April 2015 Serving the Worldwide Helicopter Industry rotorandwing.

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MRO Support Grows

in Asia-Pacific
Army Aviation Restructuring:
Will it Impact the Civil Market?
The Latest in Collision
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EDITORIAL
Randy Jones, Publisher, rjones@accessintel.com
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A P R I L 2 0 1 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 3

 Publisher’s View
By Randy Jones
Throwing More Money at Spares
Inventories Isn’t the Whole Solution
L
et’s face it. We have all
become quite accustomed
to the idea that we can get
just about anything our lit-
tle heart desires within a 24-hour
period as long as we are willing to
throw enough money at it to make
it happen. With one glaring excep-
tion: Aircraft parts.
The more we devote to the
topic of finding hard-to-find parts,
the more we realize how deep
and complex the issue truly is.
My tendency has always been to
believe that parts availability – or
lack thereof – is a problem for the
OEMs and other MRO provid-
ers with a very simple solution
… invest more money in spares
inventory. And make no mistake,
that would solve many problems.
But let’s also be realistic. There
are a lot of different makes and
models of helicopters out there,
all equipped with a wide variety of
parts and components that have
been sourced over the years from
all over the world. There is in fact,
a large element of truth to the old
adage that a helicopter is nothing
more than a collection of parts, all
flying in loose formation. And every
MRO shop that supplies those parts
to their customers is governed in
some fashion by owners who tend
to expect their managers to deliver
a modicum of profit. So that sort of
puts a damper on the whole rather
simplistic just-invest-more-in-your-
spares-inventory solution.
4 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
In recent weeks, I’ve been
engaged in an ongoing discussion
with some long-time industry
friends about the many challenges
to running a small aviation main-
tenance, repair and overhaul busi-
ness - not the least of which is
managing spares inventory and
overall cash-flow in what is a very
capital intensive business. Life
is somewhat easier for the big
MRO’s that make their living off
contracts with large fleet opera-
tors who have reasonably pro-
jectable hours and maintenance
schedules. Not so much so for the
rest of the MRO shops who are left
to not much more than visiting
psychics at the county fair to try to
accurately project their market’s
flying hours and upcoming parts
requirements. But as the OEM’s
try to right-size their own service
center organizations and spares
inventories, more and more of the
burden to accurately project and
stock those parts is falling to their
small business MRO partners, and
that is a very real problem for all
of us.
The small maintenance facili-
ties are a valuable part of the over-
all OEM support structure for the
vast majority of helicopter owners
and operators. But not only do
they not have access to the data
they need to be able to accurately
project your parts requirements,
the cost of simply becoming an
OEM service center or quality
rjones@accessintel.com
MRO facility is significant, and the
market is extremely competitive.
Finding, hiring, training and keep-
ing the best technicians possible at
the going labor rates of $75 to $115
an hour is a real challenge when
you consider that the going rate for
high-end automobile service tech-
nicians is often more in the range of
$125-$130 an hour. How does that
even make sense? Why should you
pay less to have your multimillion
dollar helicopter serviced than you
pay to service your $50,000 BMW?
Insurance and equipment costs
are also problematic for the MRO
community. If the owner wants to
become an OEM service center
there are requirements to purchase
tooling, stock parts and attend
training. All of this for the privilege
to chase business within 300-350
miles of their location.
A number of MRO operators
gathered at the recent HAI confer-
ence in Orlando to talk about these
kinds of issues and potential solu-
tions. Suggestions included creat-
ing a loosely formed cooperation to
bargain for better insurance rates,
speak as one voice to the OEMs and
develop a closely knit supply chain
to help reduce inventory costs and
improve customer service by being
able to more accurately project
your parts requirements. Sounds
logical to us. We welcome your
comments and we will certainly
stay on top of this and report back
to you as things progress.
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

38 DEPARTMENTS
10 Rotorcraft Report
Avalon Show wrap-up; Black
Hawk crash; Bristow chooses
Sikorsky S-92 for SAR Program
21 People
21 Coming Events
44 Essential Equipment: CAS

COLUMNS
4 Publisher’s Notebook
(Above) National Guard Lakota. Photo courtsey of Airbus Helicopters 8 Meet the Experts
(Below)AgustaWestland plans to add more maintenance facilities in
Southeast Asia as deliveries continue, including to Malaysia’s Weststar 46 UAV Notebook
Aviation. Image courtesy of AgustaWestland (Right) Special mission
equipment such as the hydraulically-operated rotor brake helped make the 48 Leading Edge Notebook
MH-60K fully shipboard capable. Photo courtesy of 160th SOAR (A)
49 Coming Up
50 Public Service

FEATURES
COVER STORY
On the Cover: The Mighty MH-60K begins an
approach into North America’s highest airport in
Leadville, Colo. Photo courtesy of 160th SOAR (A)
24 ■ Retiring a Tired War Horse
The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment’s MH-60K Black
Hawk helicopters have been retired after two decades of tireless
combat support lifting a lion’s share of the Special Operations Force’s
missions. Learn more about the legacy. By Mike Hangge, mjHangge

30 ■ MRO Support Grows in Asia-Pacific

The rapidly-expanding helicopter fleets in the region have forced
airframe and engine manufacturers and repair and overhaul
providers to ramp up their MRO support throughout the Asia-
Pacific. By Emma Kelly
30
38 ■ Army’s Aviation Restructuring Not to
Affect Civil Market
The U.S. Army’s Aviation Restructure Initiative involves swapping
aircraft with the reserve component and retiring certain aircraft
due to declining budgets and force power. By Pat Host

6 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

 Vol. 49| No. 4
APRIL 2015

blic Service Training Products Services

ONLINE
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• Go to rotorandwing.com to see more photos and read additoinal stories, such as:
• AgustaWestland to Provide AW139 Simulator to Malaysian Training Academy
• Russian Helicopters Provides Airframes for Growing Asia-Pacific Market
• Bristow Purchases Support Services, Additional H175 Airframes from Airbus
• Able Aerospace Services Launches Bearing Service Line
• Airbus Helicopters Releases Updated H225 FCOM
• Bell Helicopter to Provide Four 206L-4 Airframes to AMGH
• Rusada to Provide Technical Support for Airbus Helicopters’ HCare

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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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 7

 Meet the
Experts
JOSEPH AMBROGNE is the Technical
Editor of Rotor & Wing. He earned a
BA in English from Christopher New-
port University in Newport News, and
spent eight years as a technical writer
in the software and manufacturing
industries. He also holds a commercial pilot license
and instrument rating, and has been flying helicop-
ters since 2010.
LEE BENSON is the retired senior
pilot for the Los Angeles County Fire
Department. Before he was named
senior pilot, Lee ran the aviation sec-
tion’s safety and training programs,
including organizing yearly safety
meeting with other public agencies and the press.
MARK COLBORN is a senior corpo-
ral and instructor pilot for the Dal-
las Police Department Helicopter
Unit and a retired CW4 and UH-60L
Blackhawk Standardization Instruc-
tor Pilot for the Texas Army Nation-
al Guard. He also builds and flies multi-rotor
unmanned aerial systems and closely follows the
legal and moral implications of integrating these
machines into the aviation community for Rotor &
Wing. Mark is a member of the U.S. Joint Helicop-
ter Implementation Measurement Data Analysis
Team, which has conducted analyses of 938 heli-
copter accidents to identify accident trends and
preventative measures.
MIKE HANGGE is an active-duty Army
Warrant Officer with an elite aviation
unit. With more than 25 years of expe-
rience, he has performed duties as a
mission, medevac, maintenance, and
developmental pilot. He has received
numerous awards including the Distinguished Fly-
ing Cross. He is also a novelist under the pen name
mjHangge.
PAT HOST is an experienced Wash-
ington and Pentagon reporter and an
expert on defense and procurement
issues. Pat’s addition to our team pro-
vides Rotor & Wing a valuable new
resource inside the Washington DC
Beltway. In the course of the past five years with
8 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
our sister publication, Defense Daily, Pat has devel-
oped a stable of inside sources in order to gain access
to the sometimes sensitive documents and stories
that impact readers. He has conducted one-on-one
interviews with high-ranking members of Congress,
military officials, committee members, and executive
branch officials, all the while honing the skills that have
allowed him to become particularly adept at breaking
down official policy statements and memos, as well as
complex scientific information in order to draw-out
the real-world business implications.
EMMA KELLY, Australia and Pacific
Correspondent. She has been an avia-
tion journalist since the late 1980s, start-
ing her career with Air Cargo News Inter-
national. Following a number of years
working on regional airline publications
and for Inmarsat, Emma served in various editor roles
at Flight International.
KATIE KRIZ is the Assistant Manag-
ing Editor of Rotor & Wing. She holds
a BA in journalism from Northeastern
University in Boston, where she also
developed an interest in photography.
She participated in a rotational program
with Access Intelligence, which led to her position
with Rotor &Wing .
FRANK LOMBARDI, an ATP with
both fixed-wing and rotary-wing rat-
ings, began his flying career in 1991
after graduating with a bachelor’s of sci-
ence in aerospace engineering, work-
ing on various airplane and helicopter
programs as a flight test engineer for Grumman
Aerospace Corp. Frank became a police officer for a
major East Coast police department in 1995, and has
been flying helicopters in the department’s aviation
section since 2000.
ERNIE STEPHENS, Rotor & Wing’s Edi-
tor-at-Large, began flying in the 1980s,
earning his commercial pilot’s license
and starting an aerial photography com-
pany. In his regular job as a county police
officer, he was transferred to the depart-
ment’s new aviation unit, where he served as the
sergeant in charge and chief pilot until his retirement
in 2006.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
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©2014 Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. All rights reserved.

Personal|Corporate Commercial
Rotors Down Under: Avalon Show Review
While growth in the Australian
helicopter market may have slowed
this financial year, the sector still has
encouraging growth prospects and
was well represented at the Australian
International Air Show, which took
place at Avalon Airport, Victoria,
from Feb. 24 to March 1.
Th e st at i c p a rk i n cl u d e d
AgustaWestland AW139s and the
AW169, Airbus Helicopters was
present with its EC120 and EC130
T2, Robinson Helicopters’ line-up
was on display through local dis-
tributor Heliflite and Bell Helicopters’
Australian distributor Hawker Pacific
had a Bell 407GX on display.
A number of commercial helicop-
ters were handed over to customers
at the show. Bond Helicopters Aus-
tralia took delivery of its first Sikorsky
S-92 as part of a four-aircraft deal.
One of the helicopters was on dis-
play at the show, while a second was
handed over in Brisbane. The aircraft
are being put to work on oil and gas
operations off the northwestern coast
Bond Helicopters Australia took delivery of its first Sikorsky S-92 at the Avalon show. Photo
by Emma Kelly
10 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
Military Public Service
and north coast of Australia, said
Bond Helicopters Australia manag-
ing director John Boag. The final two
in the order will be delivered before
the end of this year – ahead of the
original schedule, he says.
Sikorsky also appointed its local
subsidiary, Sikorsky Helitech, as the
first Sikorsky-authorized S-92 cus-
tomer support center in the world.
Brisbane-based Sikorsky Helitech,
which has been a Sikorsky company
since 2003, already provides support
in the region for the S-76 line. The
S-92 fleet in the region is rapidly
expanding, particularly in the oil and
gas industry.
Meanwhile, AgustaWestland high-
lighted its strength in the local heli-
copter emergency medical services
(HEMS) market. It signed a contract
for eight AW139 helicopters with
Australian transportation group Toll,
which will use the helicopters on the
recently-won New South Wales air
ambulance contract, the Helicopter
Retrieval Network (HRN). Late last
Training Products Services
year, NSW selected Toll and NSW
Helicopter Rescue Service (operating
as the Westpac Rescue Helicopter) as
preferred tenderers for the state’s new
HRN, serving NSW and the Austra-
lian Capital Territory. The service
will operate from 2017, with both
operators using the AW139. Westpac
is leasing four of the type from Lease
Corporation International. Toll will
receive its first helicopters later this
year, with the entire fleet to be deliv-
ered by early 2016.
The 10-year HRN contract will
also see Toll and AgustaWestland
establish and operate the country’s
first AgustaWestland-authorized
training center, details of which
were revealed at the show. Toll will
build and operate the training cen-
ter, which will be based at Sydney’s
Bankstown Airport, while the center
will be branded with the AgustaWest-
land name and will be available for
AgustaWestland customers in Aus-
tralia and New Zealand. Opera-
tors in the region previously had to
go to the AgustaWestland training
center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
AgustaWestland has 50 helicopters
operating in Australia, with 20-plus
on order, and is the leader in emer-
gency medical operations in the
country, it says.
Toll says the center will include
a A$15 million CAE 3000 Series
AW139 Level D Full-Flight Motion
Simulator – one of only eight in the
world – and space for additional
simulators. It will also include an
advanced underwater escape train-
ing facility and wet and dry winching
practice towers.
The center could also be upgraded
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

