I was on a one-year tour of active duty
from the IRR at Fort Rucker, Ala. some
years ago teaching at Lowe AAF in the
UH-60 and was once again reminded
of the curious tendency of some pilots
that have transitioned from Bell aircraft
(semi-rigid, underslung rotor systems) to
those with either fully articulated or hin-
geless rotors, but can’t seem to keep their
right hand still and continually stir the
cyclic. Like the lost sock in the dryer…
this tendency just doesn’t make sense.
Why is it that so many pilots are able
to simply move from one to the other,
while others just don’t get it, and continue
to challenge the laws of physics? There
seems to be no common denominator
in this equation either: some students at
Rucker with 80 hours TT in the Bell 206
just jump right in and make the neces-
sary adjustments for smooth, controlled
flight, and others still think that moving
the cyclic should appear like stirring a
bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough bat-
ter? Then there’s the 10,000-plus-flight-
hour veteran pilot that still hasn’t figured
this simple phenomenon out.
Seems that starting a student out in
a fully articulated rotor like a Schweizer
330 (turbine model) would be the better
choice to teach from the outset that a
fine and smooth control touch is needed
exponentially more frequently than the
ability to autorotate with relative ease to
Do you have comments on the rotorcraft industry or recent articles and viewpoints we’ve published? Send them to Editor, Rotor
& Wing, 4 Choke Cherry Road, Second Floor, Rockville, Md. 20850, USA, fax us at 1-301-354-1809 or e-mail us at rotorandwing@
accessintel.com. Please include a city and state or province with your name and ratings. We reserve the right to edit all submitted
material.
8 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
Public Service
R&W’s Question of the Month
What effect, if any, will the
U.S. government sequestra-
tion have on your operation?
Let us know, and look for your and others’ responses in
a future issue. You’ll find contact information below.
the perfect forced landing area. The oth-
er point (Lee’s overhearing Army pilots
talk), is yet another subject. The Army
seems to be very excited about the new
“glass cockpit” aircraft in their fleet, and
that’s great, but senior Army Aviation
leaders, many if not most of them dino-
saurs, desperately need to revamp their
thinking for the 21st century—not just
in modern aircraft with wiz-bang avion-
ics packages, but in the quality of train-
ing that the future pilots are getting, and
the importance of emphasis on what’s
important vs. what’s fluff. (See the full
comment at www.rotorandwing.com)
David Wagner
Response from Lee Benson
Mr. Wagner, thank you for your well con-
sidered comments. Let me start by say-
ing that in re-reading the article I gave the
impression that those whom expressed
the need for replacing the Bell 206 were
Army pilots, I apologize. The people that
expressed those opinions where in the
Army command structure high enough
to effect policy, therefore my concern.
Your comments about the response
qualities of the Bell rotor system leading
to poor control touch I will leave unchal-
lenged from an engineering standpoint
because I was a pilot and never an engi-
neer. To me control touch is a matter of
professional pride, I flew the aircraft I was
given, not the one I flew last week. For
several years in the middle of my career
I flew Bell 206, 204, 205, 412 and the
MBB 105c on a daily basis, at the end of
Training Products Services
my career it was Bell 206, 412 and Black
Hawks. Control touch is a result of hard
work and discipline not rotor systems. If
you fly a MBB 105 with passengers like
you are stirring cookie dough, you will
clean up cookies after the flight, but they
will not be chocolate chip. Something
for young pilots to ponder and an agree-
ment with one of Mr. Wagner’s points.
In my past life with Los Angeles County
Fire, we hired pilots as a team. As chief
pilot I was always on the orals board. The
line pilots of the organization gave the
actual two-part flight exam. Many very
high time pilots failed the exam because
of poor control touch. Control touch is
something you practice every day you
fly. You can’t turn it on just because it’s an
important flight exam.
If the Army was starting from scratch
maybe the turbine Schweizer would be
the way to go, I can’t comment, I have
not flown one. Well-designed glass cock-
pits to me add situational awareness
and reduce pilot workload. Steam gauge
cockpits will give you the same info but
you have to work a lot harder to attain it.
I take the opposite view, I’d be concerned
if pilots where starting in a single-engine
aircraft on glass and then going to a twin
on steam gauges But they are not starting
from scratch. We the taxpayers have a
considerable investment in the exist-
ing fleet and a prudent interest in the
future cost of maintaining and training
that fleet. The article questions the need
for a new multi-engine trainer and the
expense vs. gain ratio of a change.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Richard Fine
Quality Inspector

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Personal|Corporate Commercial
■ COMMERCIAL | PEOPLE
Lutz Bertling to Exit Eurocopter, Move to
Bombardier Transportation
Longstanding head of Eurocopter, Dr.
Lutz Bertling, has announced his
departure from the EADS division
in favor of Berlin-based Bombardier
Transportation, where he will take the
top post of president and chief operating
officer. The announcement is surprising
in part because it came less than a week
after Bertling made an appearance at
Heli-Expo in Las Vegas, where he gave no
indication of the move. Guillaume Faury,
45, will succeed Bertling. Faury comes
from Peugeot S.A., where he held the
position of executive vice president for
research and development.
Bertling, 50, was appointed CEO of
Eurocopter in November 2006, taking
over from Fabrice Brégier, who moved
onwards and upwards within EADS to
become COO of Airbus. Bertling was
quick to build upon the dynamically
■ PRODUCTS | ENGINES
Turbomeca Reveals Pyrenees-Themed Name for TM800: Arrano
Photo by Andrew Parker
Turbomeca uncovered its TM800 during an
unveiling ceremony at Heli-Expo, giving it the
name Arrano.
In an unveiling that featured an almost
Cirque de Soleil-style introduction
with acrobats fitting for Las Vegas and
CEO Olivier Andries perched above a
10 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
Military Public Service
developing helicopter company that Bré-
gier had left and continued if not acceler-
ated its momentum, making Eurocopter
one of the fastest-developing helicopter
manufacturers in the world.
He will be missed. Tom Enders, EADS,
chief executive officer stated: “I regret that
Lutz is leaving Eurocopter and the EADS
Group to pursue a new challenge outside
the aerospace world. We owe Lutz a lot.
In his six and a half years at the helm of
Eurocopter, he led the company success-
fully through a period of strong growth
and also a deep economic crisis. During
his tenure Eurocopter became more
international, more innovative, and over-
all, more competitive.”
Faury returns to Eurocopter, where
he was employed between 1998 and
2008. His roles included chief engineer
for the EC225/725 program, head of the
crowd gathered around the company’s
booth, Turbomeca took the wraps off
its latest engine on March 5 during Heli-
Expo. Known as the Arrano—which
translated from the Basque language
means “eagle” and follows the Turbomeca
tradition of naming engines after the
Pyrenees mountains near the company’s
headquarters in Bordes, France—the
1,100-shp engine was first mentioned as
the TM800 concept in mid-2012.
Designed for the four to six-ton heli-
copter class and intended to fill the space
between the Arriel and Ardiden engine
lines, the Arrano incorporates various
Training Products Services
Lutz Bertling with American Eurocopter
CEO Marc Paganini at the company’s
Photo by Andrew Parker
March 5 Heli-Expo press conference,
a week before announcing his plans to
leave for Bombardier Transportation.
heavy helicopter flight test department,
executive vice president for commercial
programs and executive vice president for
research and development, not to men-
tion being a member of the Eurocopter
Executive Committee. Bertling’s resigna-
tion is effective April 30, 2013, with his
start date at Bombardier Transportation
set for early June. He replaces André
Navarri, who is retiring. —By Andrew
Drwiega, International Bureau Chief/
Consultant
research and technology efforts through
the Tech 800 demonstrator. The first
platform that Arrano will power is the
Eurocopter X4, which will be offered as
one of two engine options along with Pratt
& Whitney’s PW210. The X4 is projected
to enter service in 2017.
Turbomeca plans to conduct the first
test run of the Arrano in 2014. Among
the benefits the new engine will offer is
10 to 15 percent lower fuel consumption,
higher range, increased payload and a
lower environmental footprint, accord-
ing to the company. —By Andrew Parker,
Editor-in-Chief
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

