flight international

fiightglobal.com 8-14 March 2016 | Flight International | 19

NH90 marks

successful end of

self-protection trials

DEFENCE P

HELI-EXPO 2016

SHOW REPORT

M

arenco Swisshelicopter

has secured a launch cus-

tomer for its developmental

SKYe SH09 light single, with

Swiss firm Air Zermatt placing a

firm order for a single example

of the 2.6t rotorcraft.

Delivery to the operator is due

begin in 2017, on the back of Eu-

ropean Aviation Safety Agency

certification, says Marenco chief

executive Martin Stucki.

Although initially only for

one aircraft, Stucki says the ac-

quisition is “the start point for

their next-generation single-en-

gined helicopter, so there could

be more.”

The deal with Air Zermatt

adds to around 80 tentative com-

mitments for the Honeywell

HTS900-powered SH09, which

Stucki hopes to begin converting

into firm orders.

Marenco on 26 February per-

formed the maiden sortie of its

second SH09 prototype, with a

30min flight from its Mollis air

field facility.

This, says Stucki, validated the

design changes incorporated

from the initial flight-test aircraft,

mainly focused on the main rotor

head and control rods.

“It performed very well during

first flight,” says Stucki. “It shows

that we are on the right track and

that the engine really delivers

what was promised.”

A further flight is due next

week, and “then we would like

to have a stream of flying”. This

will be bolstered by the arrival

later this year of a third proto-

type which will be closer to pro-

duction specification.

Construction is due to begin

this year on its Mollis production

site, following delays in 2015, he

adds. “We wanted to start in No-

vember last year, but we missed

our target.” ■

IMPROVEMENT

Honeywell offers HTS900 as retrofit

Honeywell is eyeing a retrofit applica-

tion for its HTS900 engine on legacy

Airbus Helicopters EC145 rotorcraft.

It claims the powerplant, originally

developed for the US Army’s can-

celled ARH Arapaho programme,

would offer a 7% improvement in

fuel burn over the EC145’s

Turbomeca Arriel 1E2s.

The US manufacturer has yet to

select a partner for any upgrade pro-

gramme, which would be offered

through a third party, and has no

timeframe for launch, says Tom

Hart, vice-president of defence after-

market Americas. “It would be an

excellent drop-in replacement for

that capability,” he says.

It would also be the first twin-en-

gined application for the 1,100shp

(820kW)-class HTS900.

It is already being used by Eagle

Copters for a retrofit programme on

older Bell Helicopter 407 singles,

where it replaces the Rolls-Royce

M250-C47 engine. Honeywell sees

a long-term market for around 200

units for this use, says Hart, with

Marenco’s SKYe SH09 the only new-

build application. ■

S

how attendees were due to see

the debut of two training heli-

copters at Heli-Expo, however, a

pre-show flight-test mishap left

one company with its display

shorn of its latest development.

Enstrom Helicopter had

planned to exhibit its prototype

TH180 piston single, but “a piece

of test equipment failed last week

and totalled it,” says Pierre du

Pont, director of product support

at the Menominee, Minnesota-

based manufacturer.

Instead, Enstrom has been

working frantically to usher its

next prototype into operation,

which will cause a delay of

around six weeks, says du Pont.

Certification was planned for

“[The second SH

prototype] performed

very well during first

flight and the engine

really delivers”

MARTIN STUCKI

Chief executive, Marenco

DEAL

Marenco scores with first firm SH

Air Zermatt kicks off orders for 2017 delivery of a single example, with manufacturer positive about subsequent wins

Second prototype completed its maiden sortie on 26 February

Marenco Swisshelicopter

Enstrom TH180 misses debut after test mishap

TRAINER

Robinson’s display

included its R

Cadet (right)

year-end, with customer deliver-

ies following in early 2017. “We

are still trying to meet that sched-

ule,” he says.

The TH180, which is powered

by the 210hp (156kW) Lycoming

HIO-390, is pitched as an alter-

native to the Robinson R22/44 in

the training market.

Meanwhile, Robinson has

begun taking orders for its new

two-seat derivative of the Raven,

the R44 Cadet, as it closes in on

US Federal Aviation Administra-

tion certification for the type.

The piston-single trainer,

which featured prominently on

Robinson’s booth at Heli-Expo,

sells for $339,000 and is powered

by the Lycoming 0-540-F1B5 pis-

ton engine.

Company president Kurt Rob-

inson says it will press for Euro-

pean certification “as quickly as

we can.”

Robinson boosted output of its

light, general-purpose helicopter

range by 5.5% to 347 units last

year, compared with the 329 air-

craft produced in 2014. ■

James Drew/Flightglobal

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