Left: AgustaWestland delivered the first of six AW139s in EMS configuration to Australian Helicopters, to be operated under a 10-year contract
for Ambulance Victoria. Right: Coax Helicopters’ sports helicopter based on former military coaxial rotor technology. Photos by Emma Kelly
to support future AgustaWestland
models such as the AW169 and
AW189, said David Jackson, Toll
Resources and Government Logis-
tics chief executive officer.
AgustaWestland said the new
center with Toll will be a world-
leading facility and is the sort of col-
laboration it is seeking in other parts
of the world to improve the safety of
helicopter operations.
AgustaWestland also handed over
at the show the first of six AW139s in
emergency medical services con-
figuration to Australian Helicopters,
to be operated under a 10-year con-
tract to Ambulance Victoria. The full
fleet is scheduled to be in service by
early 2016.
Australian Helicopters, which is
one of the country’s largest HEMS
providers, currently operates two of
the five helicopters used by Victoria’s
air ambulance service, operating a
mixed fleet, including Airbus Heli-
copters AS365 Dauphins and Bell
412s. Under the new contract, five
AW139s will be operational, with
one back-up.
Coax Readies Sports
Helicopter and UAS
for Market
Small Australian helicopter devel-
oper Coax Helicopters displayed its
sports helicopter based on former
military coaxial rotor technology at
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
the show and revealed plans to lease
an unmanned version for commer-
cial unmanned aerial system (UAS)
applications.
The 17-ft. sports helicopter is
based on a military design from the
late 1950s, but Coax Helicopters is
taking the technology into the 21st
Century, said test pilot and director
Richard Woodward.
The manned version is targeted
at the sports recreational flying mar-
ket, will have two hours endurance,
provide a speed of 60 knots and will
be powered by a Hirth H3502 55hp
engine, with the Garmin Glass G3X
cockpit as an option. The helicopter
will cost between A$100,000 and
A$150,000 and could be operating in
the market within six to 12 months,
said Woodward.
In parallel, Coax is developing
a 20-ft. unmanned version, which
is aimed at commercial markets,
including agriculture, surveillance
and power line inspection, and
would be leased to operators, said
Woodward. Coax is currently talk-
ing to autopilot manufacturers and
has yet to finalize engine selection.
The UAS would have four hours-
plus endurance and operate up to
70 knots.
Coax is also planning a 20-ft.
manned version, pitched at com-
mercial operations, such as cattle
mustering, a market currently domi-
A P R I L 2 0 1 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E
Rotorcraft Report
nated by Robinson types. It is yet to
finalize engine choice for that ver-
sion, but it will have a two hour-plus
endurance, with 70 knots plus.
Australia Paves the
Way in Commercial
UAS
Commercial applications for UAS
was a topic of conversation for a
number of manufacturers at the
show.
Boeing is using Australia as a
testbed for commercial UAS applica-
tions through Insitu Pacific, including
the 14-18kg, 24 hours plus endurance
ScanEagle and the larger Integrator
(34kg, 24 hours endurance).
Last year, Insitu Pacific conduct-
ed a number of trials, including fire
monitoring with the New South
Wales and Queensland emergency
and fire services and is hoping these
trials will progress to a more national
role in bush fire monitoring through
the National Aerial Firefighting Cen-
ter, with UAS able to monitor fire
development 24/7, including at
night. “We hope there will be a good
opportunity on a national basis,”
said Dale McDowall, Insitu Pacific
director of business development
and strategy.
Insitu has also conducted trials
of its UAS in coastal surveillance
and monitoring marine life, as well
as fishery protection activities and
11
 Rotorcraft Report
Military hardware on display included the Australian Army’s MRH-90 multi-role helicopter.
Photo by Emma Kelly
environmental surveys following
cyclones. It is also talking to resourc-
es companies on mapping mine sites
as well as looking at opportunities in
infrastructure inspection.
“2014 was the year of trials and
proving concepts. In 2015 we hope
to establish more regular arrange-
ments,” he said.
Australia is leading the way
in commercial use of UAS, said
Andrew Duggan, Insitu Pacific
managing director, with local reg-
ulator the Civil Aviation Safety
Authority progressing with the reg-
ulatory framework and the country
offering the right environment for
civil UAS use.
Lockheed Martin also promoted
the commercial use of its UAS,
including the Indago quadcopter.
Earlier this year Indago was suc-
cessfully used in a bush fire-mon-
itoring trial in Western Australia
in a project led by local helicopter
operator Heliwest. Indago has a 45
minute endurance, a 2.2km range
and 11,000ft maximum altitude.
During the trial, the unmanned sys-
tem monitored the progress of the
fire, providing streaming video via a
Wi-Fi link.
Heliwest is also set to deploy
the Indago in a shark spotting trial
off the Australian coast, said Steve
Fortson, business development
manager, Lockheed Martin mission
system and training.
The manufacturer is looking at
increasing the endurance of Indago
through smart battery technol-
ogy and is also promoting its other
12 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
unmanned systems, ranging from
the 1.8kg, 90 minute endurance
Vector Hawk up to the 4.08kg, 150
minutes endurance Desert Hawk 3,
for commercial applications.
“There’s quite a few ways these
unmanned systems can improve
efficiencies tomorrow,” he said, point-
ing to applications in fire spotting,
precision agriculture, wildlife and
environmental monitoring, mining
and resources, crime scene investi-
gation, forensics, search and rescue
and police operations. “We are find-
ing more and more applications for
unmanned systems,” he said.
Military Hardware
Also on Display
Military helicopters on display at
Avalon included the Australian
Army’s MRH-90 and Tiger armed
reconnaissance helicopter, and
Royal Australian Navy AS350B
Squirrel, while a RAN Sikorsky/
Lockheed Martin MH-60R Sea-
hawk Romeo made its debut at the
show. Australia has taken delivery
of four of a 24-strong order, with the
type replacing S-70B Seahawk fleet.
Military helicopter news was thin
on the ground, with Canberra hav-
ing decided and already putting into
service its future helicopter fleet.
Local helicopter supplier Airbus
Group Australia Pacific (formerly
Australian Aerospace) was quiet
at the show. The manufacturer has
had a troubled relationship with the
Australian Department of Defense
and procurement agency Defense
Materiel Organization following
delays and early problems with Aus-
tralia’s Tiger Armed Reconnaissance
Helicopter and MRH90 (multi-role
helicopter) programmes, both of
which appeared at the show.
Boeing Defense Australia, mean-
while, came to the show buoyed by
its win, with partner Thales Aus-
tralia, last year of the long-delayed
Helicopter Aircrew Training System
(HATS) for the Australian Army
and Navy.
HATS (Project Air 9000 Phase
7) was first announced in 2007, with
aircrew training initially planned
to start in 2013. The A$700 mil-
lion HATS is designed to prepare
Army and Navy for new-gener-
ation advanced combat helicop-
ters, including the Tiger, Seahawk
Romeo, NH Industries MRH-90
Taipan multi-role helicopter and
Boeing CH-47F Chinook.
“After a number of years of pur-
suing [the project] we were very
pleased to sign the contract last
November,” said Murray Brabrook,
general manager, integrated logis-
tics at Boeing Defense Australia.
HATS, which will be based at
HMAS Albatross in Nowra, New
South Wales, will use 15 Airbus Heli-
copter EC-135 twin-engine training
helicopters and three full-motion
Thales EC-135 flight simulators.
Boeing/Thales are responsible
for designing and building the
training systems and running and
supporting it. “The solution will
deliver high-end training with low
risk,” said Brabrook.
The first EC-135 T2+ for the
programme made its first fight
from Airbus Helicopters’ Donau-
worth, Germany, facility in Janu-
ary. The first helicopter is due
in Australia “this time next year
[February],” said Brabrook, with all
15 to follow over a year. Brabrook
revealed, however, that the first
pilots will not start training until
early 2019, with the helicopters
to be used to validate the system.
—By Emma Kelly
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
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 Rotorcraft Report
■ MILITARY | AIRFRAMES
11 Dead in Military Helicopter Crash
That headline steals a million breaths. Families
fill with terror. Friends reach out. Thousands of
fellow aviators scour the internet for news all
hoping the next headline reads 11 Presumed Dead
Found Alive.
Despite its continual growth, aviation has
always been a small community of friends. Mili-
tary aviation is an even smaller and closer knit
family. Now, our family table has eleven empty
seats as four Guardsmen and seven Marines have
been lost. These seats can never be filled, but we
will cherish their memories and celebrate their
lives even as we shed tears for their passing.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on March 10, 2015,
a Louisiana Army National Guard UH-60 Black
Hawk helicopter crashed off the Navarre Beach
near Pensacola, Fla. Eleven soldiers and Marines
were lost, including the helicopter’s crew of
four Guardsmen and seven Special Operations
Marines.
The Next Generation
Wireless Intercom
by
axnes.com
14 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
The helicopter was one of two conducting
training with the Marines on insertion and extrac-
tion missions using small boats and helicopters.
They were training in the Santa Rosa Sound, which
is a small section of the Gulf of Mexico ocean
waters protected by a barrier island between Pen-
sacola and Destin. The two helicopters departed
from the Destin airport to the east, but the second
helicopter turned back due to bad weather condi-
tions in the area. The aircrews were well trained,
experienced and very conscious of the weather
conditions. The cause of the accident is still under
investigation by the U.S. Army’s Combat Readi-
ness Center and assisted by the Louisiana Nation-
al Guard and the Marine Special Operations
Command.
Aircraft wreckage and human remains began
washing ashore at approximately 1:30 a.m. on
March 11, but Search and Rescue efforts were
hampered by thick fog squatting over the fifty
square miles of search area. The search continued
for nearly two days, continually fighting against
bad weather, but was turned over to recovery
operations after the bodies of nine of the eleven
Americans were found and the other two were
presumed trapped within the wreckage under
water. A recovery/salvage crew was brought in out
of Mobile, Ala., but the weather continued to be
difficult for operations through March 13.
The helicopter and Guardsmen were sta-
tioned in Hammond, La. as part of the 1-244th
Assault Helicopter Battalion. The crewmen were
described as seasoned veterans of two combat
tours to Iraq and multiple humanitarian missions
including lifesaving operations during Hurricane
Katrina and the BP oil spill.
The Marines were stationed at Camp Lejeune,
N.C. as part of the 2nd Marine Special Opera-
tions Battalion, which is less than a decade old and
belongs to the Marine Corps Forces Special Opera-
tions Command. The Marines were also decorated
combat veterans who served with distinction in
both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Regardless of the accident’s cause, these ser-
vicemembers died honorably in service to our
nation. They did their duties with distinction and
their memories will carry on, not only in the hearts
of their families and units, but also for the rest of
us who have risked and lost right beside them.
Though this was a training mission, these Guards-
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
  

Rotorcraft Report




men and Marines were practicing to do their difficult jobs under the stress
of the most realistic conditions. They trained as they would fight and died


as heroes to our nation. Their losses cut deep into their units, but it is an
entire nation that weeps for their passing.