■ PRODUCTS | AIRFRAMES
Tilton: 540F Helps Fuel Record 2012 for MD Helicopters
At HAI Lynn Tilton, owner of MD
Helicopters, said she was scarred,
but stronger for it, in her efforts to
turn MD Helicopters around since
buying the company in 2005. “I can
feel the Howard Hughes legacy on my
shoulders.”
The latest MD product, the
MD540F, is on many military wish
lists, she said. “We have built on it:
six composite rotor blades, the Rolls-
Royce M250 C47E engine and we are
very proud of it.” She continued: “We
had our best year ever, last year—better
than 2008 when we delivered more
than 50 aircraft. A lot of it has to do
with our military contracts; we deliv-
ered five separate contracts all between
four and six months early. In Afghani-
stan we have the highest readiness
rate of any platform at 98 percent [the
aircraft train novice Afghan pilots]. We
have been able to prove our worth.”
“We have struggled to be ahead on
parts, which makes no sense in this
industry as it is really where you make
your money. It is about forecasting and
understanding your customer,” she said,
adding that, “in the last couple of months
MD recorded six out of 10 weeks with
zero AOGs [Aircraft on Ground].”
MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton
(center) with MD executives at the
company’s Heli-Expo conference.
Photo by Frank Lombardi
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Tilton turned her comments to the
MD 902 Explorer: “This is the time and
place we give NOTAR its due. In the
Middle East when competitors are on
the ground, the 902 keeps going,” she
declared. Tilton said that the 902 was
an innovative light twin, celebrating
its 20th anniversary, which meant that
it was the year to make things happen.
There was a new partnership with
Universal Avionics Systems over a
new flight deck, which Tilton believes
can be delivered in 2015 [with sales of
Explorers from now being retrofitted
with the avionics then they become
available].
Tilton said that military deliveries
of the MD540F included Afghanistan,
El Salvador, Costa Rica and 12 aircraft
to the Saudi National Guard. With the
Saudi contract, which was signed in
July 2012, the first six delivered were
delivered in December while the fol-
lowing six will reach the customer by
the end of March 2013. She said that
another Middle East order was on the
brink of being confirmed involving 12
MD540Fs and two MD902 Explorers.
MD Helicopters delivered 24 air-
craft in 2012 with a target of between
40-45 this year, according to Tilton.
Rotorcraft Report
Photo by Andrew Parker
MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton through the
cockpit of the MD540F.
“But it is about engines and what we
can build,” she said. Again on spares,
she noted that the company was on an
85 percent fill. “We needed to get to 95
percent. We have 12 representatives in
the field—last year we had two.”
Tilton sees her foreign market
opportunities lying in the CIS coun-
tries, the Middle East and South Amer-
ica, but still believes that the company
must continue with its U.S. consolida-
tion and recovery.
“Parts delivery has improved,” she
restated, adding “keeping a helicopter
in the air is more important than build-
ing a new one.” She said that service
centers needed to be sure about what,
and when, they needed in terms of
parts. —By Andrew Drwiega
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 11
 Rotorcraft Report
■ SERVICES | AEROSYSTEMS
Kaman Reorganizes Helicopter Division Around Strengths
Gary Tenison, vice president
of business development and
marketing for Kaman Aerospace,
told Rotor & Wing that the
company’s recent restructuring
Lockheed Martin/ is part of a strategy to focus
Kaman unmaned on operators. “One Kaman is
cargo K-Max. about consolidating the Kaman
business,” he said. “Helicopters
were once apart and are now
within the Aerosystems group.
We are consolidating our
capabilities toward the customer
Kaman
and putting a new sales team
around the world to take these
capabilities to the market.”
Tenison noted that many
Kaman customers were not
aware of the breadth of the business. Operationally, the
company formulated the Aerosystems group, including
Helicopter Structures and Engineering, and the Engineer-
ing Products group. “We wanted to position ourselves as a
design/build risk sharing partner and leverage our engineer-
ing expertise that used to be Global Aerosystems in Seattle,
providing engineering, design and analyses together with
project management. We have a lot of engineers embedded
with Boeing programs,” added Tenison.
Kaman is in the commercial aircraft door design business,
including the Bombardier Learjet 85. “We are also talking to
Eurocopter about potentially doing some work with them
[Eurocopter produces doors for Airbus airliners],” continued
Tenison. “This is the first business jet door but we have done
other work and tooling.” He said that in the current market,
all the OEMs were looking to downsize their number of sup-
pliers and to consolidate with suppliers who can offer greater
capability and the ability to bear some financial risk. “Our
customers are interested in consolidating with us because
although we are not very large, we run the gamut of capabili-
ties that you would normally expect from a larger company.
We can do metals, composites and bondments, stuffing of
structure and can do all of these in-house,” added Tenison.
Regarding Kaman’s K-Max cargo UAS—a partnership
with Lockheed Martin—Terrance Fogarty, general manager
of the UAS Group, said that he expects the deployment be
extended again within a week of the end of HAI. “That will
take us out to September at a minimum, and there is discus-
sion beyond that but no funding,” he said. “We are available
over 90 percent of the time ... and they want to keep them in
theater. They have lifted over 2.5 million pounds of cargo—
how many trucks has that taken off the road?”
12 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
He said that unmanned K-Max had even had some
armed escorts when flying to certain destinations in Afghani-
stan when the delivery was really important. The integration
within USMC is now so far that it is included in a variety
of operations, not just those originally envisaged. “As an
example of extending the envelope we have installed some
auxiliary fuel tanks in the cargo area—this is essentially an
off-the-shelf concept that we designed 10 years ago but gives
them an extra 60 gallons of fuel which means around an extra
45 minutes flight time.” While USMC operational data is clas-
sified, Fogarty said that Kaman had tested the K-Max UAS up
to 15,000 feet in the United States with a 3,500-lb. load out of
Yuma, Ariz. “We’ve had a USMC commander saying that this
was ‘the rock star’ of UAS for the Marines. We have briefed
many officers in the Army look at this and of course the Navy
is interested.” Data from the Logistics Innovation Agency
and the Army are doing scenarios and cost comparisons on
using the K-Max against more traditional forms of supply.
The unmanned K-Max is not available for foreign military
sales (FMS) currently, although there has been interest from
Poland, the British Royal Navy and from the French Navy.
“There is a lot going on and a lot of interest because of our
success in Afghanistan. It has allowed us to bring the K-Max
back into other people’s thoughts,” he admitted. At HAI,
interest has been re-sparked in K-Max and Fogerty says that
they have been asked for a helicopter and when could they
get one. They are again looking at the K-Max performance
during the U.S. fire season and thoughts are moving towards
the value of an unmanned aircraft operating here—partic-
ularly at night and by using thermal imaging. —By Andrew
Drwiega, International Bureau Chief/Consultant
■ PRODUCTS | AIRFRAMES
Marenco Names Heliflite
SH09 Distributor in Oceania
As Marenco Swisshelicopter’s SKYe SH09 progresses into
prototype development and first flight during 2013, the
manufacturer has chosen Heliflite to serve as a distributor in
Australia, New Zealand and throughout Oceania. Sydney-
based Heliflite has been a Robinson distributor since 1977
and an AgustaWestland distributor since 1997.
During Heli-Expo in early March, the Marenco team
including Martin Stucki—founder and SH09 designer—
updated operators, suppliers and attendees on the assembly
of the prototype helicopter and efforts to achieve type certi-
fication.
To read R&W’s interview with Marenco Commercial
Director Mathias Senes, visit www.rotorandwing.com
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Optimized for the rotorized:
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 Rotorcraft Report
■ PRODUCTS | AIRFRAMES
Bell 525 Relentless Controls: ‘Just Grab It and Fly It’
Last year, Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter unveiled
the mock-up of its model 525 “Relentless,” the aircraft its
designers call a “super medium” twin. Designed to carry up
to 18 people in a dense seating configuration, the 10,000-to-
11,000-lb. (empty weight) ship is being developed primarily
with the offshore support market in mind.
To assist engineers with tweaking the 525’s handling char-
acteristics and flight deck ergonomics, Bell built a concept
simulator programmed to duplicate as many parameters as
possible. The company then shipped the simulator to Heli-
Expo 2013 in Las Vegas in early March for attendees to try.
Rotor & Wing was one of the first to be invited aboard.
For the technical purist, Bell did not actually bring a “flight
simulator,” which by most definitions is a machine that moves
in order to give the feeling of flight. Instead, it was actually a
“flight training device,” or FTD, a learning tool that is laid out
like an actual aircraft, but has moving graphics instead of a
moving platform. But for our purposes here, I’ll continue to
call it a simulator.
The 525 simulator is more of a technology and cockpit
ergonomics concept demonstrator made to stay on the
ground. Bell explains that a customer review panel meets
regularly to discuss the progress of the aircraft’s design, and
Bell engineers use the 525 Relentless simulator
to test the ergonomics and flight characteristics
of the “super medium” helicopter design. Note the
side-stick configuration of the fly-by-wire controls.
14 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
to use the simulator to test the outcomes. If anything disap-
points the review panel, all efforts are made to correct the
problem.
Consequently, sources say that the layout of the ARC
Horizon and Garmin G-5000H touchscreen displays in
the simulator have already been rearranged for aircraft
#0001. But for now, the aircraft’s unique fly-by-wire (FBW)
side-stick configuration for the cyclic and the collective are
features that will reach the production model. And I can see
why. With just a couple of quick and easy adjustments to the
high-back seat and forearm rests, sitting in the real 525 will be
like sitting in an easy chair.
If the flight model of the simulator is an accurate repre-
sentation of how the actual aircraft will handle, the flying
example of the Bell 525 will be as automated or as basic as the
pilot wants at any given time. Hover position is held by GPS
information, and can be tweaked by displacing the cyclic a
half-inch in the desired direction, or with the cyclic-mounted
hat switch. Transitioning to forward flight, performing alti-
tude changes and making heading adjustments is a simple
matter of moving the controls farther, or “beeping” the hat
switches on the collective and cyclic with more authority.
To let the aircraft capture and hold the new numbers, just let
Photo by Ernie Stephens
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Rotorcraft Report

Photo by Ernie Stephens

Garmin screens up close during a simulated Bell 525 flight.
 


 

Photo by Ernie Stephens

  



Full view of the Bell 525 flight

training device that the company
brought to Heli-Expo.

the controls go. In fact, if you want

to manually manipulate one control,
just grab it and fly it. The 525 will
automatically relinquish it to you,
and maintain the others as previously
directed.
For grins, I headed for an oil rig
depicted about five miles dead ahead
in the simulation. I made most of the
approach to the pad by beeping in
my heading, rate of descent, and rate 
of closure choices. I carried out my              
second approach without any auto-  
mation just to find the 525’s manners
to be equally impressive. If the simu- 
lator is any indication of how the real          
aircraft will fly, pilots of the Bell 525 
Relentless will find a helicopter that is

comfortable, user friendly, and willing  
to accept as much or as little hands-
on control as is offered by the aviator.
It should prove to be an interesting 
ship to drive. —By Ernie Stephens, 
Editor-at-Large

W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 15

 Rotorcraft Report

■ MILITARY | PROCUREMENT

AgustaWestland India Dispute: More Smoke Than Fire?

The expectation would have us believe. When questioned about the Indian
of a battle royale corruption allegation, Romiti commented along the lines
between the press that “the situation with the Indian government [regarding
and the manage- the contract] has not yet been effected by the stories that
ment team from have emanated from the Italian press.”

Photo by Andrew Parker

AgustaWestland at An industry source indicated that an ex-Finmeccanica
the company’s press employee initiated the whole story, being able to make
conference on the certain accusations that have been followed up without full
eve of the opening and irrefutable substantiation or documentary evidence.
of Heli-Expo in The whole saga is also influenced by the politicking of how
L a s Ve ga s over the Italian judiciary “conducts business.”
Roberto Garavaglia and new the alleged Indian Romiti on March 4 reconfirmed that the Indian Minis-
AgustaWestland CEO Daniele Romiti AW101 sc and al try of Defence had issued a press release in February stating
during the company’s Heli-Expo press in India did not that they believed the process of selection of the AW101
conference. materialize. had been carried correctly and in a competitive environ-
Instead, newly appointed CEO Daniele Romiti (since ment. Romiti continued: “The contract is going on even
February 21) and longstanding employee Roberto Garava- though the payment has been put on hold.” When asked
glia, senior vice president of marketing, treated the event about ongoing contact with the Indian Central Bureau
with only passing references to the arrest of Finmeccanica of Investigation (CBI), he stated: “They asked to know
chief Giuseppe Orsi and the allegations of corruption over more and we made ourselves immediately available so we
the Indian AW101 procurement. arranged for a full pack of documents to be sent—so full
Either the press didn’t “press” hard enough, or there really transparency.” —By Andrew Drwiega, International Bureau
is a lot of smoke without much fire, as the speaker panel Chief/Consultant

■ PRODUCTS | AIRFRAMES

Enstrom Introduces Garmin G1000H Option

Enstrom Helicopter of Menominee, Mich. used Heli-Expo 2013 firm based in a region where
in Las Vegas as a backdrop for the introduction of a Garmin rotorcraft sales are expected
G1000H flight control option for its 480B light turbine aircraft. to quadruple soon, dove-
The fully integrated system is primarily a flight information tailed with Mullins’ second
source that provides terrain avoidance, collision awareness, announcement, which was
weather and engine data on two, panel-mounted displays. the sale of 10 Enstrom heli-
Photo by Andrew Parker

“It’s already been flying and we’re in the certification pro- copters to its parent com-
cess,” Enstrom President Jerry Mullins explained to a gathering pany in Chongqing.
of conference attendees. “We think it’s an innovation that’s With a population of 28
really going to propel our product to compete in the industry.” million residents, Chongq-
Mullins expects the system package to sell for approxi- ing is the fourth largest
mately $155,000 and to receive FAA certification by Septem- metropolitan area in China.
ber 2013.The first aircraft example will go to long-time cus- It currently operates six
tomer Rick Boswell, who approached Enstrom about adding Enstrom aircraft, and will
the system to their product line as an option. be ordering another 15 heli- Enstrom CEO Jerry Mullins and
“You’re going to see a lot of new improvements like this.” copters from the company Guo Huaqiang, an official with
parent company CQHIC.
Mullins said. “It’s exciting for us.” in the near future.
Enstrom’s sales figures had been suffering for many years, “We’re seeing a great change in the company coming
mostly due to its larger, more financially backed competi- from our new ownership,” Mullins proudly stated. “So, you’re
tion. But in late December of 2012, the 53-year-old com- going to see a new Enstrom on the horizon, and some great
pany was purchased by Chongqing Helicopter Investment Co. things are going to be happening here!” —By Ernie Stephens,
(CQHIC), of Chongqing, China. The infusion of cash from a Editor-at-Large

16 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

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 Rotorcraft Report
■ TRAINING | SAFETY
Roundup: Training, Awareness Take Center Stage at Heli-Expo
Walking through the long hallways
of the Las Vegas Convention Center
during HAI’s Heli-Expo in early March,
I didn’t have to go far to see some sort of
ongoing safety event. Whether it was a
class on accident prevention, HFACS or
safety management systems (SMS), the
show was overwhelmingly conspicuous
with safety awareness. I was impressed
with the number of members who
wanted to learn more about SMS or
other safety initiatives. My plan going
into Heli-Expo was to find every safety
training session, town hall and safety
committee meeting to observe what
topics were under discussion.
Heli-Expo started with the Safety
Symposium and guest speaker Robert
Sumwalt from the National Transporta-
tion Safety Board (NTSB). He spoke on
SMS, its four components and why it is
important. He focused on the impor-
tance of providing corporate flight
departments with a formal safety man-
agement program. He finished by asking
the question, “Do you have a good safety
culture?” It’s doing the right thing when
no one is looking. SMS must be used
every day and rules must be written so
that people can follow them, not just to
cover legal issues, Sumwalt noted.
During HAI’s annual Board Meet-
ing and Press Conference, we talked
about the statistics of the event. There
were more than 60 aircraft on display
and 20,000-plus attendees. HAI boasts
a membership of 3,355 organizations,
which includes members in 71 coun-
tries. There were more than 1,000 stu-
dents attending classes with over 50
courses offered including 20 dedicated
to safety.
At the Safety Directors Forum,
HFACS and our role in accident preven-
tion was a main topic. We then discussed
the Heinrich ratio, which states that 95
percent of accidents are human error and
for every fatal accident there are 10 non-
fatal incidents, 30 reportable incidents
and 600 at-risk behavioral actions.
18 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
Other HAI-offered Rotor
Safety Challenge Education
courses included Quantum
Safety Metrics, SMS, Safety
Training, Operational Risk
Management, Aeronautical
Photo by Keith Cianfrani
Knowledge vs. What Pilots
Should Know, Creating a Just
Culture, Accident Causation,
Safety Management, Human
Factors in Accident Preven-
tion, Safety Issues in Helicop-
ter Maintenance and IS-BAO TSI’s D Smith (left) presents Moral Courage award to
audit qualification courses. Bond CEO Richard Mintern. See story on page 19.
HAI Safety Committee
and IHST member Terry Palmer hosted ting a thumbs-up from the OEM), and
the Safety Town Hall Meeting. First up how management backed them up and
was Red Bull Helicopter Aerobatic Pilot delayed the flight until the concern was
Chuck Aaron, who is the only helicopter rectified. (See story on page 19.) The
aerobatic pilot with FAA approval. He other recipient was USCG for a decision
spoke on his background and how he made by the crew of a MH-60T based
performs in his specially designed MBB out of Air Station Kodiak, Alaska. This
105. He emphasized safety discipline in crew made a tough call to abandon a
all aspects of his flying. He stated that he rescue attempt because to the high risk
has countless hours of experience and of the mission—something the Coast
encouraged everyone not to try aero- Guard almost never does.
batic maneuvers. He hopes to inspire The message is simple—safe opera-
young engineers and other aviation tional practices ensure operational suc-
professionals to develop and design bet- cess and sustained profitability. What’s
ter aircraft. Aaron also stated he always more, if we recognize the organization
has an exit strategy while flying as he for supporting the decision of the crew
develops a process for new maneuvers we will send a huge message to the
prior to every new flight profile. By FAA industry that a positive safety culture is
agreement, Aaron is allowed to pull attainable, meaningful, and preferred.
no more than 1.0 negative-G and 3.5 Start sending in your nominations for
positive-G forces. next year’s award.
For me, the highlight of Heli-Expo The International Helicopter Safety
was the presentation of first annual Team (IHST) announced that Robinson
“Moral Courage Award,” sponsored by Helicopter CEO Kurt Robinson has
the U.S. Transportation Safety Institute joined its Executive Committee and will
(TSI) and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical be co-chairman.
University. Both aircrew members and As the convention came to a close
organizations from several categories and I took a final walk around the con-
of the rotorcraft community were eli- vention floor. I had a good feeling that
gible for nomination. This year there safety management was alive and well.
were two recipients—Bond Offshore I was glad to see an emphasis on safety
Helicopter and the U.S. Coast Guard. with smaller operators, heightened
The Bond award focused around two safety awareness and a genuine zest for
maintainers who were not comfortable learning safety management. Bravo!
about releasing an aircraft (despite get- —By Keith Cianfrani
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

