such as a belly tank for firefighting
operations.
“300kg is a pilot and half an hour
of fuel so it’s a substantial amount,”
he said.
Lift off
The steady success of Oz Choppers’
refurbishment program is now seeing
the company embark on a period of
expansion.
Rogers revealed to Australian
Aviation that he is in the process
of purchasing adjoining land to his
current hangar to potentially build a
second hangar housing Oz Choppers’
growing Bell medium spare parts
inventory.
The investment, which would be
worth approximately $1 million if
realised, would essentially be a mirror
image of the company’s existing
1,110m^2 hangar which was completed
in 2009. It will also allow Oz
Choppers to bring all of its spare parts
on site after years of housing them at
two additional hangars offsite.
“This year alone we’ve sold three
Pratt & Whitney engines for 412s.
We’ve got a huge inventory of Bell
medium parts. That’s the area where
we’re going to expand,” Rogers said.
“My thoughts here are that with the
extra room I can purchase additional
helicopters to have ready for the
refurbishment process and potentially
look at pushing more helicopters
through refurbishment if the market is
calling for it.”
Another part of Rogers’ expansion
plans would be for Oz Choppers to
have a fully refurbished 412 airframe
available that could be exchanged withOz Choppers
a customer’s airframe that required
refurbishment.
“Basically, for a customer with a
helicopter that is in need of a refurb,
we could offer an airframe fully
overhauled with their paint scheme
and all the upgrades in exchange for
their airframe and an agreed amount
of funds,” he said.
“It then becomes a quicker process
of swapping a customer’s ‘running
gear’ over from their existing airframe
to the overhauled one.”
The additional hangar would also
give space to house fixed-wing aircraft
that are being maintained by sister
company Airborne Avionics, as well as
space for specialised work aids, such as
engine and transmissions stands.
If eventually built, the additional
facility would position Oz Choppers
as a major refurbishment and parts
distribution hub in Australia for Bell
medium twins.
“We’d like to stick with this niche
market that we have built up,” Rogers
said.
“The 212 and 412 aircraft are
versatile, reliable and well supported
by Bell. I think we’ll continue on with
what we’re doing.”A ‘new’ Bell twin arrives at Oz
Choppers.MARK JESSOPVH-NBN, a newly-completed
Bell 212 for Orange Helicopters.
MARK JESSOP