Rotor & Wing would like to express our deepest sympathies and
prayers to the families of the Guardsmen and Marines. Our thoughts are
with the Louisiana National Guard and MARSOC as they experience very
difficult days. Most of all, we would like to thank the eleven American
heroes who perished on March 10, 2015 for the valiant service they have 
given to our country and bid them Godspeed on their next journey—
there are warm seats and sunny days awaiting their arrivals in Heaven.
—By Mike Hangge, mjHangge

■ COMMERCIAL | OPERATOR

UTC Considering Divesting Sikorsky

Hartford, Conn.-based United Tech-
nologies Corp. (UTC) has appointed
an analyst to assess whether or not
to divest Sikorsky Aircraft from its
family of holdings. The examination
is said to be driven by the subsid-
iary’s positive, but shrinking profit
figures in the defense sector.
The assessment, which should
be concluded by the end of 2015, is
In spite of brisk sales of the company’s expected to give UTC president and
helicopters, including this S-76D demonstrator, CEO Gregory Hayes the details he
Sikorsky’s profits may not be enough to keep
needs in order to decide if Sikorsky
UTC from divesting it from its portfolio.
Photo courtesy of Sikorsky should be kept in the company’s 
portfolio as a division, or divested.
And if the decision is made to divest it, whether to make Sikorsky a corporate

entity unto itself, or to sell it off entirely. 

Sikorsky is “just not quite as attractive as the rest of the business,” said Hayes
of the division’s $7.5 billion in net sales, which represents only 11.5 percent of
UTC’s $65.1 billion income from its other sale activities.
Sikorsky was founded by Igor Sikorsky in 1925, and became part of United 
Aircraft and Transportation Corp. (later shortened to United Technologies
Corp.) in 1929. By 2007, UTC had acquired several smaller companies, includ-
ing Schweizer, under the Sikorsky name, and drove the division to its current
market share of 19 percent. UTC also has a presence in the engine, climate con-
trol, fire suppression and elevator sectors.
Business analysts tend to agree that if UTC decides to divest Sikorsky, the
more likely result will be restructuring it as a stand-alone company, as opposed
to selling it outright. Such a move would put UTC in the best position to avoid
the high taxes that would result from its sale, and give the new spin-off its best
chance of surviving the split. “We want to make sure they will be a successful 

stand-alone company,” said Hayes. —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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 15

 Rotorcraft Report
■ TRAINING | SIMULATORS
Frasca’s TruFlite R44 FTD Packs High-Fidelity
Simulation into Entry-Level Device
At HAI Heli-Expo 2015 in Orlando,
Fla., Frasca International showcased
its new TruFlite R44 Flight Training
Device (FTD). Incorporating many
features from Frasca’s higher-end Full
Flight Simulators (FFS), the TruFlite
is marketed as a much more realistic
training experience than other FTDs
on the market today. Rotor & Wing
was invited to test out the FTD and
talk to Frasca representatives about
how and why they developed the
TruFlite’s features.
“What we discovered last year at
HAI was that many of our customers
were asking for a higher-fidelity device
with which they could teach flight
maneuvers,” said President & CEO
John Frasca. “So we took that to heart
and pulled down a lot of the systems
from our full flight simulator into an
R44 FTD.” To achieve the TruFlite’s
high level of realism, Frasca gathered
performance data from actual R44s
in flight. “We built our own data
recorder,” said Frasca. “So we attach
things like lasers to measure altitude;
we attach gyros and accelerometers
to the aircraft, and then we fly all the
precise maneuvers that the FAA tells
us to do, and then the engineers take
that back and make sure the simulator
matches.”
At the company’s booth at Heli-Ex-
To develop its high-fidelity simulator, Frasca used special
equipment to gather performance data from a Robinson R44
in flight. Photo courtesy of Frasca International
16 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
po, Frasca’s Randy Gawenda described
the equipment used to gather flight
data: “You’ve got a sensor probe out in
the front, and there’s a radar altimeter
on the bottom, and a data bus collec-
tion package in the back as well. So it’s
recording every parameter—and there
are over 400 different parameters—
simultaneously. And we record the
entire flight from beginning to end.”
While solid data are essential to
designing a good simulator, the trick
is making a pilot’s experience feel real.
The most obvious way Frasca achieves
this realism is through its TruVision
system—a curving computer display
providing a seamless 180-degree field
of view uninterrupted by screen divid-
ers. The company believes this is
essential for training pilots in maneu-
vers such as hovering. “If you are
looking at a point, and that point all of
a sudden goes into a seam in the LCD
or something like that, you lose your
reference,” Gawenda said. The 180-de-
gree screen has another benefit. Dur-
ing our flight test, we flew downwind
on a virtual traffic pattern. As we got
ready to turn to the base leg, seeing the
runway out of the corner of our eyes
felt eerily similar to the real thing.
The next two features are incor-
porated into the FTD’s flight controls.
First, an electronic control loading
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Rotorcraft Report

system called TruFeel simulates Its software and physical components can be reconfigured to simulate
the slight pressure felt by the pilot a Robinson R22, or a Sikorsky S300. Frasca provides customers with
as he manipulates the controls. “It maintenance and operational training, and regular software updates. In
actually gives a force feedback to the future, the company hopes to add an R66 configuration, and incor-
the pilot so the controls feel more porate a motion cuing platform to further advance it towards the level of
realistic, instead of a simple spring a true FFS. —By Joe Ambrogne
column, which is very light and has
no resistance to it,” said Gawenda.
Second, and far more useful,
is SimAssist, which Gawenda
equates to an adaptive stability aug-
mentation system (SAS). When
active, the software compares a
new student pilot’s performance
on a given maneuver to the ideal
state, physically assists a struggling
pilot in stabilizing the controls,
and displays a flashing number on
the instrument panel indicating to
that pilot exactly when and how
much it is helping out. “Starting
Fly
off, [the student] may be up in the

eight or nine scale range, and the
technology is helping him develop
the muscle memory to control the
aircraft,” said Gawenda. “As he gets
better, it’s going to start helping
him less and less, so it may come
down to, say, a level two or three.”
“It’s kind of like a flight instruc-
tor fighting you,” said Frasca. But
while a flight instructor might
subtly jump in to stabilize an oscil-
lating aircraft without the student
even realizing, SimAssist makes
it instantly clear when and how
much it is taking over.
Finally, TruFlite’s instructor sta-
tion can track and display visuals
depicting the student’s flight, and
UPGRADEABLE
these can be downloaded onto
a USB drive or printed out for a
post-flight analysis.
Frasca’s TruFlite R44 FTD
comes with a starting price of
around $350,000, and rates as both
an FAA Level 5 FTD—though the
company says it can be qualified
up to Level 7—and as an Advanced
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Aviation Training Device (AATD),
making it accessible to both Part
61 and Part 141 flight schools.

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 17

 Rotorcraft Report
■ PUBLIC SERVICE | SAR
Bristow Helicopters UK SAR Fleet to Feature Sikorsky S-92s
At HAI Heli-Expo 2015 last
month, Sikorsky held a recognition
ceremony for Bristow Helicopters
Ltd., highlighting the upcoming
launch of the company’s UK search
and rescue (SAR) contract. Bristow
was awarded a 10-year UK SAR
contract in March 2013, with
services starting on April 1, 2015,
on behalf of the Maritime and
Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Bristow’s SAR fleet will fea-
ture 11 EASA-certified Sikorsky
S-92 helicopters. Attending the
ceremony were Jonathan Baliff,
president and CEO of Bristow,
Richard Parkes, director of Mari-
time Operations at the MCA in
the UK, Shane Eddy, president
of commercial systems and ser-
vices at Sikorsky, and Sergei
Sikorsky, son of Sikorsky founder
Igor Sikorsky.
Baliff explained that the S-92s
Jonathan Baliff, Sergei Sikorsky, Richard
Parkes and Shane Eddy after the recognition
ceremony at HAI Heli-Expo 2015.
Sikorsky S-92 at HAI Heli-Expo 2015. Photos by
Katie Kriz
18 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
“are not our helicopters. They are
the Maritime and Coastguard
Agency’s helicopters, and they’re
flown by Bristow personnel. Many
of those personnel are the same
personnel that are currently flying
the 202 squadron in Humberside in
Lincolnshire.”
“It’s an honor, but it’s also very
humbling for Bristow to be part of
the UK search and rescue, SAR,
contract,” said Baliff. “We’re hum-
ble, but we have great reserve and
great confidence that we’re going
to serve this contract to, not only
the best of our ability, but we’d be
blessed to serve it in the same way
that the Royal Navy and the Royal
Air Force have done it for 70 years.”
According to Baliff, Bristow will
be flying with about two-thirds of
military crews, supplemented by
the company’s current crews flying
SAR missions. He also mentioned
that they are on schedule to go
live with the contract on April 1,
as planned.
Speaking at the event,
Sergei Sikorsky addressed
both Parkes and Baliff, say-
ing, “One word to both
of you gentlemen: Thank
you for keeping my father’s
dream alive.”
“Igor’s dream was that a
helicopter be used as a life
The S-92 aircraft will be outfitted
with:
• High Definition Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR)
and thermal image camera technology
• Night vision goggle (NVG) technology
including glass cockpit
• Equipped with icing protection system
• Airspeed of 145 knots/166 mph
• Endurance to perform for more than four hours
without refueling
• Twin hoist
• Comprehensive medical suite
saving device,” said Eddy. “Segei
is true to his father’s legacy, as he
helped bring the realization of the
search and rescue mission to the
forefront. If Igor were here today,
he would be proud to see how far
technology and innovation has
brought us, and how great these
helicopters are. But Igor’s dream
would not have become a reality
without the help of customers like
Bristow, without the help of the
MCA, and we take trust and pride
in our aircraft’s ability to save lives
of those in danger.”
Sikorsky and Bristow have done
business for more than 40 years.
The Bristow fleet currently features
more than 160 Sikorsky aircraft of
various types. —By Katie Kriz
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Rotorcraft Report