■ PUBLIC SERVICE | SAFETY
TSI Gives Moral Courage Award to Bond, USCG Alaska
The U.S. Transportation Safety Institute
(TSI), in partnership with Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University and HAI’s
Safety Committee, presented the first
ever “Moral Courage Award” to Bond
Offshore Helicopters and the U.S. Coast
Guard during a ceremony at Heli-Expo.
TSI’s D Smith noted that “for the
first time ever, we’re going to present an
award to individuals and organizations
who say: ‘We will not do it. We will not
unknowingly accept risk when the risk
outweighs the benefit, and we want to
foster a culture within our organization
that promotes that.’ So that’s what the
award is really about.”
The Bond award was centered
around two maintenance technicians—
Sean Newlands and John Crowthers—
who were not comfortable about releas-
ing an aircraft, despite getting approval
from the OEM, and how management
backed them up and delayed the flight
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
until the issue was resolved. Receiving
the award was Bond Aviation CEO Rich-
ard Mintern, who brought along Simon
Stewart, Bond’s group safety director.
Smith explained what happened at
Bond. “Two maintenance technicians
found an issue with an aircraft. The OEM
and other folks said the aircraft was OK
to fly, and just to monitor it for 10 hours,”
he noted. “The two maintenance techni-
cians decided that they weren’t comfort-
able with that, so they took the aircraft
out of service and delayed a departure
by about three hours to go pick up some
folks off an oil rig. They brought it in the
hangar, performed the maintenance on
it, brought it back out, put it in service
and it took off three hours late. That
might not seem remarkable, but I think
it is, and they deserve to be recognized
for that.” Smith continued that the tech-
nicians “stood up and said: ‘We’re not
comfortable with it,’ and that decision
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E
Rotorcraft Report
takes great moral courage, especially
when the rest of the world says it’s OK,
let’s take off.” What’s more, he added, is
that Mintern “sought those maintenance
technicians out, stood them up in public
and said job well done, and oh by the way,
this is the direction that I want our safety
culture to migrate in. That’s remarkable.
And for a CEO to do that, it takes great
moral courage.”
Smith pointed out that the Bond
award came about after TSI staff “read
an article in Rotor & Wing magazine, and
it highlighted the story I just told you.”
[To read the story see “Every Day Safety
Plan,” November 2012 issue, page 4.]
TSI awarded USCG out of Air
Station Kodiak, Alaska for a decision
to abandon a rescue attempt with an
MH-60T because of high risk. On hand
at Heli-Expo to receive the award was
Lt. Adam Spencer. —By Andrew Parker,
Editor-in-Chief
19
 Rotorcraft Report
■ PRODUCTS | AVIONICS
Cobham Demos HeliSAS During Heli-Expo
Cobham, the avionics firm based in
Mineral Wells, Texas, arrived at Heli-
Expo 2013 with HeliSAS, the company’s
sleek autopilot system specifically
designed for the light helicopter
market. Weighing in at a scant 15 lbs.,
the system, which was designed for
Part 27-catagory helicopters in VFR
conditions, is capable of providing
hands-off flight for pilots across the
pitch and roll axis. (Power and yaw
remain the responsibility of the pilot.)
Edwards & Associates, Bell Heli-
copter’s completions subsidiary in
Piney Flats, Tenn., first installed Heli-
SAS in a Bell 206B. I flew it there in
summer 2010. But I also accepted a sec-
ond opportunity to see it perform over
the desert outside of Las Vegas during
Heli-Expo 2013. This time, it was
installed aboard a privately owned Bell
407. (It is also certified for the 206B, and
the Eurocopter AS350 and EC130.)
The control panel is trim, with
Ernie Stephens (right) with pilot Frank King
preparing to test out Cobham’s HeliSAS.
Photo by Barry Schwartz
Pilot and crew prepare the Bell 407 for a HeliSAS demo flight.
20 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
activation buttons and corresponding
LEDs for the stability augmentation
system (SAS), heading hold (HDG),
navigation mode (NAV), back course
tracking (BC), altitude hold (ALT) and
vertical navigation or “glide slope” hold
(VRT). To keep the size, weight, and
price down, it does not have the knobs
or display windows found on standard
autopilot consoles, with means you
cannot dial in changes using the unit
itself. Instead, it merely holds pitch and
roll where the pilot had it upon system
activation, or steers the aircraft to cap- Cobham HeliSAS is
an autopilot system
ture and hold a course dialed into the
designed for light
helicopter’s navigation system. helicopters.
While not sounding like much
when compared to a full-service, four-
axis autopilot found aboard much
larger and more expensive helicopters,
HeliSAS does something most shopper
pilots want to do once in a while: Take
their hands off the cyclic and the col-
lective for a bit to consult charts, open
a bottle of water, or just take a stretch.
Couple up the unit to the aircraft’s
EFIS system—a Garmin G500, in this
case—and if the helicopter’s attitude is
disrupted within the envelope of plus Bell 407 panel including Garmin display
or minus 5 degrees roll and within screens shown flying over the desert near
+11 and -6 degrees pitch, HeliSAS will Las Vegas, Nevada.
return to within plus or minus 1 degree
of the set attitude. aircraft on a heading 120 degrees, and
After takeoff from North Las Vegas an altitude of 4,400 feet MSL. Bumping
Airport (VGT), HeliSAS was coupled the cyclic in any direct simply caused
up to hold altitude and heading. As HeliSAS to self-correct without hunt-
advertised, I was able to sit with my ing. Of course, if you pull the aircraft
hands in my lap as the system kept the into a 90-degree bank, the system will
assume you want control back, and
decouple itself. But generally, it earns
the trust that most light helicopter
pilots are hesitant to give to a little box.
Dialing in the ILS for Runway 12L
at VGT and putting the system in SAS,
NAV and VRT modes lined us up
Photos by Ernie Stephens
with the beams, and brought well past
decision height. The only requirement
from the human part of the system was
to reduce power, adjust the pedals, and
talk to the tower. —By Ernie Stephens,
Editor-at-Large
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Focus

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■ PRODUCTS | AIRFRAMES

Robinson Reports a Productive 2012, Promising 2013

At its annual press conference held during Heli-Expo in service centers increased from
March, Robinson Helicopter Co. President Kurt Robinson 422 to 433.
reported impressive 2012 sales for its three-model line of “South America was huge,

Photo by Ernie Stephens

rotorcraft. Its new R66 turbine, sales-leading R44 piston, and
two-seat R22 all kept the company’s 617,000-square-foot
assembly plant in Torrence, Calif. busy throughout the year.
And, according to its order book, sales should increase in
2013, in spite of various external economic issues.
“The economy for the last couple of years—whether it’s
been domestic or foreign—has been quite a challenge for a
lot of companies,” said Robinson, who took over as president
when his father and company founder Frank Robinson
retired several years ago. “Interestingly enough, I can tell you
that it really hasn’t impacted us. Our sales were up last year,
considerably.”
Robinson reported that the 517 helicopters sold in 2012
represent a 45 percent increase over the 356-unit figure for
the previous year. New aircraft deliveries consisted of 191
R66s, 286 R44s, and 40 R22s. He attributed much of the com-
pany’s ability to remain productive in a struggling U.S. econo-
my to robust sales in foreign markets—70 percent, according
to his numbers. To support those aircraft, factory-authorized

Brazil in particular,” reported
Robinson. “We had a lot of sales
of all of our models down there,
followed by Australia, Russia, and
then finally South Africa.”
Robinson’s big project in 2012,
however, was getting Equivalent Robinson CEO Kurt Robinson
at the company’s Heli-Expo
Level of Safety (ELOS) certifica- 2013 press briefing.
tion from the FAA for the R66’s
hydraulic control system. Normally, an aircraft must have
a backup hydraulic system in case the primary one fails or
becomes jammed. Robinson engineers, however, were able
to prove that a pilot could still control an R66 if the hydrau-
lics malfunctioned, thus avoiding the need for a redundant
system, entirely. This earned the R66 an ELOS certification
in February of 2013, which Robinson hopes will clear the
way for the aircraft to be approved in Canada, Europe and
Russia. More than 300 R66 turbine-powered helicopters are
now in operation, resulting in approximately 6,000 hours of

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flight time across the product line. With
customer orders for new aircraft and
demand for additional features running
high, Robinson said the manufacturer is
on track to beat its 2012 sales figures for
helicopters.
The company will also use 2013 to
put various upgrades into production,
such as a cargo hook and floats for the
R66, an optional 25-ampere battery for
the R66, a fuel bladder system for the
R22, and the latest Garmin touch-screen
displays and communication suites for
all of its models.
RHC will also move toward a more
environmentally friendly helicopter.
“We are going to try—hopefully within
the first half of [2013]—to have Lycom-
ing give us approvals on all of our pistons
engines so they can operate on unleaded
fuel,” said Robinson. “I not only think it
environmentally the right thing to do,
it kind of bothers me that it hasn’t been
done. I think it’s worth doing.” —By Ernie
Stephens, Editor-at-Large
With thanks to our sponsors who made the
2013 CHC Safety & Quality Summit possible
PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Rotorcraft Report
■ COMMERCIAL | AVIONICS
Garmin Optimizes GTN Series for
Helicopter Operators
The GTN series of GPS Nav/Comm, Garmin’s successor to the popular GNS 430
and 530 GPS Nav/Comm systems, made its debut in March of 2011. Featuring a
touchscreen interface and multifunction display (MFD), it is continuing to
gain popularity in the fixed-wing community. This year, Garmin announces
its optimization for helicopter operations. The GTN series has an already
impressive suite of multifunction display features including the ability to access
traffic info, datalinked weather or weather radar. As an option, it can control a
remote-mounted transponder and audio processor as well.
The helicopter version of the GTN series will have hardware enhanced
to meet more stringent helicopter vibration and temperature requirements.
Software modifications will include provisions for Helicopter terrain awareness
and warning system (HTAWS) with exceptional terrain resolution, and optional
night vision goggle compatibility.
If integrating a GMA 35 audio processor into the system, helicopter opera-
tors can take advantage of Garmin’s “Telligence” voice command technology,
allowing pilots to keep their hands on the controls.
In lieu of using voice commands, and to more accurately use the touchscreen,
Garmin thoughtfully designed an ergonomic shelf on the bezel to help with
finger placement. For those who are not yet ready for full touchscreen operation,
the GTN units have a set of multipurpose knobs to dial in frequencies, codes, or
numerical data. —By Frank Lombardi
Please join
the aviation
community
for the 10th annual
CHC Safety &
Quality Summit
March 31 – April 1, 2014
In Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada
www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 23
 Rotorcraft Report

