Flight International - 04

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Spin cycles
The helicopter industry’s annual Heli-Expo gathering saw
a sector looking to the future with increased confidence
as in-development platforms near certification
Dominic Perry Atlanta
If 2022’s HAI Heli-Expo event represented
an industry – and indeed
world – slowly emerging from
Covid lockdowns but still mired
in travel restrictions, this year’s
edition showed a sector looking to
the future with confidence.
Not only were attendance figures
for both exhibitors and visitors
up on last year, but the rotorcraft
industry arrived at the
show – held from 6 to 9 March in
Atlanta, Georgia – in full recovery
mode, forecasting a strong outlook
for orders and deliveries. Even the
long-moribund oil and gas segment
is showing signs of life again.
It was, however, another show
without a new product launch. That
is due to a host of factors: Covid-19,
the immaturity of next-generation
technologies, the continued
popularity of existing platforms,
and, not least, the industry’s focus
on delivering those helicopters
already in development.
But for two of the longest-running
development programmes
– the Bell 525 Relentless and
Leonardo Helicopters AW609
tiltrotor – there appears to be
increasing confidence that certification
is near.
Arrested development
The two rotorcraft have been in
the works for years – decades in
the case of the AW609 – with the
flight-test campaign of each mired
by a fatal crash and significant delays,
the latter issue not aided in
recent years by Covid disruption
and higher levels of scrutiny by the
US Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA), the lead certification
agency for both platforms.
Derek Mookhoek, 525 programme
director, says the end is now within
sight: “We are approaching the finish
line rather quickly compared to
where we have been.”
A round of test flights with the
FAA began in late March and a
second aircraft will shortly begin
flights with the regulator’s pilots
on board.
However, Mookhoek declines to
speculate on the timeline for certification:
“On our schedule we are
driving for the middle of the year,
but it is so dependent on the FAA
being there, for me to say we will be
done in Q2 or Q3 is really difficult.
“What we would love to do is
complete all our flight testing by
Q3 and give ourselves a quarter to
wrap up all the remaining paperwork
out to close out the TC [type
certification].”
Even if certification slips slightly
“it’s not going to stop what we
are doing from a production standpoint.
We are building the aircraft
and those aircraft will be ready for
delivery next year,” he says.
30,000h
Sikorsky S-92 airframe life, potentially
driving replacement demand as global
fleet returns to high utilisation rates
Bell argues that delays to
the programme, while clearly
unfortunate, have left the 525
poised to enter service just as
the oil and gas market begins to
pick up and the replacement cycle
for the Sikorsky S-92 heavy-twin
begins to get under way.
“I think the reality is setting in
with the oil and gas industry that
the S-92’s useful life is nearing an
end,” says Tim Evans, director, 525
business development.
Leonardo Helicopters also foresees
service entry for the AW609
next year, says managing director
Gian Piero Cutillo.
A pre-type inspection authorisation
flight was conducted with
FAA staff in Italy in February
using the programme’s first
production-representative aircraft,
Cutillo says, with this being the
first time the agency’s staff had
flown the tiltrotor.
He describes the flight-test effort
as being in its “final stage” and says
the airframer is “making important
progress” with the US regulator.
But pressed on the schedule
for certification and service entry,
Cutillo adds: “It is difficult to say if
we are able to do this within ’23 or
next year but we are getting close
to that timeframe.”
Regulatory complexity
In part, the delay is due to the complexity
of the certification, which
sees the AW609 the first aircraft to
be approved under the FAA’s new
powered-lift regulatory framework.
And in a sign of operator interest
in the tiltrotor, Leonardo Helicopters
has secured another partner
for its AW609 programme, lining
up Malaysia’s Weststar Aviation to
assist with service entry.
Like a previous agreement
with launch customer Bristow
Group, Weststar will contribute
its expertise to assist with the
definition of missions and operational
requirements for the AW609
in Southeast Asia.
Weststar will receive a single
aircraft for the trials, potentially as
early as next year.
While Bell is pitching the 525
as a replacement for the S-92, so
too is Airbus Helicopters with its
H175 super-medium-twin and the
airframer is convinced that the
positive momentum seen for the
type in 2022 will develop into a
fully fledged resurgence over the
coming months.
Last year the airframer booked
orders for eight units, the majority
for offshore transportation
customers. While not quite in double
figures, it still represents an improvement
on two years ago when
zero orders were taken.
“This helicopter is really illustrating
the positive momentum we
see in the oil and gas market,” says
Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters
chief executive.
Leonardo Helicopters
22 Flight International April 2023