■ PRODUCTS | UAV

Justice Department nationwide being scrutinized by the FAA in its efforts to regulate the
Will Not Prosecute aircrafts’ booming popularity with hobbyist, aerial photography com-
UAV Pilot for White panies, the movie industry and other businesses.
House Breach Machen’s official release states that the FAA, which is not bound
by the decision of the Justice Department, continues to review the
In an official statement released incident for what he described as “possible administrative action.”
on March 18, the U.S. Justice —By Ernie Stephens, Editor-at-Large
Department announced that it
will not prosecute a Washington,
DC man for allowing the rotary-
wing unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV ) - commonly called a
“drone” - he was operating to fly
onto the grounds of the White
House on Jan. 26, 2015.
The decision was made fol-
lowing an investigation by the
Secret Service, which discovered
that the unidentified man had
been flying the small, borrowed
aircraft from the balcony of his
residence several blocks away.
At approximately 3:00 a.m.,
the radio signal between the
handheld transmitter and the
UAV’s receiver was lost, causing
the unit to fly away uncontrolled.
Assuming the aircraft would run
out of battery power soon and
eventually crash, the operator
went to bed. When he heard on
the morning news that an inves-
tigation had been launched into
the crash of a UAV on the White
House lawn, he immediately con-
tacted authorities and explained
his involvement.
Once a forensic examina-
tion confirmed that the UAV
was not under anyone’s control
when it breached the perimeter
of the White House grounds, U.S.
Attorney Ronald C. Machen,
J r. d e c i d e d n o t t o p u r s u e
criminal charges.
Although the incident is the
first of its kind reported in P-56
(the prohibited airspace sur-
rounding the White House and
other sensitive government build-
ings in the area), it is one of many
reports of UAV encroachments

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 19

 Rotorcraft Report
■ PUBLIC SERVICE | SAR
CHC SAR Program Reaches
New Milestone in Ireland
CHC Helicopter, SAR operator for the Irish
Coast Guard, currently has four bases in Ireland:
Waterford, Shannon, Sligo and Dublin. In 2012,
CHC began its latest contract with the Irish Coast
Guard: a 10-year contract with the option of a
three-year extension. Rotor & Wing sat down with
Chris Hodson, CHC’s general operations manager
for search and rescue (SAR) services, to speak more
about the company’s current operations and what
current plans are for the future.
According to Hodson, as a part of the contract,
CHC swapped out the existing Sikorsky S-61 air-
frames for S-92s.
“[The S-92] has very new technology, specifically
designed for search and rescue, has a longer range,
a much improved cruising speed and a very com-
prehensive set of search and rescue technology on
board,” said Hodson. “That combination of speed,
technology and also some very severe weather in
the North Atlantic that year, allowed us to complete
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20 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
CHC Sikorsky S-92. Photo courtesy of CHC Helicopter
and carry out a more significant number of missions
than we have in the years past, and this year seems to
be starting off the same way. It’s a very busy time and
I just think the choice of the technology and the per-
formance and ability of the crews and our partnership
with the Irish Coast Guard has just given us the oppor-
tunity to be a very effective search and rescue force in
the region.”
The significant number of missions Hodson
referred to was the 310 SAR missions CHC’s Shannon
base completed in 2014.
“It was a milestone for any of our operations, any of
the four bases in Ireland, to complete 300 missions, and
the Shannon Base ended off the year with 310,” stated
Hodson. “It was a real milestone to have one aircraft on
one base complete so many missions out into the North
Atlantic. It was quite an accomplishment for the crew.”
Looking ahead, CHC is planning on integrating
even more modern technology into its S-92 fleet.
“Going forward into the year ahead, we’re partner-
ing with the Irish Coast Guard and bringing night
vision goggle technology onto the aircraft themselves,”
said Hodson. “That process will start the spring of this
year and will take some time to complete, but that is
probably our main focus for bringing new technology
onto the aircraft themselves.”
Hodson also mentioned CHC’s partnerships with
Ireland’s Health Services Executive, the country’s
national health department, and the Pre-Hospital
Emergency Care Council (PHECC), which are both
medical departments within the Irish Coast Guard. By
partnering with these two organizations, CHC makes
sure that its paramedics and emergency care techni-
cians are aligned with the best practices that are being
used within the Republic of Ireland.
Hodson continued to say that CHC’s mission
would not be possible without its dedicated crews.
“At the end of the day, they’re the ones who are out
there doing the job day in and out and it’s their skill,
their passion and their expertise that’s helping people
come home safely at the end of every day in often very
challenging weather and situations,” said Hodson.
“They are the people out there who are making sure
the people of Ireland are getting home safely every day
when they’re in trouble.” —By Katie Kriz
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Rotorcraft Report

PEOPLE
The Honorable
To m R i d g e
has joined
AgustaWestland
Philadelphia Cor-
poration’s Board
of Directors. Ridge, the 43rd Gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania and the first
Secretary of the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security, has sig-
nificant public and private sector
expertise that will allow him to take
an active role in advocating for and
raising the profile of AgustaWest-
land Philadelphia Corporation in
Pennsylvania and across the United
States. Ridge currently heads the
strategic consulting company Ridge
Global where, as CEO, he manages
leading experts as they work with
businesses and governments to
manage risk, global trade, and stra-
tegic planning, among other key
organizational issues.
Erickson Incorporated Presi-
dent and CEO Udo Rieder will
retire from the company on March
31. The board of directors has
appointed Jeff Roberts as the new
president and CEO of Erickson,
coming events
effective April 1. Roberts has a long
and distinguished career in the
aviation industry. Most recently
he was group president at CAE,
Inc., the global leader in modeling,
simulation and training for civil
aviation and defense. Roberts was
previously president and CEO of
SimuFlite Training International,
Inc., a provider of pilot flight simu-
lation training owned by GE Capi-
tal. He also held executive posi-
tions in a number of other aviation
companies.
Bell Helicop-
ter has promoted
Ron Orndoff
to regional sales
manager in North
America, respon-
sible for overseeing marketing and
sales activities within the North-
east region. Orndoff was recently
announced as the new RSM over-
seeing the Midwest region, but has
very strong ties to the Northeast
with Bell Helicopter customers and
operators. Orndoff brings over 30
years of aviation experience to Bell
Helicopter’s North American team.
Eight of those years were spent in
Bell Helicopter’s Northeast U.S.
region providing customer support
and services as a Customer Service
Engineer. Orndoff began his career
in the U.S. Army Aviation branch,
and is proud to have experience in
both the military and commercial
markets. This inspired a skill set
that focuses on extensive techni-
cal and customer success oriented
service.
Linda Cook has decided not to
stand for reelection to the Boeing
board of directors when her cur-
rent term ends in April.
Last July, Cook became a manag-
ing director at EIG Global Energy
Partners and was appointed chief
executive officer of Harbour Energy
Ltd., a newly formed EIG company.
Boeing Chairman and Chief Execu-
tive Officer Jim McNerney called
Cook a “model director” who has
played a leadership role on Boe-
ing’s board with four committee
assignments over 11 years. Cook, 56,
joined the Boeing board in 2003. She
serves on the audit committee and
chairs the finance committee.

April 8-11: Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA)
Convention, Marriott’s Gaylord Texan Resort &
Convention Center, Dallas, Texas. Visit www.aea.net/
convention/2015 for more information
April 14-16: Asian Business Aviation Conference &
Exhibition (ABACE), Shanghai, China. Visit www.
abace.aero/2015 for more information
May 5: Aerospace 2015: Soar to New Heights,
Washington Court Hotel, Washington D.C. Visit www.
womeninaerospace.orgfor more information
May 5-7: AHS International Annual Forum and
Technology Display, Virginia Beach Convention
Center, Virginia Beach, Va. For more information, visit
www.vtol.org/events
May 5-7: AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2015, Georgia
World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Visit www.
auvsishow.org for more information
May 19-21: European Business Aviation Convention &
Exhibition 2015, Palexpo Convention Center, Geneva,
Switzerland. For more information, visit www.ebace.
aero/2015
May 21-23: Heli-Russia, “Crocus Expo” International
Exhibition Center, Moscow, Russia. For more
information, call +7 (495) 926-38-83 or visit www.
helirussia.ru
June 11-13: European Helicopter Show, Prague-
Kbely Military Airport, LKKB, Kbely, Czech
Republic. Visit www.eurohelishow.com
June 15-21: Paris Air Show, Le Bourget, France. For
more information, visit www.siae.fr/EN
July 15-18: ALEA Expo, George R. Brown Convention
Center, Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.
alea.org/public/events
Sept. 10-13: National Guard Association of the United
States (NGAUS), Nashville, Tenn. For more information,
visit www.ngaus.org
Sept. 15-18: Defense and Security Equipment
International (DSEI) Expo, London, UK. Visit www.
dsei.co.uk for more information
Oct. 6-8: Helitech International, London, UK. Visit www.
helitechevents.com for more information

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 21

 ARINC 429 to Discrete Signal Converter
(SR429)
From Aerospace Optics, manufacturer of the best-in-class
VIVISUN® line of pushbutton switches comes the new NEXSYS
ARINC 429 to Discrete Signal Converter (SR429). ARINC Signal
Converters bridge the gap between the digital data bus and the
myriad of equipment driven by a discrete electrical signal. The
SR429 is designed to provide up to 23 discrete outputs from a single
data label. With full DO-160 and equivalent MIL-SPEC standards
compliance, this flight-worthy converter is manufactured without
DO-178 and DO-264 requirements. This unique interface solution
contains no software, firmware or programmable logic. The SR429
is ideally suited to support the ADS-B mandate and can be used in any application requiring an ARINC 429
to discrete interface. For maximum flexibility, the SR429 is available as either a factory preset unit or as a
universal (user configurable) unit. For more information, please call us at 1-888-848-4786 or visit us online a
www.nexsyavionics.com

Axnes MP50 PNG Transceiver

Axnes’ new MP50 high-end transceiver is a part of the Polycon Next Generation
(PNG) wireless intercom system, designed with HEMS, SAR, CSAR and special
mission operations in mind. The transceiver is both waterproof and dustproof
to IP68 and is submersible to 3 meters for 24 hours. The MP50 is designed
in a rugged full metal housing that enables reliable operation in demanding
environments. AXNES PNG utilizes software-defined radio technology working
in the UHF band for intercom functions. The MP50 is a dual band transceiver,
incorporating also VHF band communication to increase the communication
ability of the outside crew to other resources. It is equipped with a GPS receiver,
AIS SART distress beacon and voice tagging technology. The system also features
voice tagging technology, which means all changes on the transceivers such
as mode, channel, volume, will be announced via aural messages in the users
headset/helmet. Because of this technology, the system can be operated without
looking at the display. For more information, visit www.axnes.com

Aero Dynamix Illuminated Edge

Lit Panels (ELP)
Aero Dynamix provides NVG solutions for today’s pilots. The
company’s Illuminated Edge Lit Panels for aircraft are manufactured
in-house with capabilities that include water cutting, Computer
Numerical Control (CNC) machining, silk screen and laser marking
in addition to a robotics paint facility. Aero Dynamix laser etched
Illuminated Edge Lit Panels (ELP) provide the highest quality
markings available using high resolution optics. Products include:
NVIS ELPs, non-NVG ELPs, panels with removable circuit boards
or embedded lamps, control heads, consoles, circuit breaker
panels, bezels and instrument overlays. For more information, visit
www.aerodynamix.com

22 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

BECOME ONE OF THE

ROTORCRAFT
You’ve earned it.

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 MILITARY | AIRFRAMES

RETIRING A
The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment’s mighty MH-60K Black
Hawk helicopters have been retired after two decades of tireless combat
support lifting a lion’s share of the Special Operations Force’s missions.
They have left behind a legacy that has seen special operations aviation
grow from a conceptual organization to a true military force multiplier.