PEOPLE
CAE has hire d
Denny Brisley for
the newly created
position of director
for operations in
Washington, D.C.
She will carry out the senior executive
role for CAE in the region, supporting
its Defense and Security business unit,
as well as government relations. Brisley
comes from SIAC, where she was a
senior market development executive.
She also served as an expert at the Office
of Secretary of Defense, and worked as
director of maritime domain awareness
at General Dynamics Advanced
Information Systems. Brisley is a U.S.
Navy Reserve captain in Intelligence and
the Information Dominance Corps. She
is the recipient of the Secretary of the
Navy’s Superior Civilian Service award,
and multiple military decorations.
The International Helicopter Safety
Team (IHST) is designating a pair of its
current executives to lead the U.S. Heli-
copter Safety Team (USHST). James
Viola of FAA’s Flight Standards division
will serve as co-chair as the government
representative and Bill Chiles, president
and CEO of Bristow Group, is the indus-
try co-chair of USHST.
coming events
StandardAero’s
Helicopters division
in Winnipeg has
hired Chad Kaatz
as director of engi-
neering. He will be
based in Winnipeg but assist each of
the company’s worldwide helicopter
sites, including the three Canadian loca-
tions (the other two are Montreal and
Vancouver), as well as global locations
in Charlotte, N.C., Sydney, Australia
and Singapore. Kaatz, who comes from
Boeing Canada, will oversee engineering
tech support and engine repairs.
Brian Dannewitz is the new presi-
dent of Professional Aviation Associates,
a Greenwich Aero-
Group company. He
previously worked
as vice president of
aftermarket support
services for Elbit
Systems of America/M7 Aerospace. Fol-
lowing service as an aircraft maintainer
with the U.S. Army National Guard and
Reserve, Dannewitz has worked in lead-
ership positions with companies such
as United Technologies Corp’s Pratt &
Whitney, Northwest Airlines, Midway
Airlines and AAR Defense Systems.
LCR Electronics
or Norristown, Pa.
has appointed John
Long as vice presi-
dent of its Integrated
Systems business
unit. He replaces Rinaldo Minicucci,
who is planning to retire after 14 years
working for the company. Minicucci
initially joined LCR Electronics in 1999
as vice president of sales and marketing,
and took over the Integrated Systems
division when the company purchased
Malco Technologies in 2003. Long was
most recently director of product man-
agement for Radisys.
Fargo, N.D.-based Spectrum Aer-
omed director of engineering Justin
Mahler recently
received a “40 Most
Influential People
under 40” award
from a North
Dakota-based pub-
lication. Mahler started working at
Spectrum Aeromed in 2007. He is also
Spectrum’s Designated Engineering
Representative (DER) for the FAA.
According to Spectrum Aeromed,
Mahler is one of the youngest DERs in
the United States.

April 8-10: Navy Lead Sea-Air-Space Exposition, Gaylord May 21–23: European Business Aviation Convention
National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Md. Visit and Exhibition (EBACE), Geneva PALEXPO and Geneva
www.seaairspace.org International Airport, Geneva, Switzerland. Visit www.ebace.aero

April 9-11: Aircraft Interiors Expo, Hamburg Messe, Hamburg,
Germany. Visit www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com
April 10–14: Quad-A Annual Convention, Fort Worth,
Texas. Contact Quad-A, phone 1-203-268-2450 or visit www.
quad-a.org
June 17–23: Paris Airshow, Le Bourget, Paris, France. Visit
www.paris-air-show.com
July 29-Aug. 4: EAA AirVenture, Wittman Regional Airport,
Oshkosh, Wis. Visit www.eaa.org

April 16–18: Asian Business Aviation Conference &
Exhibition (ABACE 2013), Shanghai, China. Contact NBAA,
phone 1-202-783-9000 or visit www.abace.aero
May 16–18: 6th International Helicopter Industry Exhibition,
Moscow, Russia. Contact HeliRussia, phone +7 (0) 495 958
9490 or visit helirussia.ru/en
May 21–23: AHS International 69th Annual Forum and
Technology Display, Phoenix, Ariz. Contact AHS, phone 1-703-
684-6777 or visit www.vtol.org
Aug. 12-15: Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems 2013, Walter E.
Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Visit www.
auvsi.org
Oct. 10-12: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Aviation
Summit, Fort Worth, Texas. Visit www.aopa.org.
Oct. 21-23: AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, Walter E.
Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Visit www.
ausa.org

24 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

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 COMMERCIAL | EVENT COVERAGE

Bristow EC175 at the Eurocopter booth.

Photo by Frank Lombardi

Sergei Sikorsky gives a copy of

his father Igor’s legendary hat,
“the world’s first crash helmet,”
to Bristow Group President &
CEO William Chiles during an

SIZEABLE FLE
S-76D unveiling event.

NEW ENG
ACTIVE H
Offshore, EMS fleet purchases headlin
Photo by Andrew Parker

a number of completions, delivery an

February 2014 in Anaheim, Calif.

26 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

 Heli-Expo Wrap

Russian Helicopters Kamov

Ka-32A11BC on the show floor
in Las Vegas.

Photo by Ernie Stephens

EET PURCHASE ORDERS,

giNes DomiNate
Heli-expo 2013
ne this year’s Las Vegas-based convention, which could set the stage for
nd aftermarket developments at next year’s tradeshow, scheduled for late
By Andrew Parker, Editor-in-Chief, and Andrew Drwiega, International Bureau Chief

W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 27

 COMMERCIAL | EVENT COVERAGE
H
AI’s Heli-Expo played host
to 60 helicopters and 736
exhibitors in Las Vegas
while attracting 20,393
visitors during the three-day event in
early March. The oil and gas sector
was a principle beneficiary of many
of the orders signed with the major
OEMs during this year’s show.
The first official customer for
Eurocopter’s new EC175 helicopter
was revealed to be Bristow Group,
with an agreement for 12 aircraft
and provisions for further options.
Eurocopter, which reported a total of
69 bookings at the show, has stated
that it has firm orders for 29 EC175s.
Bristow also purchased 10 Pratt &
Milestone Aviation Chairman Richard Santulli (center) receives a plaque from Turbomeca CEO
Olivier Andries (right) for an SBH agreement at Turbomeca’s Heli-Expo press conference.
Photo by Ernie Stephens
Photo by Ernie Stephens
28 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
Whitney PW210S-powered S-76Ds
from Sikorsky, with an option for
another 16 of the type.
Alongside that, Milestone Avia-
tion Group placed an order for 30
helicopters from Sikorsky, comprised
of 23 S-92s and seven S-76Ds. The
leasing firm also bought 14 EC225s
and 5 EC175s—which, according to
Eurocopter, increased its order back-
log from Milestone to nearly $1 bil-
lion. An agreement to market Mile-
stone’s portfolio supported by Euro-
copter’s Parts-by-the-Hour (PBH)
support services was also announced.
Milestone has also teamed with Tur-
bomeca to establish a Support-by-
the-Hour (SBH) engine program.
Three separate customers
announced orders for the debut of
the mid-size, multipurpose twin-
engine EC135 T3/P3. Air Methods
and Norsk Luftambulanse ordered
six each for EMS missions, while Aiut
Alpin Dolomites was specified for
mountain rescue.
Bell Helicopter announced a total
of 50 helicopter sales during the show,
including an order for 30 aircraft—24
Bell 407s and six Bell 206L4—from
Air Medical Group Holdings, which
follows a December 2012 Air Meth-
ods order for 20 helicopters. Bell also
reported purchases for 20 aircraft
from international operators, and
unveiled the 412EPI and 407GT, an
armed version of the 407GX with
Garmin avionics.
During the annual “Russian Hour,”
a briefing introduced two recently
unveiled aircraft from Russian Heli-
copters, the Mi-171A2 and the Ka-62.
At the outset of the briefing Helicop-
ter Association International Presi-
dent Matt Zuccaro, welcomed the
Russian helicopter industry to HAI
by saying all helicopter operators
share the same issues: “Our common-
ality is much closer than many people
Show floor of Heli-Expo 2013 at the Las
Vegas Convention Center looking toward L-3,
Milestone Aviation and Sikorsky booths.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
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 COMMERCIAL | EVENT COVERAGE
Rolls-Royce M250-C47E on display at the company’s Heli-Expo booth.
realize.” Mikhail Dubrovin then said:
“Russian Helicopters has an order
book for 820 helicopters with a com-
bined value of over $12 billion. That
is more than three times the amount
of helicopters we delivered in 2011.”
Potential is seen in the BRIC coun-
tries, as well as southeast Asia. He
said that “customers want more than
sales; they want a comprehensive ser-
vice, including training.” He pointed to
expanding relationships with interna-
tional OEMs, including an agreement
to develop a 2.5-ton helicopter with
AgustaWestland. The first test flight
of this new helicopter took place at the
end of last year, he added.
Turbomecca unveiled its new
Arrano 1,100-hp turboshaft engine
on the floor at HAI, after a prelimi-
nary display by a team of acrobats.
Its 3D graphic video also added a
touch of the “wow” factor and many
crowded around the display cabinet.
Arrano (in the Basque language it
means Eagle), otherwise known as
the TM800, will power Eurocopter’s
X4 next generation helicopter. (See
story on page 10.)
Rolls-Royce introduced its M250-
C47E engine along with a new smart-
phone application and additional ser-
vices for RR300 operators. The U.S.
30 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
Navy is the military launch customer
for the M250-C47E, and will incorpo-
rate it into the MQ-8C Fire Scout.
Honeywell’s 15th Turbine-Pow-
ered Civil Helicopter Purchase Out-
look, released at the show, forecasts
a market for 4,900-5,600 new civil
helicopters from 2013 to 2017.
The report identifies strong
demand over the next three years
from all regions of the world, with
delivery rates expected to reach 1,000
units per year.
Erickson Air-Crane President and
CEO Udo Rieder inked an agree-
ment to purchase the Aerial Services
business of Brazilian oil & gas com-
pany HRT, Air Amazonia, which cur-
rently operates seven Sikorsky S-61s;
five Bell 212s; and two Eurocopter
AS350s.
This heralds Erickson’s entry into
the medium helicopter market. Once
the operational routine is established
there is a possibility to widen the
service to Petrobras, Brazil’s interna-
tional energy corporation.
Columbia Helicopters has added
1 0 ex-Sw e d i sh D e p a r t m e nt o f
Defense Vertols to its fleet, compris-
ing six Boeing Vertol 107-II and four
Kawasaki Vertol 107-IIs. There are
now 27 Vertol helicopters in the
Photo by Barry Schwartz
Columbia fleet.
Ramco Systems released its MRO
software for small-scale operators.
Ramco Aviation for Cloud is a tai-
lored version of the company’s gen-
eral MRO software solution, but
for small fleet operators. Ramco
vice chairman and managing direc-
tor, PR Venketrama Raja, said: “We
understand that the needs of a small
operator are very different and we
have tailor made a solution that will
address their needs most effectively,
at a fraction of the cost of traditional
software.” He said that over the past
five months, five customers have
signed for the software.
One of those was Hevilift Group,
an Asia-Pacific aviation charter com-
pany with a fleet exceeding 50 air-
craft. Colin Seymoour, Hevilift’s
managing director, said: “This offers
one solution for multiple operations.
I believe it is a good fit for who we are
and what we do. It will help us track
the cost of our operation and mainte-
nance to a high standard.”
Read additional coverage in the
Rotorcraft Report section starting
on page 10. For more photos, stories
and videos from Heli-Expo 2013,
visit www.rotorandwing.com
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Spring 2013 rotorandwing.com

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 PRODUCTS | AIRFRAMES
Military Insider
By Andrew Drwiega
A Lesson in Media Engagement
T
he surprise resignation of
Eurocopter’s CEO, Dr. Lutz
Bertling, who sees a better
future away from rotorcraft
as president and chief operating officer
of Berlin-based Bombardier Transpor-
tation, is an undisputable loss to the
helicopter industry in general.
Since his appointment in November
2006—replacing Fabrice Brégier, who
moved “up the ladder” within EADS
to become chief operating officer of
Airbus—Bertling seemed to quickly
grasp the pace of growing Eurocopter
worldwide against its competitors.
Bertling has gained the respect of
many of my fellow journalists for his
ability to take-on the media “toe-to-
toe,” both though his open presentation
style, and in the question and answer
sessions that inevitably follow. In his
annual January address to the Europe-
an aviation press in Paris, he delivered
a detailed summary of Eurocopter’s
past performance, current position and
future goals.
Unlike the majority of his peers, his
style is to be open and engaging rather
than the more common guarded and
reluctant. He has mastered the abil-
ity of parting with a volume of useful
information—always eagerly soaked
up by the media’s sponge-like thirst for
detail—while rarely giving any hint of
concern or insight into programs that
Eurocopter wanted to keep “close to
its chest.” Yet he does take questions on
those difficult subjects. Most recently
he has had to answer questions regard-
ing the EC225 accidents in the North
Sea, and the grounding of the aircraft
type. These were awkward moments,
as they would be for anyone in his
position, yet he tried to explain why it
is taking time to resolve the issue—and
this is a problem that strikes at the heart
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
of Eurocopter’s oft espoused focus
on safety.
Yet he faced the press alone on stage
with only very occasional references to
colleagues offstage for clarification. His
style is to lead from the front, guiding
his audience page-by-page through his
presentation. Even when in the United
States, at his final Heli-Expo conference
in Las Vegas, he was almost leading the
head of American Eurocopter, Mark
Paganini, in a vaudeville routine. It was
nearly entertainment, but not quite, as
the professional Bertling would never
let it go that far. In these times where
the press is continually fed marketing
messages and sound bites thinly dis-
guised as news, and where regurgitated
content is prized over useful engage-
ment, Bertling clearly stood out from
the crowd. His presence will be genu-
inely missed.
This is not to undermine in any
way his successor Guillaume Faury, 45,
who already has a 10-year track history
between 1998 and 2008 with the EADS
helicopter division and who has been
brought in from Peugeot S.A., where he
held the position of executive vice pres-
ident for research and development.
While he is sure to have his own style
and ideas about how to engage with the
media, he would be wise to follow the
basic TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and
Procedures) so well practiced by his
predecessor.
So what does Bertling see in another
industry sector that has enough poten-
tial to pull him away from a future with
Eurocopter and, like his predecessor, a
possible career further up the executive
ladder at EADS? At a time when the
helicopter is arguably more valued by
both the civil and military than at any
time in its history, where there are more
helicopter types to fit to individual
JA NAUA
niche sectors and where Eurocopter is a
world heavyweight in its sector?
Well, could he be following the
mantra of it is best to leave at, or near,
the top? Does he feel it has reached
its zenith and the challenges being
arranged against it from budgetary to
developmental and the growth of inter-
national competitors mean that harder
times lay ahead? In partly answering
that Eurocopter has already shown its
resilience to change in rolled out its
X3 with a successful tour of the United
States last year. It is advancing with its
X4 project and has X6 and X9 being
worked on in the wings. It also has good
contacts and presumably business
opportunities within the developing
BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
countries.
Does Bertling see a terminal lack of
procurement from the global military
in the years to come as a major issue,
and does he see recent development
such as the Boeing/Sikorsky partner-
ship as one which the X3 and others
will struggle against, making Eurocop-
ter’s inexorable performance impos-
sible to maintain for too much longer?
Without doubt the pace of life and
travels that a Eurocopter CEO must
endure is scary due to the nature of the
organization’s global reach. From India
to Brazil, back to Europe and then the
United States, not to mention his duties
as an EADS executive committee
member—the travel must take its toll.
But I would suggest that it is not in
Bertling’s character to avoid problems
or be phased by the workload or the
competition. Rather, this very enthusi-
astic, competent and positive German
industrialist is more likely to have set his
eyes on new challenges to test his skills
in a new environment. We say herzli-
chen dank and good luck Lutz.
P RRI YL 2 0 1 31 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 3
M3
Contents R&W’s Military Insider
Spring 2013

M5

Bell’s new 407GT, a military

DEPARTMENTS version of the Bell 407GX, at

the company’s Heli-Expo booth.
Photo by Frank Lombardi
M3 Military Insider by Andrew Drwiega

M4 R&D Report: DARPA Seeks Speed, Capability with VTOL X-Plane

Program; Bell Proposes Third-Generation Tiltrotor for JMR

FEATURES
M8 ■ Flying Through the Ceiling
HATSOFF, the joint venture of CAE and HAL, is gearing up for spectacular growth
in demand for synthetic training as the Indian market expands. By Andrew Drwiega,
International Bureau Chief/Consultant
M12 ■ FVL: A New Hope in Challenging Times
When the U.S. Army Aviation community met early in the new year, frugality and the need
for platform change seemed to be the message to the industry. By Andrew Drwiega

On the Cover: Graphic showing hypothetical vertical lift designs for DARPA’s VTOL X-Plane program. Cover design by Gretchen Saval
The editors welcome new product information and other industry news. All editorial inquiries should be directed to Rotor & Wing magazine, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., 2nd Floor, Rockville, Md. 20850, USA; 1-301-354-1839; fax 1-301-762-8965. E-mail: rotorandwing@
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M4 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 WWWWWW..RROOTTOORRAANNDDWWIINNGG..CCOOMM

 R&D Report Bell Submits 3G Tiltrotor for JMR M5
AgustaWestland’s Project Zero M5
Future Vertical Lift: A New Hope M12

■ MILITARY | TECHNOLOGY

DARPA: Speed, Efficiency Key to Future VTOL Designs

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched
its VTOL X-Plane program to challenge
industry engineers to dream up “novel
concepts” for the next generation of verti-
cal lift.
During a conference call with report-
ers, VTOL X-Plane Program Manager
Ashish Bagai said that one of the main
objectives is to “not just revisit existing
methods or approaches, but [come up
with] brand new ideas,” as well as the sys-
tems that support these new vertical lift
concepts. He doesn’t want to add to exist-
ing “already complex” rotorcraft designs,
but rather advance “very aggressive solu-
tions” that will allow a VTOL aircraft to
Continued on page M7

■ MILITARY | AIRFRAMES ■ R&D | AIRFRAMES

Bell Submits Third- AgustaWestland Reveals ‘Project Zero’

Generation Tiltrotor for Tiltrotor TD
JMR Tech Demonstrator Fi n m e c c a n i c a s u b s i d i a r y AgustaWestland

AgustaWestland has uncovered

Bell President During an exclusive interview its “Project Zero” effort, which
& CEO John with Rotor & Wing on March is tiltrotor technology demon-
Photo by Andrew Parker

Garrison during 6, Bell Helicopter President &
a March 4 CEO John Garrison detailed
press briefing. the manufacturer’s plans for the
future of tiltrotor technology.
Bell has submitted its own
proposal for the U.S. Army
Aviation Applied Technology
Directorate’s (AATD) Joint
Multi Role (JMR) technology demonstrator (TD). All
proposals had to be received in early March.
Boeing, partner on the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, has sub-
mitted a joint proposal with Sikorsky for a coaxial, pusher
propeller variant which follows the X2 development.
According to Garrison, the V-22 “will remain a part-
nership between Bell and Boeing—there is no change
in the relationship and continue to work together every
strator (TD). The electrically
p owere d aircraft ha s two
integrated rotors that can be
tilted more than 90 degrees and Project Zero tiltrotor technology
long wings, with an appearance demonstrator (TD).
that closer resembles a fixed-
wing aircraft than a traditional helicopter. The demonstrator has been
flying since June 2011 at AgustaWestland’s facility in Cascina Costa, Italy.
CEO Daniele Romiti said that AgustaWestland “strongly believes in the
tiltrotor concept as the future of high-speed rotorcraft flight as it offers
much greater speed and range than compound helicopter technology.”
Photo by Barry Schwartz

single day.”
What did change, he continued, “was the relation-
ship in the JMR. We have proposed a tiltrotor technol-
ogy variant [to AATD]—which is not a V-22. It is a newly
designed third-generation tiltrotor.”
Substantiating this decision, Garrison points to the
AATD’s Operational Effectiveness Analysis Report
for JMR TD, which declared that, “tiltrotor is the most
advantageous technology” for FVL.
“It will probably come down to a competition
between tiltrotor and compound pusher technology,”
said Garrison. “We have no issue with scalability and we
can do 280 knots today, so we feel we are in a very strong
position.” A technology demonstrator will be required in AgustaWestland’s militarized AW139M was among the
the second half of 2017. —By Andrew Drwiega, Interna- helicopters on display at the Las Vegas Convention
tional Bureau Chief/Consultant Center during Heli-Expo in early March.

W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E M5

 Aviation Today is your Internet-hub for market intelligence and business
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17781
 MILITARY INSIDER | NEWS

Russian Helicopters’ Mi-24P is set to surpass 40 years

Continued from page M5 the numerous attempts in the past in operation during 2013.
travel at speeds topping 300 knots that have not worked. This time,
while improving on existing capa- rather than tweaking past designs,

Russian Helicopters
bilities. The ideal proposal will merge we are looking for true cross-polli-
rotary and fixed-wing approaches to nations of designs and technologies
find the “elegant confluence of these between the fixed-wing and rotary-
engineering design paradigms.” wing worlds.” —By Andrew Parker,
Bagai added that systems integra- Editor-in-Chief
tion is another important aspect to
DARPA’s approach. “How do you put
the parts and subsystems together to
improve the system’s efficiency, so
that the system operates at a greater
efficiency than the sum of its parts?”
He noted that the “design space is
wide open. We’re agnostic about
what the aircraft will look like and
encouraging the development of
concepts and innovations.”
The contracts for VTOL X-Plane
will be divided into three stages
over 52 months (four years and four
months), with an estimated budget of
$130 million.
According to Bagai, the first phase
is “an advanced conceptual technol-
ogy maturation phase, and that is the
focus [at this point]. We’re anticipating For All Your Advanced Electronic
multiple awards for that. Phases 2 and Needs There’s One Obvious PIC
3 are system design and development
integration phases, leading into flight
test.” He added that DARPA is looking
PIC Wire & Cable has been making customers’ jobs easier for over
for submissions from a broad base of 40 years by helping to improve platform and system performance,
potential suppliers, and not just the tra- reduce development and manufacturing schedules and lower total
ditional major helicopter OEMs. The costs. Our PICMATES family of products is engineered to meet the
agency would like to “see what unique most stringent performance criteria, covering Light Weight,
capabilities that small companies have Low Loss, High Temperature and EMI immunity.
to offer, in terms of technology, but
also in terms of agile teaming and
rapid design—that’s another important
aspect of performing to this program.”
According to DARPA, one of the
biggest aerodynamic challenges of
the past 50 years has been increasing TAKE A SPIN
the speed of vertical lift platforms, WWW.PICWIRE.COM/ROTOR
which tend to be the most versatile
in terms of the number of missions a
800-742-3191
helicopter can perform, including for
military, SAR, air medical, personnel
transport and other applications.
For the past half-decade, Bagai
noted in a statement, “we have seen
jets go higher and faster while VTOL
aircraft speeds have flat-lined and
designs have become increasingly
complex.” The X-Plane challenge is
not going to be easy, he continued.
“Strapping rockets onto the back
of a helicopter is not the type of
approach we’re looking for. The engi-
neering community is familiar with

WWWWWW. R. ROOT TOOR RAANNDDWWI INNGG. C. COOMM MAAPRRCIHL 2 0 1 23 | | RROTO

OTORR && WWIINNGG MMAGA
AGAZZIINNEE M77
Photo courtesy of CAE MILITARY | TRAINING

By Andrew Drwiega,
International Bureau Chief/Consultant

HATSOFF, the joint venture Indian simulation

center, is gearing up for a spectacular growth in
the demand for synthetic training as the national
market expands. Andrew Drwiega visited the
Bangaluru-based complex during Aero India 2013.