By Mike Hangge, mjHangge

T
he American military has depended upon
the war horse since we first gained our
independence. The horses have changed
through the years—beginning as privately
owned farm horses, transitioning into iron-sided
tanks, and now into modern tactical vehicles and
advanced aircraft. Despite the change from living
creature to iron to steel to advanced composites,
the interaction between man and horse has never
changed. Those fighting men who have ridden their
horses (either air or fuel breathing) into battle have
a special bond that often develops deeper than the
ones shared with other two-legged warriors.
Any cavalry soldier worth his Stetson understood
that the care of his horse often took precedence over
his own needs. Despite the Special Operations’ motto
‘humans are more important than hardware,’ there is
no doubt that it was the horse that made the cavalry’s
tactics special, not the soldier. Without a horse, a man
can be little more than an infantryman. To move by
horse and fight by foot makes a man simply a dragoon.
But to be a true cavalryman—to fight using the tactics
of speed, mobility, and shock—a horse is required, pref-
erably one bred specifically for the difficult and deadly
world of mounted combat.
The MH-60K Black Hawk is a special breed of war
horse, having served the world’s finest Special Opera-
tions forces in some of the most dangerous and deadly
regions around the globe. While the men who
crewed these helicopters are certainly talented
and amazing, the MH-60K (more commonly
known as the ‘Kilo’) allowed their capabili-
ties to be fully focused and augmented.
The MH-60K owes its capabilities and
lineage to the UH-60A, which, in turn, owes
its own existence to the legendary Bell UH-1
Huey. The U.S. Army launched studies in 1968
to find a troop-carrying helicopter replacement
for the aging UH-1. This study developed the require-
ment for a twin-engine helicopter capable of carrying
11 combat-ready troops plus a crew of three. In early
1972, Airframe Requests for Proposals (RFPs) went out
to nine companies, which were narrowed to two finalists
by August – Sikorsky’s YUH-60A and Boeing-Vertol’s
YUH-61. Sikorsky’s prototype first flew in October 1974,
and the first unit was entered into the ‘fly off’ by March
1976. The Sikorsky entry was slightly more versatile than
Boeing’s, which earned Sikorsky an early Christmas
present when the Army declared the UH-60A as the
contract winner. By 1979, the UH-60A began supple-
menting the Army’s fleet of UH-1s before totally retiring
them from the active Army inventory by 2005.

24 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

 MH-60K Legacy

Using the MH-60K, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment

(Airborne), or 160th SOAR (A), is capable of accomplishing any mission
over any terrain at any time—plus or minus thirty seconds.
Photo courtesy of CW4 Elvis Costello

The MH-60K’s high-tech equipment included IAS Hover

symbology to improve desert survivability rates, and an aerial
refueling probe combined with removable internal aux fuel
tanks to provide a nearly-indefinite flight time capability.
Left photo courtesy of CW4 Elvis Costello,
and right photo courtesy of the 160th SOAR (A)

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 25

 MILITARY | AIRFRAMES
By now, the ubiquitous UH-60
Black Hawk helicopter has become
the backbone of U.S. Army aviation
and one of the most recognizable
designs ever created. From carrying
troops, tubes, supplies and vehicles,
the Black Hawk’s long and sexy pro-
file can often be seen in tight for-
mations in the skies, on the news,
and in the movies—everywhere
from downtown Denver to Iraq,
Afghanistan and other dangerous
locations. The low stretched profile
gives the Black Hawk aerodynamic
lines that offer high top speeds and
maneuverability to help increase
survivability on the battlefield.
Capable of carrying 11 or more
fully loaded combat troops, the
Black Hawk is still able to move a
105mm howitzer and thirty rounds
of its ammunition. Built into the
helicopter is armor to withstand
multiple small arms hits and redun-
dancy for critical components and
systems. The airframe itself is also
designed to progressively crush
on impact to protect the crew and
passengers in the event of a crash.
The four main rotor blades have
electrically-charged de-ice heating
mats, and extend from a rotor head
that incorporates bifilar absorbers
and elastomeric bearings to reduce
vibrations and maintenance. The
high-mounted four-bladed tail
rotor is canted to provide lift for a
longer center of gravity travel. A
large stabilator (combination sta-
bilizer and elevator) extends hori-
zontally from the tail boom area
to improve longitudinal stability
of the airframe and decrease pitch
excursions. Stability augmentation
and flight path stabilization sys-
tems make flying the Black Hawk
less labor intensive, and an impres-
sive suite of avionics and system
controls surrounds two pilots sit-
ting in armoured bucket seats that
stroke in the event of a hard landing
or crash.
In Januar y 1988, Sikorsky
received an $82.8 million/38-
26 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
month contract to develop a modi-
fied prototype of the UH-60A/L for
the U.S. Army’s Special Operations
Forces. The UH-60A had already
proven its reliability and capa-
bilities before the MH-60K variant
was even proposed, but the 160th
Special Operations Aviation Regi-
ment (Airborne) had more spe-
cific needs than the standard H-60
could provide. The first MH-60K
took flight in August 1990 and full
fielding began in 1995. The many
aircraft and mission improvements
all contributed to making the Kilo
a precision tool of the 160th for
twenty years. Though the MH-60K
was the first helicopter specifi-
cally designed for sole use by a
Special Operations unit, there were
less than two dozen of the mighty
Kilos ever constructed. This con-
stitutes less than one percent of the
more than 2,300 H-60s built by the
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, and
makes the Kilo among the rarest
production helicopter variants ever
used by America’s military.
To accomplish its near impos-
sible mission task list, the Kilo
was one of the first helicopters to
combine some very powerful force
multipliers together.
The airframe was modified with
additional longerons and other
structural support components
that, when combined with uprated
General Electric T700-GE-701C/D
turboshaft engines, provided a
maximum operating gross weight
of 24,500 pounds—over a ton
more capability than most other
H-60 airframes.
A fully integrated and advanced
Aviation Support Equipment (ASE)
suite was initially combined with
the aged, but reliable Browning M2
“Ma Deuce” .50 caliber machine
gun to deliver a lead-lined defense
for the aircraft and cargo. During
the 1990-91 Operation Desert
Storm missions, the M2 proved
unstable in flight and its extended
range not as critical. The accurate
and deadly Dillon Aero M134D
7.62mm minigun was chosen soon
after as a replacement due to its
high rate of fire (2,000-4,000 rounds
per minute).
A Raytheon AN/AAQ-16 For-
ward Looking Infrared (FLIR), a
Texas Instruments AN/APQ-174
Terrain Following/Terrain Avoid-
ance Ku-band Multi-Mode Radar
(TF/TA MMR), a powerful MIL-
STD-1553B serial data bus, and a
Digital Map Generating system all
combined with an extensive IBM
Integrated Avionics Subsystem
(IAS) utilizing four Multi-Function
Displays (MFDs) and two Control
Display Units (CDUs) provided
the pilots with the ability to quickly
and accurately access information
about the aircraft and surrounding
battlefield to accomplish the clan-
destine, deep-penetration missions
it was designed for.
An extendable aerial refuel-
ing probe that could receive fuel
from a mixture of C-130 platforms
was combined with removable,
extended-range auxiliary internal
and external fuel tanks to achieve
a nearly indefinite mission flight
time capability.
A starboard, fuselage-mounted
external hydraulic rescue hoist pro-
vided the ability to retrieve friendly
forces from danger over water or
across most difficult terrains, while
the Fast-Rope Insertion/Extrac-
tion System (FRIES) allowed the
crew to expediently insert combat
troops to any target without neces-
sitating a landing.
A hydraulically-operated rotor
brake system gave the Kilo full
shipboard operability, while the
folding stabilator provided faster
load times during transport.
Because the 160th operates pri-
marily at night, the MH-60K was
painted an ominous matte black,
differentiating it from its regular
Army green stable mates. The Kilo
underwent many changes and
upgrades throughout its twenty
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 MH-60K Legacy

Top Left: The matte black paint, MMR dome, FLIR, and aerial refueling
probe made the Kilos even more menacing looking than the standard
UH-60 Black Hawk. Photo courtesy of the 160th SOAR (A)

Center Left: MH-60Ks have been seen in tight formations everywhere

from the news to the movies and Denver to Afghanistan. Right: The
MH-60Ks have seen the sun set over some of the most incredible
landscapes in the world. Photos courtesy of CW4 Elvis Costello

years of service to the 160th, but the

base design and mission purpose
never changed.

Who Does the Kilo

Work For?
‘Plus or minus thirty seconds’ isn’t
a guarantee given without the abil-
ity to fulfill the promise. The 160th
has underwritten that contract to
the Special Operations commu-
nity and has continually proven its
capabilities with over three decades
of time on target anywhere in
the world — plus or mi nus
thirty seconds.
The MH-60K has provided that
ability, but it takes training, tal-
ent, and audacity for the 160th to
claim itself as the finest military
helicopter aviation unit—not just
in the U.S. Army, but in the entire
world. But it isn’t false bravado, this
elite aviation unit boasts the best

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 27

 MILITARY | AIRFRAMES
The final sunset has fallen on the mighty Kilo fleet. They have served our country with pride and distinction for over two decades.
Photo courtesy of the 160th SOAR (A)
helicopter pilots, crews and main-
tainers. They fight under the cover
of darkness and are known as the
Night Stalkers for their ability to
fly into any battlefield under any
conditions and against any enemy.
The 160th has built its reputa-
tion upon an unparalleled record
of inserting Special Operations
forces where no other aviation unit
could and exfiltrating them regard-
less of the battlefield conditions.
Most commonly known from its
depiction in the 2001 film Black
Hawk Down, the 160th has been
involved in nearly every U.S. con-
flict since its inception in 1981. It is
the only unit in the U.S. military to
be continuously engaged in combat
operations since October 2001, fly-
ing from locations in Iraq, Afghan-
28 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
istan and many other areas of the
world. The tactics, techniques,
and procedures of the 160th have
migrated into common usage
by many other units and have
assisted in bettering Army avia-
tion as a whole.
Because of this reputation,
the demand for experienced and
motivated crews is always high
and the selection process is very
difficult. Training to become a
Night Stalker is intensive, but the
result are crews with the confi-
dence and precision to operate
in any environment with the abil-
ity to accomplish any mission.
Their persistence and devotion
to the mission has earned the
160th the motto “Night Stalkers
Don’t Quit!”
The Next Mighty War
Horse
The Kilo has flown some of the
finest warriors in history and taken
them to targets against some of
the most determined enemies.
They have flown America’s presi-
dents, dignitaries and heroes. They
have been shot up, shot down,
rolled over and beaten hard, but
the Kilo fleet has never refused
a mission and has always given
everything to finish what they start.
Several have been lost through
the years and the fleet has suffered
from long, hard flights into areas
where no helicopters should ever
operate. They have suffered from
age, attrition and high wear until
being recently replaced by the
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 MH-60K Legacy