M8 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M


CAE Bell 412 simulator at HATSOFF.
W
ith helicopter numbers
expected to multiply rap-
idly in India over the next
few years, both in the
civil sector and the military, there is a
corresponding rise for synthetic train-
ing, something that is just now coming
to the fore.
A joint venture organization estab-
lished in January 2008 between Hin-
dustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and
CAE, the Canadian simulation and
integrated training provider, now
seems ideally placed to take advantage
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
of this growth.
The quirky, acronym named HAT-
SOFF is located in an area of the city
of Bangaluru in southern India that is
dominated by the state-run aerospace
giant HAL. HATSOFF, the Helicopter
Academy to Train by Simulation of
Flying to give it its full name, was estab-
lished to offer an India-based home
synthetic training center for pilots
of three of the most popular types of
aircraft flown in India: the Bell 412,
Eurocopter’s Dauphin and, of course,
HAL’s Dhruv.
HATSOFF Training Center
Two of the key people behind the
center are CEO Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Ajit
Hari Gadre and chief of training Capt.
Neti Krishna. Gadre is a 37-year vet-
eran of the Indian Army who retired as
Additional Director General of Army
Aviation, a post that came with the
responsibility for managing the opera-
tions, training, maintenance and logis-
tics for Indian Army Aviation. He has
more than 5,000 hours as a helicopter
pilot and is a qualified flying instructor.
Krishna is an ex-Indian Air Force
(IAF) pilot with more than 6,000 hours
and experience spread between 17
helicopter types. He participated in
the design and the development of the
Dhruv helicopter and is an examiner on
the aircraft type.
Once the training center concept
was agreed, building began in 2009 with
the three cockpit simulators that are in
operation today being delivered in quick
succession: the Bell 412 in June 2010, the
Dhruv in May 2011, and lastly the Dau-
phin in December 2011. The expecta-
tion is for the military Dhruv cockpit to
be delivered around March 2014.
HATSOFF provides full mission
simulation certified to Level D (the only
facility in India that currently allows
this). It is certified both by EASA (Level
2) and the Indian Directorate General
of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Level 3.
Although synthetic training is grow-
ing in India, the number of aircraft of
each type in India did not yet warrant
a dedicated training device. Krishna’s
estimate is that there are 28 Bell 412s;
42 Eurocopter Dauphin N3s; and 12
civil Dhruvs (with 60 conventional
military Dhruvs). Hence the reason
that HATSOFF has one roll-on, roll-off
(RORO) “mothership” docking station
fed by three cockpit simulators.
When not in the docking station,
each cockpit can be used as a fixed
training device, allowing students asso-
ciated accreditation. The process of
changing cockpits takes around three
hours. “In a month,” says Krishna, “we
operate the following training pattern:
Weeks 1 and 2, Dhruv; Week 3, Bell
412; Week 4, Dauphin. This pattern
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E M9
 MILITARY | TRAINING
Photo courtesy of CAE
gives visibility to our customers so that
they can plan their training cycles.”
He estimates that there are currently
around 400 pilots for Bell 412s in
India, 600 for Dauphin N3s and 100
(civil) pilots for Dhruvs (although the
military numbers will be increasing
substantially).
“The military already trains with
us on the civil Dhruv but the scope of
their training will increase once the
military simulator is delivered,” stated
Capt. Krishna. “One major difference
is that the light combat helicopter has
the flight crew seated front and back
whereas the standard Dhruv is side-
by-side, therefore there will need to be
some integration modifications before
the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be able
to train here.”
The total training package on offer
includes type rating/conversion, recur-
rent and continuity training, together
with crewman operational role training
including under slung load carrying,
winching and hill operations.
“We have every civil operator in the
country training with us,” said Krishna.
“As far as services, they have the Army
and IAF while the Navy are still decid-
ing what training requirement they
expect in the future. The Bell and Dau-
phin cockpits are almost exclusively
used by civil operators.”
According to Gadre, the DGCA
mandates that every pilot needs to
carry out 10 hours of simulator train-
M10 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
Front of the HATSOFF training
complex in India.
Photo by Andrew Drwiega
ing every two years. Estimat-
ing the amount of business
is therefore relatively simple. HATSOFF management Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Ajit Hari Garde
(center) and chief training officer Capt. Neti Krishna
“We calculate the number of
(right) in front of CAE’s Roll-On Roll-Off docking station
helicopters, multiply by three simulator. They are accompanied by visiting Indian Air
(the number of pilots per Force Commodore Vridhachalem (left).
cockpit), then times that by
two years. We also undertake crewman Annual Training Hours
training for operational rolls including From Start in June 2010
under slung loads and winching.” Fiscal Year Hours
Said Gadre: “India’s mountains can 2010-11 211
reach up very high (over 20,000 feet 2011-12 570
near the Siachen Glacier)—so when 2012-13 1,900
pilots change rolls and have to fly into (1,300 in early February 13)
the hills, particularly an offshore pilot, 2013-14 3,000
they need to be retrained.” (predicted)
The military can benefit from a 2014-15 4,000
cockpit that is partially NVG compat- (predicted)
ible, so helipad landings and takeoffs
are practiced together with nap-of-the
earth flying. “We will again be able to image generator, which is high-res-
do more when the military training olution sharp, together with its liq-
begins,” added Krishna. “The simulator uid crystal on silicon (LCoS) projec-
will become a valuable tool for them. tors. But the heart of the system is the
The armed forces using simulators for huge database, the largest in the world
helicopter pilot training is a concept according to Krishna. “We can show
that has come only in the last three or the marsh area of Gujarat, the desert of
four years. Prior to this everything had Rajasthan, the plains of Punjab—all of
to be learned in the aircraft. We could course very sensitive areas,” explained
never be allowed to make a mistake, Krishna. Kashmir is also included from
which of course you can do in a simu- the low-altitude hills right up to the
lator.” The military version will also Siachen Glacier where the Army still
include weapons firing—which the regularly flies. It is basically a database
military will be keen to practice and cut of the border country with Pakistan,
down on expensive real-firing. which is why it is so appealing to the
A key factor that adds realism to military. There is also a database for the
the training is CAE’s Medallion-6000 Bangaluru area for local pilots.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

In terms of landing areas, there are
three high-resolution airfields and nine
helipads which begin at sea level and
progress up to 20,000 feet, differing in
location such as confined area, table
top, desert, on a mountain spur—all
offering different challenges for pilots to
experience.
Weather is also simulated: updraft,
downdraft, wind shear and turbulence.
There are also around seven types of
oil rig, starting with a simple landing
area to encourage students to increase
their confidence before stepping up in
the complexity of the rig. “We also have
rooftop landing pads which are a relative
recent addition to the challenge for pilots
in India,” adds Krishna.
Each training flight can be recorded and
played back on a four-screen LCD moni-
tor in any one of the eight multi-media
classrooms, although demand only
requires four to be used at the moment.
These are backed up by additional brief-
ing rooms, meaning that there is plenty
of additional capacity.
Residential pilots when not training
have their own air conditioned room
with a study area, together with their
own dining hall, a small gym, entertain-
ment room and even an outdoor area.
Future Growth
Gadre said that the first year of opera-
tion was modest as all their potential
helicopter operator customers were
contracted to other centers in foreign
countries, from Dubai to the United
States. “We invited them to come and
see this facility and were impressed.
We then began winning business
when contracts came up for renewal.”
Photo by Andrew Drwiega
Ground school training at HATSOFF.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
The growth in business has been
at a rate of around 100 percent for
the last three years which was helped
by the widening military contact, but
the rate will normalize at around 40
percent for the next few years as the
number of Indian customers using the
facility hits a zenith for the number of
pilots per type, flattening out as the
simulator time available reaches satu-
ration point.
The management team already has
expansion plans built into their calcu-
lations, in that there is space for a new
simulator docking station next to the
current one. “We will start the plan-
ning process when we pass 70 percent
of our max capacity, which is expect-
ed to be reached around 2015,” said
Gadre. He added that all of the crucial
equipment is on UPS, connected to
both the regular power supply and the
center’s own generator, and already
has the capacity to support another
simulator “mothership.”
However, the real increase in
demand will come when the Dhruv
family of helicopters spread out
throughout the Indian military and
pilots then correspondingly need the
training the center offers.
Krishna said that the manage-
ment is aware of the dangers of the
Indian helicopter market slowing
due to financial restrictions: “We are
conscious of the fact that this growth
rate is due to an increase in demand,
but unless the helicopter industry in
India expands at the rate currently
predicted—1,000 helicopters in the
next five years—then we won’t max
out and we will have to attract pilots
CAE HATSOFF
from the international market. We have
already started looking to attract pilots
from southeast Asia. We are competi-
tive in terms of rates, and we are closer
than the traditional training centers in
Europe and America so our advantage
is that India is a much cheaper place
to train.”
The target markets include Indo-
nesia (operating Bell 412s), Malaysia
(EC365s), Thailand and Japan. “We will
cast our net wide,” said Gadre. “It has
been tough getting customers whose
pilots wanted to travel further afield,
but the cost element is one that is key
and becoming more so. Pawan Hans,
the national helicopter company, has
saved around one third of their budget
by coming to us. Many of their pilots at
first did not imagine that such a facility
would be available in India.”
Preliminary discussions with heli-
copter OEMs have been held to exam-
ine their attitude to helicopter sales
and subsequent training. While many
OEMs are trying to expand their
business portfolio to include train-
ing, Krishna says that it is not just the
simulator that needs qualification, but
the tuition also requires certification
by the DGCA.
“We like to think we can be a logi-
cal partner as our infrastructure can
incorporate any new cockpit,” explained
Krishna. “Once the numbers for a type—
say Bell 429s and AW109s—start rising
then we can fit another cockpit simula-
tor at our facility.” There does need to
be a critical number of helicopters in
country of each type for this to happen.
Krishna added that should another facil-
ity be required anywhere else in India,
then HATSOFF has already demon-
strated its prowess in this field: “We have
the expertise and could provide sound
advice and maybe run even run it in a
BOMT (build, operate, maintain and
train) model.”
Training involves a separate set of
skills, he warned; it is not the same as
running an aircraft company. “As we
have already learned by experience and
we are now confident that we can pro-
vide BOMT to any of the OEMs.”
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E M11
 MILITARY | PROCUREMENT

FUTURE VERTICAL LIFT:

A NEWIN
Sikorsky and Boeing are proposing an X2-based design for Joint Multi-
Role/Future Vertical Lift, artist’s concept shown here. Bell is developing
a third-generation tiltrotor for the JMR program, separate from its
partnership with Boeing on the V-22. The manufacturer’s plans may
involve teaming with another OEM, with more details planned for
release at Quad-A in April. What other designs will emerge for
the JMR Phase 1 technology demonstration (TD) program?
Sikorsky/Boeing

When the U.S. Army Aviation community

met early in the new year, frugality and the
need for platform change seemed to be the
stick/carrot message to industry.
By Andrew Drwiega, International Bureau Chief/Consultant

M12 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

 FVL: New Hope

HOPE
CHALLENGING TIMES

W
ith the thre at
of sequestra-
tion in the air, a
question mark
against the numbers of military
that would attend, and a gloomy
presence by an industry reluctant
to take part in a gathering that has
seemingly got progressively smaller
both in exhibitors and visitors, the
annual winter AUSA ILW Aviation
went ahead in January 2013 at National
Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Wash-
ington, D.C.
But speakers there were, although more
from industry and fewer from the military.
LTG Bill Phillips, Principal Military Deputy,
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition,
Logistics and Technology), was among those
in uniform. As everyone feared (knew already),
he confirmed that defense spending is decreasing

W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E M13

 MILITARY | PROCUREMENT
U.S. Army
Aviation Portfolio for Recon/Attack/UAS, from the U.S. Army 2013 Equipment Modernization Plan.
and contrasted spending in FY11
which he showed at 4.7 percent
of GNP, to the projected spend in
FY17, which he set at 2.9 percent
GDP. This was compared against a
5.4 percent GDP spent during the
1991 Gulf War, 6.1 percent during
the Cold War (1985) and 9.8 percent
during the Vietnam War (1968).
But, he said, the demand for
aviation continues in spite of the
budgetary issues and while prepar-
ing for the drawdown of U.S. forces
in Afghanistan through to 2015.
The fiscal reality is that there will
be less money, so that modernizing
the force for the future will require a
certain amount of balancing.
One item of encouraging news
was the multi-year contract savings.
He showed that the first multi-year
Boeing CH-47F Chinook contract
(FY2008-12) had resulted in $449
million in savings, while the sec-
ond tranche of multi-year buying
M14 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
(FY2013-17) would result in $810 between the two operational the-
million in “cost avoidance.” The aters with 3.7 million hours flown
UH-60M Black Hawk’s multi-year during Operation Iraqi Freedom/
cost avoidance (2012-16) would also Operation New Dawn/Kuwait, while
achieve a figure of $1.16 billion, he 1.9 million hours was flown during
added. Operation Enduring Freedom.
Phillips gave an update of the Phillips included in his brief com-
impressive figures that keep notch- ments about the importance of
ing up higher and higher regarding Future Vertical Lift (FVL) and the
the use of the U.S. Army Aviation Improved Turbine Engine Program
fleet. (ITEP) as an example or how costs
These encompassed the period and maintenance spending will be
between Feb. 1, 2003 and Nov. 15, reduced in future fleets.
2012. The total Army Aviation flight Maj. Gen. Kevin Mangum, the
hours recorded during this time Commanding General of the U.S.
was over 5.6 million hours, divided Army Aviation Center of Excellence
Type OIF/OND/Kuwait OEF
AH-64 600,000 300,000
CH-47 100,000 200,000
UH-60 1,000,000 400,000
OH-58 500,000 200,000
All UAS 900,000 400,000
Fixed-Wing 200,000 50,000
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Have Plan, Need Money
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W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M http://decisionbriefs.com
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E M15
 MILITARY | PROCUREMENT
at Fort Rucker last year—replacing
Maj. G en. Anthony Crutchfield
in July 2012—took delegates for-
ward into the need for FVL, which
had to have not only the attributes
of increase speed, range and pay-
load, but also commonality of parts
topped off by the ability to operate
at altitude.
He then took these attributes
and explained why they were rel-
evant. Bear in mind that this is now
an Army thinking beyond the last
decade’s worth of asymmetric opera-
tions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is
starting to think “big complex opera-
tions” once again. Keep in mind the
phrase now being used frequently by
Maj. Gen. Kevin Mangum
addresses ILW Aviation.
Photo by Andrew Drwiega
M16 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
the Department of Defense (DoD):
America’s pivot toward the Asia-
Pacific region.
Speed, he said, was going to be
necessary over extended distances,
particularly if as in Afghanistan,
there would be a poor existing infra-
structure. A greater dispersal of
forces had also to be considered,
together with an increase in longer-
range sustainment. That extra speed
would support distributed operation
over larger areas, as well as increase
responsiveness and survivability.
Greater payload is always valu-
able, but in the future it will be
needed to keep a nine-man squad
together, each weighing an average
of 335 lbs. fully loaded (according to
the Maneuver Center of Excellence),
together with the helicopter crew.
The Army also needed its 9,000-lb.
M-777 gun to be transportable.
Commonality has its own self-
evident savings spread over logistics,
maintenance, training, ongoing plat-
form development and interchange-
able systems. In short, operational
effectiveness would increase.
The operational requirement laid
down for the Armed Aerial Scout,
namely the ability to operate at 6,000
feet altitude and at a temperature
of 95°F (6k/95), is carried forward
on the basis that studies into the
world’s geographical regions show
that performance of around 4k/95
leaves helicopters unable to operate
24/7 for around 66 days. At 6k/95
this drops to only around five or
six days. The experience of certain
helicopters being unable to operate
comprehensively during the Afghan
summer—something that also was
experienced in by some types in
Iraq—has made this virtually non-
negotiable.
Mangum then progressed to the
subject of self-deployment, particu-
larly for a Combat Aviation Brigade
(CAB) moving from CONUS (con-
tiguous United States) to PACOM
(Pacific Command). At 230 knots,
an FVL force could self-deploy in
three days via steps in Hawaii, New
Guinea and the Philippines. The
reduced pressure on the U.S. Air
Force and Navy would allow them to
focus on the logistical build up and
could save up to 41 C-17 flights.
Industr y was represented by
Boeing’s vice president of CH-47
programs Leanne Caret, Sikorsky’s
president of Military Systems Sam
Meht a , Ag ust aWestl and Nor th
America CEO Scott Rettig, Bell
Helicopter’s executive director Mike
Miller and BG Steve Mundt, vice
president with EADS North Ameri-
ca, among others.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
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W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E M17
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 Category | Info

Safety Takes Forefront at Heli-Expo  18

training news    Bond, USCG Cited for Moral Courage   19

Safety Watch column by Terry Terrell 54

Embry-Riddle: 'Live
the Safety Culture'
Rotor & Wing recently had the opportunity to visit both the
Daytona and Prescott campuses of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University to observe the safety programs first-hand.
By Keith Cianfrani

W
hen you first arrive at the Daytona Beach or Students conduct preflight planning.
Keith Cianfrani

Prescott campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical

University (ERAU), it does not take long to see
that everyone there is well aware of safety man-
agement as they “Live the Safety Culture” every day.
Dan McCune, vice president of safety, orchestrated the
visit. I met McCune at a U.S. Transportation Safety Institute
(TSI) safety management systems (SMS) course, where he pre-
sented a class on human factors analysis and classification.
As you may know from my previous articles, I’m a very
strong advocate of leadership and safety. Safety must start
at the top to work throughout an organization. This is well
demonstrated at ERAU. I sat down with the University Presi-
dent John P. Johnson and McCune for a one-on-one discus-
sion about safety management. Safety is a top priority at the
school and the university leadership gets involved at every
level, they said.
The structure of the university’s safety program could
be compared to a military organization, with Johnson as
the brigade or wing commander and the program managed
by an outstanding safety officer (in this case McCune). A
retired Army warrant officer, pilot, and established safety
officer, McCune also authored Chapter 5, Safety Culture in
Your Safety Management System, in the book, “Implement-
ing Safety Management Systems in Aviation.” Johnson and
McCune have the innate ability to bring all employees of the
university together for a common focus on safety. I also sat
down with Tim Brady, dean of the College of Aviation (Day-
tona campus), and Alan Stolzer, department chair of doctoral
studies, to discuss the challenges and achievements of safety
in the university. Brady is a former Air Force pilot and safety
officer. Stozler is the co-author of “Implementing Safety
Management Systems in Aviation.” We discussed some the
challenges and achievements at ERAU. One issue discussed
was the high turnover rate, which is due to the high demand
of ERAU graduates in all areas of aviation. Jet Blue is a com-
pany that consistently hires ERAU graduates. Brady went on
to say that graduates “live and breathe” the safety culture.
When flight students at Daytona graduate the program,
they receive an FAA rating of commercial and multi-engine
instrument in fixed-wing. The Prescott graduates receive
the same rating in rotary wing to include turbine but only
single-engine. Many students go on to take the instructor and
instrument instructor courses upon graduation.
The Prescott campus is operated much like Daytona, with
a few differences. I spent time with Frank Ayers, the Chancel-
lor and a retired Air Force pilot, Gary Northam, Dean College
of Aviation (Prescott) and Jerry Kidrick, a retired Army pilot
and chairman of the Flight Department. We discussed how

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W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 49

 CATEGORY | INFO
(L-R) ERAU President John Johnson,
Dan McCune and Keith Cianfrani.
“living the safety culture” is engraved in
the every day operations on both the
campus and flight line. We discussed the
challenges of flying in a higher elevation
environment and retaining quality flight
instructors. Ayers went on to say “this
culture builds a heightened safety aware-
ness and consciousness.”
Universal Helicopters Inc. conducts
the helicopter flight training. Owned
and operated by Gordon Jiroux, a veter-
an of the helicopter flight training arena
with more than 30 years experience
in instruction, UHI is under contract
with ERAU to provide helicopter flight
training. The company operates 10
helicopters with 28 instructors. The fleet
consists of Robinson R22s and R44s, and
one Bell Jet Ranger aircraft. Gordon’s
team meets weekly with ERAU safety
staff along with the operators of the
airfield and air traffic control (ATC). He
also holds a yearly safety conference for
instructors.
After the interviews, I had the
opportunity to fly the R44 with direc-
tor of operations and chief pilot Danny
Mackenzie. He walked me through the
process of flight planning and risk man-
agement for ERAU pilots. Every pilot
must brief Mackenzie with flight profile
and risk assessment prior to every flight.
According to chief pilot Ivan Grau
of Daytona (a 1980 ERAU graduate) the
company’s aircraft fly approximately
70,000 hours a year. ERU’s fleet includes
the Cessna 172, Piper Arrow, a Super
Decathlon and a Bombardier CRJ200
aircraft. The university also trains in
flight simulators such as the Diamond
Decathlon, Cessna 172 and a CRJ200.
ERAU graduates are hired as instruc-
tor pilots because they understand the
50 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
ERAU safety culture and are
familiar with their procedures.
Only the best get hired with a
selection of approximately 50
instructor pilots a year. ERAU
also employs rotary wing
instructors after graduation.
Flight simulators are at both
campuses. Daytona offers the high vol-
ume of traffic experience as it operates in
the nation’s second-busiest VFR airport.
Prescott offers the challenge of a windy,
high-altitude flying environment. Both
campuses use scenario type training in
their curriculum totaling approximately
300 daily flights.
McCune always has safety coins on
him and often gives them to employees
he sees doing something to enhance
safety, whether it is filling in holes in the
grass along walkways or recognizing a
pilot for a job well done. McCune over-
sees an army of safety professionals at
both the Daytona and Prescott campus-
es. Justin Johnson is the aviation safety
director at Daytona and Brian Roggow
is his Prescott counterpart. They both
have three safety teams working for
them, encompassing flight instruction,
operations and maintenance.
The safety status of the university is
monitored by color status green, yellow
and red. Green is all go, yellow indi-
cates a concern and red indicates cease
operations. As a result of good safety
management, there never has been a
red status. McCune consistently briefs
the president on the current status. It’s
like a having huge safety hazard log. All
safety personnel know their jobs well
and are constantly out on “spot checks”
to enhance the safety process.
Embry-Riddle’s ASAP (incident
reporting program) is outstanding. The
safety culture encourages employees to
report safety issues, no matter how insig-
nificant. On average, both campuses
receive more than 400 reports a year.
This assists the safety mangers in identi-
fying and mitigating safety risks.
Embry-Riddle employs approxi-
mately 3,200 people. During my visit,
I always make it a point to speak with
employees at every level to evaluate job
satisfaction. This relates to the issue of
good leadership when we speak of safe-
ty. I was very pleased to see that ERAU
embraces their employees and consid-
ers them a part of a huge family working
together to accomplish a common goal
or mission safely.
Johnson and his staff surely use
the “leader server concept,” where the
employer resources its employees to suc-
ceed, thus reducing risks and empower-
ing people, which acts as a huge part in
the success of the organization. They are
“stakeholders” in the organization.
Jack Haun oversees the maintenance
at Daytona and John Tracy at Prescott.
Both have more than 20 years experi-
ence in the maintenance field. As a part
of risk management the parts depart-
ment has a chain of custody procedure
for ensuring the right part on the proper
aircraft. They both are an integral part of
the safety culture.
One of
the practic-
es I thought
w a s o u t-
standing
was the fact
the ERAU
has no Mis-
sion Essen-
t i a l L i s t Safety Culture poster at
f o r t h e i r ERAU facilities.
aircraft. If
something is found on a preflight the
aircraft is grounded, no matter what the
discrepancy, until a mechanic corrects
the issue. You won’t find that practice in
any Part 135 or 91 operation.
Safety management is alive and well
at ERAU. As a result, they have a strong
safety record and have been free from
serious accidents for more than 10 years.
There is true leadership from the uni-
versity president and his staff of safety
professionals. There is outstanding risk
management from the flight instructors
to the landscaping crews.
Remember, it’s the process. ERAU
truly “Lives the Safety Culture.” As
always, take action to Fly Safe!
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 International Marketplace
advertiser index
Page#...... Advertiser.........................................................................................................................................................Website
9..................Aeronautical Accessories..........................................................................................................................................................................www.aero-access.com
19................Aerospace Optics Inc....................................................................................................................................................................................... www.vivisun.com
M2...............AgustaWestland/Italy.......................................................................................................................................................................www.agustawestland.com
49................Alpine Air Support........................................................................................................................................................................................... www.alpine.aero
56................American Eurocopter.......................................................................................................................................................................... www.eurocopterusa.com
2..................Bell Customer Service...........................................................................................................................................................................www.bellhelicopter.com
CV0..............BLR Aerospace...................................................................................................................................................................................................www.blrvgs.com
49................BorgWarner.............................................................................................................................................................................www.aerospace.borgwarner.com
21................Breeze Eastern....................................................................................................................................................................................www.breeze-eastern.com
23................CHC Summit.........................................................................................................................................................................www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com
49................Chopper Spotter.................................................................................................................................................................................www.chopperspotter.com
3..................Cobham......................................................................................................................................................................................................... www.cobham.com
13................Garmin International......................................................................................................................................................................................www.garmin.com
29................Heatcon Composite Systems..........................................................................................................................................................................www.heatcon.com
55................HeliRussia 2013...............................................................................................................................................................................................www.helirussia.ru
17................L-3 Wescam..................................................................................................................................................................................................... www.l-3com.com
M7...............PIC Wire & Cable..............................................................................................................................................................................................www.picwire.com
5..................Rolls Royce.................................................................................................................................................................................................www.rolls-royce.com
51................Survival Products........................................................................................................................................................................www.survivalproductsinc.com
49................Tanis Aircraft...........................................................................................................................................................................................www.tanispreheat.com
M17.............Thales ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... www.thalesgroup.com
15................Transaero.................................................................................................................................................................................................www.transaeroinc.com
25................UTC Aerospace Systems............................................................................................................................................................ www.utcaerospacesystems.com