MH-60M—another specially-de-
signed helicopter variant.
In 2011, the MH-60M began
replacing the MH-60K as the pri-
mary medium assault aircraft of the
160th. Beginning again with a base
UH-60 variant (this time, Sikorsky’s
newest UH-60M design), the 160th
modified and upgraded certain
components to make the helicop-
ter more specific to the mission set.
The base UH-60M retains much
of the standard UH-60 airframe,
components, and the T700-GE-
701D turboshaft engines. To this
proven base, Sikorsky strengthened
known weak areas of the airframe;
added an Active Vibration Control
System (AVCS) to reduce airframe
vibrations; redesigned wide chord
main rotor blades to improve rotor
efficiency; and installed improved
Dual Digital Automatic Flight Con-
trol Systems (DDAFCS), a fully
coupled auto pilot, and a dreamy
integrated cockpit to reduce pilot
workload and improve operational
capabilities. To this impressive vari-
ant, the MH-60M has added the
incredibly powerful YT706-GE-
700 FADEC-controlled turboshaft
engines and an even stronger air-
frame to increase operational gross
weight to 24,500, advanced ASE
suite, minigun mounts, FLIR, TF/
TA MMR, an extendable aerial
refueling probe, removable inter-
nal auxiliary tanks, electrically-op-
erated external rescue hoist, FRIES
bars, hydraulically-operated rotor
brake, composite folding stabila-
tor, and an even more impressive
graduate-level Rockwell Collins
avionics suite.
Rest Well!
Despite its retirement, the Kilo will
always be flying for many of us. I
cut my teeth in this special helicop-
ter, and it will forever be a part of
me. I will always describe myself as
a ‘Kilo pilot’ and some of my proud-
est moments were accomplished in
those worn bucket seats. I cherish
the memories of nearly unachiev-
able missions, friendships with the
finest warriors, and unforgettable
expeditions around the world.
Of the small pool of MH60-
Ks ever built, only two now sur-
vive. 91-26388 rests at the Naval
UDT SEAL museum in Ft. Pierce,
Florida and 91-26373 is at the
U.S. Army Aviation museum on
Ft. Rucker, Ala.
To most, these MH-60Ks may
look like nothing more than tired
old helicopters in desperate need of
a cleaning and fresh coats of paint.
To some, the final Kilos may
represent war horses that have been
worn hard by dangerous battlefields.
To a few, 388 and 373 may reveal
the scars of battle and tell stories of
courage, pride and pain.
But to a scarce handful, they
remind us of long and painful nights
in places we could not pronounce.
Their flanks show the patched and
spray-painted reminders of bullet
holes and battle damage. Straight
edges now bent remind us of land-
ings that nearly killed us and dusty
ropes with no ends. They leak and
settle on hard ground when they
ought to be freed to the open skies.
No rain will ever wet them again,
yet they will never be warmed
by sunlight either. The Kilos are
safe and enjoying their retirement,
yet those special few who once
depended upon them will keep
going into the fight—better for hav-
ing been a part of the Kilo’s incred-
ible legacy.
Outside the U.S. Cavalry Muse-
um, a beautiful statue of another
tired and worn war horse stands
tribute to those that died in ser-
vice during the Civil War. Beneath
James Nathan Muir’s statue ‘Duty’,
a caption reads “a tribute to the
Cavalrymen and their Horses who
so faithfully served our Nation.”
Likewise, the final MH-60K holds
a caption hidden from the public,
which reads “This horse has rode
through Hell. Rest well!”

What Made the Kilo Special?

• Additional longerons and airframe
support structures
• Uprated General Electric T700-GE-701C/D
turboshaft engines
• Maximum operating gross weight of 24,500 pounds
• Advanced Aviation Support
Equipment (ASE) suite
• Dillon Aero M134D 7.62mm Minigun
• Raytheon AN/AAQ-16 FLIR
• Texas Instruments AN/APQ-174 TF/TA MMR
• MIL-STD-1553B serial data bus
• Digital Map Generating system
• IBM Integrated Avionics Subsystem (IAS)
• Extendable aerial refueling probe
• Removable, extended-range auxiliary internal and
external fuel tanks
• Starboard, fuselage-mounted external hydraulic
rescue hoist
• Fast-Rope Insertion/Extraction System (FRIES)
capability
• Hydraulically-operated rotor brake system
• Folding stabilator
• 160th SOAR (A) Crews, Maintainers, and
Support Teams

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 29

 SERVICES | MAINTENANCE

With a rapidly expanding

helicopter fleet in the Asia-
Pacific region, airframe and
engine manufacturers as well as
maintenance, repair and overhaul
(MRO) providers have ramped
up their support throughout the
region in recent years. Bulging
order books from the region,
emerging growth markets and
new helicopter types set to enter
service in the near future mean
further expansion of the region’s
support network is planned.

ASIAPAC
30 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Manufacturing in Asia

An Airbus Helicopters EC225

in the Asia-Pacific region.
Photo by Anthony Pecchi,
courtesy of Airbus Helicopters

By Emma Kelly

A
s the helicopter fleet in the Asia-Pacif-
ic region has substantially increased
in recent years, airframe and engine
manufacturers have boosted their sup-
port in the region through their own facilities,
joint ventures and authorized service centers.
With Asia-Pacific helicopter order books
continuing to grow, medium term fleet forecasts
remaining positive and new types entering the
Asia-Pacific fleet, manufacturers continue to
develop their support in a region that is becoming
ever-more important.
AgustaWestland, for example, has expanded
its network of authorized service centers in the
Asia-Pacific in recent years. With a global presence
in more than 40 countries, some 15 of these are
in the Asia-Pacific region, says the manufacturer,
operating as either AgustaWestland owned or
authorized service and supply centers, covering
the AW109 series of aircraft through to the AW119
and AW139.

CIFIC
In Australia, for example, Heliflite provides
maintenance services for the AW109 series,
AW119 and AW139, while AgustaWestland Aus-
tralia supports the AW109 series and AW119. In
China, Jiangxi Changhe Agusta Helicopter pro-
vides service for the AW109 series, AW119 and

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 31

 SERVICES | MAINTENANCE
AgustaWestland plans to add more maintenance facilities in Southeast Asia as deliveries continue, including to Malaysia’s Weststar Aviation.
Computer-generated image courtesy of AgustaWestland
AW139, while Shanghai Kingwing
General Aviation supports the
AW139. Japanese customers are
well served by Fuji Heavy Indus-
tries on the AW139, Aero Asahi for
the AW139 and AW109E, Nippi
Corporation for the AW109E
and Nakanihon Air Service for
the AW109 series and AW139,
while Helicopters New Zealand
provides maintenance services
for the AW139 further south in
New Zealand.
Support is located throughout
Southeast Asia, through Sabah
Air Aviation and the manufac-
turer’s wholly-owned subsidiary
AgustaWestland Malaysia in that
country; Royal Star Aviation in the
Philippines; ST Aerospace Sys-
tems and Composite Technology
International in Singapore; and SFS
Aviation in Thailand.
“As deliveries continue to South-
east Asian customers, including
Weststar Aviation of Malaysia, and
the AW169 becomes certified and
delivered, additional maintenance
support facilities will come online
32 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
and be authorized to provide sup-
port, repairs and spare parts,” says
the manufacturer.
Recent additions to the sup-
port network include Shanghai
Kingwing General Aviation in
China, which was appointed late
last year to support the AW139
from three bases in the country, at
Shanghai Gaodong, Xiamen and
Fuzhou Zhuqi. The appointment
follows the sale of more than 110
AgustaWestland helicopters in
China, with 70 of these sold in the
last 12 months alone.
As the local f le et grows,
AgustaWestland says it continu-
ally evaluates the level of service
and support it provides to ensure
it meets operational requirements.
“The capabilities behind our sup-
port network grow in conjunc-
tion with our sales and anticipated
deliveries. Growth is expected over
the course of the next few years as
AW189 deliveries increase rapidly
and the AW169 is introduced to
the region,” it says.
With an Asia-Pacific fleet of
over 2,600 – and an order intake
in the region that accounts for
27 percent of the group’s book-
ings – Airbus Helicopters has a
significant presence in the region
and has developed its local sup-
port network to match. All of the
manufacturer’s customer centers
in Malaysia, Singapore, Indone-
sia, Thailand, Australia, Japan and
China have O level (flight line)
and I level (periodic inspection)
capabilities covering the entire
range, says Philippe Monteux, head
of region Southeast Asia and the
Pacific. In addition, there are D
level (major inspection) repair hubs
in Malaysia, for the AS332/EC225,
Singapore for the AS365/EC155,
Australia for the AS350/355 and
Japan for the EC135.
Airbus also has a joint venture
with Boustead Heavy Industries
Corporation Berhad (BHIC) in
Malaysia, which is certified to carry
out O and I level inspections on the
Malaysian government’s fleet of
12 EC725s, six Navy Fennecs and
three AS365s. In addition, there
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 Manufacturing in Asia

is CTI Systems, which is a Singa-
pore-based joint venture between
Airbus Helicopters, Sikorsky and
ST Aerospace Engineering provid-
ing repair and overhaul of helicop-
ter blades.
As a result, Monteux says there
is no need for operators to leave
the region for their MRO needs.
“The region already covers the full
scope of maintenance require-
ments for the current range of Air-
bus helicopters and will cover in
the future the same maintenance
scope for the brand new helicop-
ters,” Monteux says. “Our commit-
ment can be seen in the extensive
local footprint that we already
have in all the key countries across
the region, and we are in a position
to ensure we continue to increase
our service quality to keep rais-
ing the bar in meeting customers’
expectations. We are investing
millions of dollars in our current
worldwide network, with a special
focus in the various regions, to
better satisfy our customers.”
With the Airbus fleet in the
region set to expand with the entry
of new types, including the EC145
T2, EC135 T3/P3 and EC175,
coordinated regional plans are
important. “The plan is for the
Asia-Pacific network to be pre-
pared to accommodate the new
helicopter types. Future support
plans will be synergized among
the Airbus Helicopters customer
centers in the region to provide
even faster responses and more
cost-efficient solutions to our cus-
tomers. Our objective is to sup-
port our customers to maximize
the usage of their aircraft at the
best operating cost,” he explains.
Bell Helicopter says it has made
“significant investment” in its glob-
al footprint to ensure its custom-
ers in the region are taken care of.
There are currently over 1,000 Bell
helicopters flying in the region,
with a further 100 in China. The
Bell 206 is the favored type in the
region, with nearly 500 in service,
followed by the Bell 412 (150), the
Bell 407 (90-plus) and the Bell 429,
which is a fairly recent addition to
the region’s fleet, with nearly 30
operating in Asia-Pacific today,
says the manufacturer.
Like many aerospace compa-
nies, Bell has established Singapore
as its support center for the region.
Bell’s Asia Service Center pro-
vides both sales and aftermarket
support, including being a global
distribution center of Bell parts and
assemblies. It focuses on comple-
tions, customization, MRO and
maintenance training for a variety
of Bell products, including the Bell
206, Bell 407 and Bell 412.
Bell also has 18 authorized cus-
tomer service facilities (CSF), as

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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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 33

 SERVICES | MAINTENANCE
Operators of Rolls-Royce helicopter engines in the
Asia-Pacific region are supported by the Rolls-Royce
Operations Center, which is a 24/7 engineering support
facility located in Indianapolis, Ind.
Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce believes customers in the Asia-Pacific
region are well served and do not need to leave the
region for their maintenance requirements, but they
can choose to use the manufacturer’s worldwide M250
FIRST network. Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce
34 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
well as 13 customer service engi-
neers (CSE) in the region. “CSEs are
the first point of contact for many
of our customers and … help trou-
bleshoot as required. They serve as
the primary point of contact back
into the Bell Helicopter network,
relaying customer issues, con-
cerns and compliments back,” says
the manufacturer.
“Much of the service and main-
tenance in the region can be done
by either our CSFs or our Singa-
pore Service Center,” says Bell.
“Components that can be removed
from the aircraft can be shipped to
one of our component repair and
overhaul locations [CRO]. We have
several CRO shops worldwide to
service blade repairs/overhauls,
engines, hubs, transmissions, com-
posites and other components,” the
manufacturer adds.
Bell says it is always seeking ways
to meet the needs of customers in
the region. With the growth of the
Chinese market in particular, Bell
is working with local customers to
ensure the market has a ready pool
of maintenance technicians. “China
in particular has one of the fastest-
growing civil helicopter fleets in
the world and the need for trained
pilot and maintenance [personnel]
is increasing quickly,” say Bell.
As a result, one of the partner-
ships it has in China is with Guang-
zhou Civil Aviation College to pro-
vide technician training on the Bell
206 and Bell 407. “Technicians have
been trained in Fort Worth and are
assisting with training in-region,”
says Bell.
Bell expects to see continued
strong growth in China, particu-
larly in the helicopter emergency
medical service (HEMS) market,
as well as in India. “We are seeing
a transformation in the helicopter
environment in many of Asia-
Pacific’s countries. India is starting
to recognize that helicopters are
not only used for luxury and VIP
transportation, but are considered
an essential business tool,” says Bell,
pointing also to oil and gas and
military opportunities.
The Robinson Helicopter Com-
pany also expects to see its busi-
ness in China grow as the country
relaxes airspace restrictions and
general aviation develops through
investments in infrastructure and
training. “With low operating and
acquisition costs, the high-perfor-
mance five-place R66 is well suited
for the country’s emerging rotor-
craft market,” says Robinson.
All three Robinson models –
the R22, R44 and R66 – are flying
throughout the Asia-Pacific region,
with the R44 being the top seller.
The manufacturer has 56 ser-
vice centers globally, 18 of which
are in the Asia-Pacific region.
The service centers are indepen-
dently owned and operated and
are required to maintain a spares
inventory and employ a factory-
trained maintenance technician.
Further expansion in the network
in the Asia-Pacific region is likely,
according to Robinson. “We expect
and would like to see continued
growth in this region,” the manu-
facturer says.
Engine manufacturers have also
been boosting their support. Rolls-
Royce has three authorized repair
and overhaul shops in the region
for commercial work – Asia Pacific
Aerospace in Brisbane, Australia,
for the M250 and RR300 engines;
StandardAero in Singapore and
Sydney for the M250 and RR300;
and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in
Japan for M250 operators. Military
engines are handled by AirAsia in
Taipei, Taiwan, and Samsung in
Korea, both for the M250. In addi-
tion, Rolls-Royce has an approved
service center in New Zealand.
W h i l e t h e m a n u f a c tu re r
believes the region is “well cov-
ered for repair and overhaul,” it is
in discussions with “several other
locations to join our service center
network in the region,” confirms
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

Mark Thompson, helicopter ser-
vice network manager, with the
service centers providing line-level
maintenance. In particular, like all
manufacturers, Thompson says
Rolls-Royce is “keeping our eye”
on China.
Although customers do not
need to leave the region for their
maintenance requirements, they
can choose to use the manufactur-
er’s worldwide M250 FIRST net-
work, which includes Rolls-Royce
authorized parts and repairs and
allows operators to benefit from
competition within the network
for best service and cost options.
“The value of the Rolls-Royce
FIRST network is operators can
choose where they obtain their
maintenance. The service loca-
tions know that they are compet-
ing for the operators’ business,
so customer satisfaction is highly
valued. If an operator finds they
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W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Manufacturing in Asia
Sikorsky Appoints First S-92 Customer Support Center
Sikorsky Aircraft has named Brisbane, Australia-based subsidiary Sikorsky
Helitech as its first worldwide Sikorsky-authorized customer support center
for the S-92 helicopter. The announcement, made at the Australian Interna-
tional Air Show, which took place at Avalon Airport, Geelong in late February,
also saw the handover of the first two of four S-92s to local operator Bond
Helicopters Australia.
Sikorsky Helitech will provide maintenance services for Australian and
regional operators of the S-92, providing quick access to Sikorsky’s logistics
and spare parts inventory as well as advanced service capabilities.
Sikorsky Helitech, which operates as Sikorsky Aircraft Australia in Australia,
has been a Sikorsky company since 2003. It is already a support center for the
S-76 line.
“Sikorsky Helitech is very pleased to have been appointed the first S-92
Customer Support Center in the world,” says David Stilianos, general man-
ager. “As the S-92 fleet in the Asia-Pacific region is rapidly expanding, Sikorsky
Helitech looks forward to supporting the growing S-92 customer base in
Australia, Asia and other parts of the world with a wide range of maintenance,
operation, repair and support services, including modifications and comple-
tions,” he says.
Sikorsky Helitech also supports Bell helicopter types as an authorized Bell
Helicopter Textron repair facility, providing maintenance; airframe structural
repairs; blade and composite repairs; component servicing, repair and over-
haul; specialized aircraft configurations and non-destructive testing.
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A P R I L 2 0 1 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 35
 SERVICES | MAINTENANCE
are not happy, they have plenty of
other options to choose from,” says
Thompson. Operators in the region
are also supported by the Rolls-
Royce Operations Center, which is
a 24/7 engineering support facility
located in Indianapolis, Ind.
With the Asia-Pacific helicopter
fleet expected to grow by upwards
of 24 percent over the next four
years alone, Australian aviation
sales, service and support company
Hawker Pacific (HP) anticipates its
helicopter MRO services will con-
tinue to grow. “Helicopter mainte-
nance is an increasingly important
element in the region’s aviation
industry and a key growth area
for Hawker Pacific,” says Mathew
Hardy, rotary-wing sales manager.
HP has comprehensive heli-
copter MRO and modification
capabilities throughout its net-
work in Australia, New Zea-
land, Singapore, the Philippines,
Malaysia and the Middle East.
Capabilities include helicopter
36 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
modification, heavy maintenance,
line maintenance, helicopter spe-
cial mission fitout, structural
repairs, component overhaul
and exchange, avionics sales and
service, systems integration, trou-
bleshooting, field support and
AOG contact. The company has
recently become the approved
retailer and installer for HeliSAS
Autopilot systems for the region.
HP has three Bell Helicopter-
approved customer service facili-
ties in Australia, New Zealand and
the Philippines, as well as a joint
venture rotor and blade repair
and overhaul facility in Dubai, in
the Middle East with Bell, serv-
ing customers in the Asia-Pacific,
Africa, Eastern Europe and the
Middle East. As well as being a Bell
CSF, it is also an AgustaWestland-
authorized blade repair center.
“There has been increasing
demand for helicopter mainte-
nance in the Asia-Pacific over the
past 10 years,” says Thompson.
Brisbane, Australia-based subsidiary Sikorsky Helitech has been
appointed by Sikorsky as its first worldwide authorized customer
support center for the S-92 helicopter. Photo courtesy of Sikorsky
“Our end-to-end solutions – from
sourcing, purchasing, importing,
arranging logistics and servicing
– coupled with our world-class
facilities, allow Hawker Pacific
to provide unparalleled support
across the region,” he adds.
The natu re of hel icopter
operations in the Asia-Pacific
region, namely the remoteness,
is a challenge, says Thompson.
“One of the greatest challenges
in supporting the fleet of the
Asia-Pacific region is the large
percentage of helicopters that
operate in remote locations. The
expansive fleet can be thousands
of kilometers away from major
hubs of the region. This vast
geographic spread across Asia-
Pacific means operators are not
always in close proximity to our
facilities,” he says. As a result, HP
has “flyaway teams” that con-
duct remote maintenance, which
greatly reduces turnaround times
and downtime.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
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 MILITARY | UNIT PROFILE

ARMY’S AVIATION
RESTRUCTURING NOT
AFFECT CIVIL HELICOP
MARKET
The UH-72 “Lakota,” which is based on the
Airbus H145/EC145, boasts a top speed of
145 knots and a range of 370 nautical miles.
It entered service with the Army National
Guard in late 2006.
Photo courtesy of Airbus Helicopters

38 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M

 Army Restructuring

N
T TO
PTER
T The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk has enjoyed wide acceptance as a military platform, as
well as a loyal following of government agencies, such as this Mexican police force, which
acquired a retired model for law enforcement applications. Photo courtesy of Sikorsky

The Army’s Aviation Restructure

Initiative involves swapping aircraft
with the reserve component and retiring
certain aircraft due to declining budgets
and force power. While the initiative is
being resisted by the reserve component
and by some lawmakers, the Army
is slowly implementing it.
By Pat Host

T
he Army’s first aviation restructuring in a generation
shouldn’t affect the civil helicopter market, according to a
prominent aerospace analyst.
Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group in
Fairfax, Va., told Rotor & Wing recently that although the Army is retiring
a number of TH-67 Creek training helicopters that were commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) aircraft when procured, there isn’t enough volume
being unloaded to affect the civil market, given the number of single
engine, light-tailed helicopters like the TH-67 already in use.

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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 39

 MILITARY | UNIT PROFILE

The 100th UH-72A Lakota was delivered to the Army in March, 2010, from its
plant in Columbus, Miss. During the event, this seldom-seen desert camouflage
paint scheme was placed on display. Photo by Ernie Stephens, Editor-at-Large

“Even though the TH-67 offload-

ing is really notable for (being)
commercial off-the-shelf birds that
can go back to being commercial,”
Aboulafia said. “The numbers just
aren’t that big.”
In response to declining defense
budgets in Washington and declin-
ing force sizes due to the drawdown
from wars in Iraq and Afghani-
stan, the Army has decided to try
again with its massive and con-
troversial Aviation Restructure
Initiative (ARI) after being partially
blocked by Congress in fiscal year
2015. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray
Odierno told the Senate Armed