www . r o t o r a n dw i n g . c o m D E C EaMpBrEiRl 2 0 1 2
3 | R oto r & W i n g m aga z i n e 51
 COMMERCIAL | TECHNOLOGY
Leading Edge
By Frank Lombardi
Evaluating Handling Qualities
R
otorcraft pilots love to talk
shop. We chat about our heli-
copters and how they handle,
regardless of whether they
are a pleasure to fly, or are a handful.
Sometimes you’ll catch us outstretch-
ing a steady clenched fist as we describe
the “rock solid” hover tendencies of one
model, or rapidly fluttering a hand as we
speak of another which gets “squirrely”
on approach to a platform landing. In any
event, we are always talking about their
personalities as if they are living, breath-
ing creatures, and I don’t think there is
a helicopter pilot out there that would
argue the opinion that they are.
On the topic of pilot opinion, ask any
pilot to give you theirs with respect to
any model, and you’ll find that opinions
vary greatly (and in some cases are even
directly dependent on the number of
pairs of aviator sunglasses one owns).
The problem is that a pilot’s opinion of
handling qualities will be biased, due in
large part to past experience with other
models, amongst other factors. Therefore
nearly every pilot will have a different
opinion, or highlight different factors
in their evaluation, making consistent
evaluation difficult if not impossible.
In the very early days of the Wrights,
and I’m sure even de la Cierva, it was
challenging enough to build a system
that could stay airborne with an inexpe-
rienced pilot, fly a straight line, and land
safely. As more requirements needed to
be met—like, for instance, turning—more
thought needed to be put into what char-
acteristics an airplane or rotorcraft should
have so that each new task could be
accomplished. As more flying machines
evolved, so did the above issues with pilot
opinion. Finally in the 1960s, a method
of standardizing and quantifying pilot
opinion was developed, refined, and has
remained the industry standard today.
52 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
It is called the Cooper-Harper rating branches down the Cooper-Harper deci-
scale (see table), and for it to be effective, sion tree, the test pilot will come to one of
test pilots must be given clear criteria to these three levels of acceptability: a) Is the
evaluate, and trained in how to apply the vehicle controllable? b) Is adequate task
scale’s ratings. performance attainable with a tolerable
“Handling qualities” can be more workload? c) Is the vehicle satisfactory
traditionally defined as those that “govern without improvement? Within each of
the ease and precision with which a pilot these branches, there are three more
is able to perform the tasks required in descriptive sublevels. A rating of 3 is the
support of an aircraft role.” They result dividing line between a helicopter that is
from the combined performance of the OK “as-is”, and one with issues that should
pilot and vehicle acting together as a be fixed. Apply a rating worse than 6, and
system. Besides basic stability and control the deficiencies must be fixed. The scale
attributes, other factors that can affect is a very effective tool, and provides accu-
handling qualities are 1) cockpit design, 2) rate, repeatable results in trained hands.
aircraft performance, 3) meteorological By averaging the ratings of multiple
conditions, and 4) any other factor that evaluation pilots of varying experience,
can affect pilot workload. Basically, the results can become even more accurate.
goal of the manufacturer is to produce a As the size, performance, and utility
helicopter that can do all its required mis- of aircraft improve, so do the methods
sion tasks without mentally and physi- of analysis. The adaptable human pilot,
cally tiring out the pilot in the process. however, has remained relatively con-
During handling qualities flight test, a stant, and remains hard to quantify.
test pilot will evaluate a specific task that It’s difficult to know what variables he
might be one small portion of an entire is sensing as he corrects errors and
mission, like track-
ing the ILS on an COOPER-HARPER RATING SCALE
approach, or hold- 1 Excellent
Highly Desirable. Pilot compensation not a factor for desired performance.
ing crosshairs on a 2 Good
target (both done to Pilot compensation not a factor for desired performance. Negligible deficiencies.
3 Fair
a specified degree of Minimal pilot compensation required for desired performance. Some mildly Unpleasant deficiencies.
precision). The han- 4 Minor but annoying Deficiencies. Desired performance requires moderate pilot compensation.
dling qualities rat- 5 Moderately Objectionable Deficiencies. Adequate performance requires considerable pilot
compensation.
ing (HQR) he/she 6 Very Objectionable but Tolerable Deficiencies. Adequate performance requires extensive pilot
assigns to the task compensation.
will be a direct result 7 Major Deficiencies. Adequate performance not attainable with maximum tolerable pilot
compensation. Controllability not in question.
of the workload 8 Major deficiencies. Considerable pilot compensation is required for control.
experienced while 9 Major deficiencies. Intense pilot compensation is required to retain control.
accomplishing, or 10 Major Deficiencies. Control will be lost during some portion of required operations.
trying to accomplish
the desired task. Naturally, as workload “closes different control loops” during
increases, less brainpower is left to accom- the task. His/her ability to adapt to
plish other tasks, resulting in a poorer the shortcomings of a design might be
HQR score. The rating scale is numeri- troublesome to a designer’s analysis,
cal from 1-10, 1 being excellent, and 10 but is certainly a tribute to the human
being awful (uncontrollable). Following condition.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
May 2013:
Science & Technology Issue
JMR/Future Vertical Lift—The deadline for submissions
to the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technical Directorate (AATD)’s
Joint Multi-Role (JMR) technology demonstrator (TD) program
was March 6. JMR is the precursor to the medium variant of
the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) effort. Boeing and Sikorsky have
announced their partnership on FVL, and Bell plans to uncover
its third-generation tiltrotor during Quad-A. We’ll find out what
other designs are vying for FVL and the timeline for JMR TD
phases 1 and 2.
The New Generation of Offshore Helicopters—
Rotorcraft manufacturers are forging ahead in the large end of
the market as the oil & gas sector continues to generate demand
for aircraft that can travel further offshore in deeper waters. We’ll
examine how large airframes—including the AgustaWestland
AW189, Bell 525, Kamov Ka-62, Eurocopter EC175 and Sikorsky
S-92—and advances in equipment will shape things to come in
the offshore industry.
What Happened at Quad-A?—As the April issue went to
Bonus Distribution: Heli-Russia, May 16-18 in Moscow. AHS Forum, May 21-23 in Phoenix, Ariz.
June 2013: The Safety Issue
Safety & Training Enhancements—We’ll talk to a num-
ber of operators with exemplary safety records to find out what
they are doing right and how safety management systems (SMS)
are improving the culture of the organization. We’ll also focus on
safety and training enhancements that are making a real difference
in the operational world.
Return of the Excellence Ratings—Rotor & Wing is re-
launching its Excellence Ratings, which surveys helicopter opera-
tors to find out who provides the best customer satisfaction in key
areas. The 2013 Excellence Ratings survey will be conducted dur-
ing the spring with results published in the June issue. Categories
are Overall Aircraft Performance, Technological Innovations, Direct
Operating Costs, Maintenance Issues, Technical Documentation,
Technical Assistance, Factory Training, Parts Availability and Cus-
tomer Support.
Bonus Distribution: Paris Air Show, June 17-23, LeBourget, France.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
press, the U.S. government’s “sequestration” spending cuts were
threatening U.S. Army Aviation’s full attendance at Quad-A, set
from April 10-13 in Fort Worth, Texas. Reports were indicating
that the Army was pulling back from the tradeshow due to travel
budget cuts for 2013. But the organizers and industry representa-
tives still plan to be there. Andrew Drwiega reports from Quad-A
to find out sequestration’s impact on Army Aviation.
Even More Heli-Expo Coverage—We ran out of space in
the April issue to include all of the stories that came out of Heli-
Expo 2013. Some of the articles that will appear in the May issue
include an exclusive interview with Sikorsky President & CEO
Mick Maurer, Russian Helicopters teaming with Turbomeca, an
update on Breeze-Eastern operations, and Q&A with Avincis CEO
James Drummond. See more post-show coverage from Heli-Expo
throughout April at www.rotorandwing.com
Columns—Public Service by Lee Benson; Offshore Notebook
by Pat Gray; Military Insider by Andrew Drwiega; and Law Enforce-
ment Notebook by Ernie Stephens.
Paris Air Show Preview—Our team of editors, including
International Bureau Chief/Consultant Andrew Drwiega, will
provide a look ahead at what to expect from the helicopter com-
munity at Le Bourget. The 50th iteration of the international event
is set to draw thousands of visitors from June 17-23.
R&D Report—June will also feature the official launch of a new
special section dedicated to rotorcraft science and technology. A
spinoff from Military Insider that seeks to incorporate both military
and commercial technology developments, “R&D Report” will
examine Future Vertical Lift efforts and other research initiatives
that will help shape the look of tomorrow’s helicopter and how it
will function.
Columns—Leading Edge by Frank Lombardi; Safety Watch by
Terry Terrell; and Military Insider by Andrew Drwiega.
A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 53
 TRAINING | MILITARY
Safety Watch
By Terry Terrell
A Matter of Perspective
M
ost things that happen in
helicopter aviation can
be viewed from more
than one perspective, and
sometimes achieving access to the cor-
rect viewpoint can end up feeling like
a matter of life and death. During the
1970s, out of Borinquen, Puerto Rico,
we enjoyed not only the pleasure of
covering the largest search and rescue
sector in all of U.S. Coast Guard opera-
tions with the exquisitely capable Sikor-
sky HH-3F (the heaviest, and most
range-capable S-61 ever produced), but
we were tasked with an enormously
wide spectrum of remarkably interest-
ing duties.
One of our particularly memorable
chores in those days was a monthly
resupply visit to a very lonely crew
manning a LORAN transmitter site,
located on one of the lesser islands in
the remote Caicos group.
At that time, long before the advent
of GPS, the Coast Guard maintained a
staff of about 20 at that lonesome out-
post, operating large diesel generators
and supporting the elaborate electron-
ics infrastructure required to keep
transmitters on line, doing their part
to sustain the worldwide array of “long
range radio aid to navigation” facilities.
These guys lived and worked in one of
the most beautiful tropical settings on
earth, but their desolation was total.
They always swarmed our aircraft as
soon as our blades stopped on shut-
down, hungry for fresh groceries and
the latest movies.
Their compensating asset, though,
was an unlimited access to truly world-
class sport diving.
I had acquired a diving background
of my own during previous Navy service,
and had been accordingly assigned by
54 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 3
the CG to Borinquen Air Station specifi-
cally for the purpose of setting up a base
SCUBA club, directly aimed at improv-
ing troop morale, so I always expressly
enjoyed visiting the Caicos crews.
For some time they had been tell-
ing me about a huge grouper that
lived on their reef, and they had asked,
in fact, that I bring along a special
“powerhead” speargun on one of
our visits, since they reckoned that
this particular trophy was more than
conventional spearfishing equipment
could handle. So on one trip I brought
my special speargun, and was taken to
see their fish.
We quickly found the spot where
they contended that their outsized
grouper could usually be seen through
a hole in the coral. They took me
down, and pointed through the open-
ing, gesturing wildly. I peered through
the hole, expecting to behold their
monster fish, but I didn’t see it. Back
on the surface, they insisted with great
animation that the colossus was sitting
right there.
I went down and looked again, and
this time received the shock of my life
when I realized that the fish was so big
I was only seeing a small part of it, just
a few huge scales which I had at first
not recognized as any part of a living
animal.
Completely recalibrating perspec-
tive on the situation, I had to tell them
that even my shotgun shell-powered
spears would not be enough to safely
harvest their gargantuan fish, and that
anything more ambitious than leaving
the poor beast alone would probably
end up killing us all.
A year later I was enjoying my
last Caribbean flight, familiarizing an
incoming pilot with our local operat-
ing environment, the former Ramey
Air Force Base, one of the Strategic
Air Command’s most magnificent
locations.
We had a veteran crew, and near
the end of our flight I asked if anyone
would be interested in enjoying an air-
conditioned H-3. Since air condition-
ing was only an impossible dream for
tropically located H-3 crews in those
days, they wondered what was being
suggested. So, light on fuel, I started a
spiral climb over Ramey’s 12,000-foot
runway, eventually achieving a decid-
edly cool altitude, very unusual for us.
Standard H-3 procedures at that time
required that the flight mechanic dis-
connect from ICS and execute a walk-
ing safety tour of the aircraft every 10
minutes, so as his “high altitude flight
check” was completed everyone on
the aircraft was surprised to hear his
reconnecting voice announce the
startling fact that nothing was visible
out the entire right side of the aircraft
because everything was covered with
transmission oil.
Reports of threats to main transmis-
sions at high altitudes are not what heli-
copter pilots ever want to hear, so we
expedited back to the deck as immedi-
ately possible, maintaining intermedi-
ate torque input and watching for sec-
ondary indications like hawks. Once
safely back on our ramp, we were mer-
cifully able to very thankfully celebrate
the precious ground perspective which
allowed determination that a small
external oil return line connector had
randomly loosened, admitting spillage
of a harmlessly minuscule portion of
the many gallons comprising our trans-
mission oil supply, but the comfort of
that perspective had definitely not been
possible at 14,000 feet!
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 ( THINK OIL & GAS )
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Thinking without limits