40 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M


With a useful load 2,640 lbs and its ability to carry 11 fully armed
soldiers, the Black Hawk has been a mainstay of the regular Army, as
well as the Army Reserve, National Guard and foreign military forces
since 1978. Photo courtesy of Sikorsky
Services Committee (SASC) last
April that reducing the Army’s
fleet by 798 aircraft would save
nearly $12.7 billion over a five-
year period. Eighty-six percent
of the reductions would come
from the active component, com-
pared to 11 percent from the Army
National Guard.
As part of ARI, the Army wants
to retire its TH-67 trainer helicop-
ters developed by Bell Helicopter
Textron in favor of UH-72 Lakotas
developed by Airbus Helicopters.
Army Director of Aviation G3/5/7
Col. John Lindsay told Rotor &
Wing in a recent interview the
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
Lakota is a COTS aircraft used
for domestic missions like medi-
cal evacuation (medevac), border
patrol and permissive, or non-
combat, environments.
Lakotas are only used in per-
missive environments, he said,
because they are not militarized
with the additional survivability
gear associated with many Army
aircraft. Lindsay said militarizing
the Lakotas would likely add sev-
eral hundred pounds to the aircraft
and decrease their capabilities due
to the extra weight.
The Army, as part of ARI, decid-
ed to cancel its Armed Aerial Scout
Army Restructuring
procurement due to cost in favor of
using the Army National Guard’s
AH-64 Apaches, where they will
be teamed with unmanned aerial
systems (UAS) for armed recon-
naissance, attack or scout mis-
sions. The Army will then send
111 UH-60 Black Hawks to the
reserve component in exchange
for its Apaches and retire its fleet
OH-58 Kiowas Warriors. The
Army believes the Black Hawks
will help the Army National Guard
improve its capabilities for support
of civil authorities, such as disaster
response. Kiowas are also made by
Bell Helicopter Textron.
Aboulafia said that typically
when the Army unloads excess
aircraft like OH-58 Kiowa War-
riors or UH-1 Hueys, they end up
being purchased by militaries from
third-world countries such as the
Philippines or Columbia. He said
civil customers aren’t attracted to
retired military helicopters because
of their high cost per flying hour
and high cost of maintenance.
Aboulafia said in some places,
retired military helicopters inter-
fere with the civil market, but they
very often don’t.
Lindsay said with all the moving
parts involved with ARI, the funda-
mental challenge was the strategy
for the OH-58D Kiowa Warriors,
first procured in 1991. Lindsay said
the Army questioned pouring mil-
lions and, in some cases, billions of
dollars into a Kiowa Warrior cock-
pit and sensor upgrade program to
fulfill the scout mission. In addition
to the those upgrades, Lindsay
said the Army would also have
had to perform service-life exten-
sion programs (SLEP) in the 2020s
timeframe on the Kiowa Warriors,
and after all that work, he said,
the service would have had only a
“marginally-improved” capability,
and nothing close to what was nec-
essary to fulfill the scout mission.
A P R I L 2 0 1 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 41
 MILITARY | UNIT PROFILE
At a Glance:
• Budget crunch is causing the Army to undertake its first aviation
restructuring in a generation
• Restructure could save around $10 billion
• There is controversy over the role of the Army National Guard in future
Army combat
Aside from not wanting a
limited return on investment after
pouring millions to billions into
the Kiowas, the Army was get-
ting smaller. The land service was
developing options to reduce its
size from as high as 570,000 sol-
diers down to 490,000, down to
450,000 and in some instances
down to 420,000 if sequestration-
related budget caps were not lifted
for FY ’16.
The Army in the early 1990s
performed an ARI where it stan-
dardized assault and attack heli-
copter companies, provided a
separate aviation support battalion
in heavy divisions within the divi-
sion support command, formed a
general aviation support battalion
and created homogeneous single-
aircraft organizations. The Army
also fixed aviation sustainment
weaknesses and retired old air-
craft. A new division organization
was added to centralize support to
the aviation brigade. The division
aviation support battalion was
designed with modules to support
typical aviation task forces.
Congress in the FY ’15 NDAA
blocked the Army from transferring
Apaches from the Army National
Guard to the active Army until Oct.
1, 2015, when FY ’16 begins. The
service is allowed in until March
31, 2016, to prepare for the transfer
of not more than 48 Apaches and,
from Oct. 1, 2015 through March 31,
2016, transfer less than 49 Apaches
from the reserve component to the
active Army.
Though the Army will continue
to pursue ARI in FY ’16, not all
42 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
lawmakers are on board. SASC
member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.),
who is also on the airland sub-
committee, has reservations about
ARI’s impact on the Army National
Guard’s viability as a modern com-
bat force. A Wicker aide told Rotor
& Wing in a March 11 email that
the senator understands discus-
sions continue between the Army
and National Guard Bureau on the
final disposition of the Apaches.
The aide said that Wicker
believes it would be a good idea
for the active Army to wait until a
congressionally-directed commis-
sion reports on restructure find-
ings in early 2016.
“Senator Wicker believes it
would be prudent for the Army to
review the findings of the National
Commission on the Future of the
Army before making decisions
that may impact the National
Guard’s ability to supplement the
Army during future contingen-
cies,” the aide said.
The comments by the Wick-
er aide echo those of Raymond
DuBois, a senior adviser at the
Washington think tank Center for
Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS). DuBois believes the ARI
debate is about more than just
new versus old aircraft, but it’s also
about what the active Army wants
the Army National Guard to be
capable of doing and why. DuBois
said that over the last 15 years, the
Army National Guard has been
used as an operational arm of the
total Army, deploying into combat
the same way as the active Army.
“This is what is going on now
in, let’s call it the ‘Grand Debate,’”
DuBois told Rotor & Wing in a
recent interview. “The helicop-
ter ARI is a microcosm of that
larger debate.”
DuBois said the Army National
Guard has changed from being a
strategic reserve to an operational
reserve because of the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, and they don’t
want to give up that character-
ization. He said reasons for this
include relevancy and resources.
“You want to be taken seriously,”
DuBois said of the Guard’s eleva-
tion to operational status. “They
don’t want to give up that charac-
terization. It’s become, and under-
standably so, part of their identity.”
Lindsay said the Army has a
lot of work to do to prepare and
execute ARI, including predatory
activities that must occur years
in advance of the converging,
inactivation or activation of a
unit. The Army, he said, has indi-
vidual training requirements and
facilities to modify and equipment
to be moved from one location
to another.
“We’re looking forward because
we have to,” Lindsay said in his
Pentagon office. “There’s a lot of
preparatory activities that must
occur and we’re planning for
that, eventually.”
Go to
www.rotorandwing.com
to read about the Army’s
March 24 rotorcraft
modernization hearing on
Capitol Hill.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
SUMMER2015
BRINGING A NEW FACE TO OUR EXCEPTIONAL CONTENT

Rotor & Wing is the one-stop business intelligence source for those who own and operate rotorcraft throughout the
world. We deliver insight into and analysis of new aircraft, products and technologies, regulations, safety, maintenance
and other issues that impact commercial, military, government and public service sectors. Our community gains the
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257111
 PRODUCTS | CAS

ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT:
Collision Avoidance Systems
Nothing is more essential to aircraft operations than completing the mission safely. In an airliner’s world, air traffic
controllers maintain separation of airplanes from each other and from some obstacles. But down in the obstacle-rich
environment of the helicopter, where air traffic control assistance is absent more often than present, the rotorcraft
pilot needs to “see and avoid” trouble on his own.
The human eye is the primary tool used by aviators to avoid colliding with other things, but eyesight has obvious
limitation in areas of darkness and reduced visibility. Even sun-soaked terrain can camouflage power lines, towers
and other aircraft just long enough to cause a tragedy.
Enter the collision avoidance systems (CAS). CAS can be fitted to any helicopter on today’s market, and come with
a variety of features. There are systems that will give a general aural warning if a helicopter comes near power lines,
while others will provide the pilot with a digital image of every individual hazard along its route. Other systems are
designed to pinpoint an aircraft’s position, as well as give real-time information on the identity and location of other
aircraft in the vicinity. The following products are examples of some of those essential technologies.

Universal Access Transceivers
T h e N X T- 8 0 0 a n d N X T- 6 0 0 M o d e S
transponders from ACSS are full-feature systems
that are DO-260B and DO-181E compliant to meet the
global Automatic
DependentSurveil-
lance-Broadcast
(ADS-B) mandates
for aircraft that are
required to have
ADS-B Out capa-
bility. The NXTs transmit ADS-B Out data from the
aircraft to other nearby aircraft and Air Traffic Control
(ATC). The higher level of ADS-B Out (DO-260B)
transmission includes precise flight data, including
position, speed and intent of the aircraft. The NXT
transponders are optimized for flight in the next gen-
eration air traffic environment, and they help reduce
flight times and fuel consumption, while increasing
airspace capacity, and higher quality air traffic surveil-
lance resulting in improved air safety. The NXTs are
form factor replacements to the XS-950 Air Transport
Data Link (ATDL) transponder and the RCZ-852 for
business jets, regionals and helicopters. For more infor-
mation, visit www.accs.com
FreeFlight Systems was the first to offer a universal
access transceiver (UAT) ADS-B
datalink for helicopters in the
Gulf of Mexico. Its RANGR fam-
ily of receivers, transmitters and
transceivers are among the most
flexible and affordable suite of
ADS-B Solutions for airplanes and helicopters. Free-
Flight Systems created the first certified ‘UAT’ ADS-B
Out solution for helicopters operating in the Gulf of
Mexico and is obtaining STCs for the most popular
make of light general aviation airplanes. The RANGR
products are designed to integrate seamlessly with all
FreeFlight Systems GPS/WAAS systems for high-in-
tegrity position reporting. Freeflight Systems offers the
following three solutions of RANGR 978 Products, all
displayable with an iPad, multifunction display (MFD):
FDL-978-TX Transmitter only “out;” FDL-978-XVR
Transceiver “in and out;” FDL-978-RX Receiver only
“in.” Visit www.freeflightssytems.com for more.
Trig Avionics makes Mode S certified transponders
for GA aircraft, ideal for limited-space instrument
panels. Trig offers three 1090 ES ADS-B Out models:
the TT21 Class 2 for light aviation; the TT22 Class 1 for
high-performance
aircraft; and the
TT33 Class 1
for retrofitting
the KT76A and
KT78A transpon-
ders. The TT21 and TT22 are two-part systems that
weigh less than 450 grams, can be placed anywhere on
the airframe, and feature a positive control knob, push
buttons for Squawk code and Flight ID input, a bright
and back lit LCD, and splash-proof transponder con-
troller. The TT33 weighs 1.35 kg and operates at 240
watts from a supply voltage of 14 or 28 volts, giving it
the lowest power consumption in its class. It produces
less heat in the avionics stack to reduce loading on the

44 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M


aircraft’s electrical system. Addi-
tional features include a stop watch,
flight timer and altitude alarm. Visit
www.trig-avionics.com for more
information.
Appareo’s ADS-B Out tran-
sponder is designed with a non-
glass panel aircraft in mind. It pro-
vides a 1090 ES transponder and a
certified WAAS GPS in the same
box. When combined with Appar-
eo’s Stratus receiver and an iPad
equipped with ForeFlight Mobile,
the transponder also provides
ADS-B In capability. Appareo’s tran-
sponder is expected to be certified
this year, and
avionics dealers
will be able to
schedule instal-
lations starting in the fall of 2015.
TCAS
Avidyne’s TAS600 series Traf-
fic Advisory Systems (TAS),
which are based on the technol-
ogy originally developed for air-
transport category traffic alert
and collision avoidance systems
(TCAS), are fully TSO certified
and fully ADS-B upgradeable.
With the TAS600 Series, Avidyne
offers four different dual-antenna
TAS systems, tailored for the type
of aircraft you fly. The company’s
entry-level model, the TAS600,
is recommended for single-en-
gine piston aircraft, and features
a 7nm range, 3,500-foot vertical
separation
maximum
and 18,000-
foot ser-
vice ceiling.
The most
involved
model, the
TAS620, features a 21nm range,
a 10,000-foot vertical separation
maximum and a 55,000-foot ser-
vice ceiling. For more information,
visit www.avidyne.com.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
BendixKing has more than 10,000
TCAS II/ACAS II installations
on more than 325 aircraft types.
Systems include the KTA 870 and
970 TCAS, which feature two
directional antennas to minimize
own-aircraft shadowing and maxi-
mize range, and
the KMH 980
multi-hazard
awareness sys-
tem. The KMH
980 can track
up to 60 aircraft
and display
information on up to 30 of those
aircraft. Eight ranges from 2nm to
40nm show three levels of intrud-
ers, from non-threat to proximity
intruder to Traffic Advisory (TA).
It also includes takeoff and land-
ing settings that highlight traffic
above or below based on move-
ment. For more information, visit
www.bendixking.com.
Garmin’s GTS 8000 TCAS/
ACAS II is a fully TCAS 7.1 com-
pliant system that issues resolution
advisories to help clear conflicts,
displays vertical speed constraints
and climb/descend information,
and is upgradeable for NextGen/
SES System applica-
tions. The GTS 8000
provides clear pic-
ture of potential traf-
fic threats and issues
maneuver com-
mands that direct
pilots on how to
clear those conflicts.
It is also a Change 7.1 compliant
solution and meets standardiza-
tion requirements implemented
in most countries. When he GTS
8000 detects a conflict, the sys-
tem issues a Resolution Advisory
(RA), which involved both visual
and aural instructions on how to
avoid a collision. For more infor-
mation on the GTS 8000, visit
www.garmin.com.
Essential Equipment
Rockwell Collins’ TCAS-4000
provides total situational awareness
of impending traffic conflicts, includ-
ing the display
of resolutions
for immediate
threats. The sys-
tem is Change
7.1 compliant
and tracks all
Mode C and Mode S transpon-
ders. It provides range, relative bear-
ing and altitude information for up
to 30 aircraft that pose the great-
est threat of collision. The TCAS-
4000 features a real-time display of
surrounding traffic situation and
potential collision threats, which
provides the crew with improved
safety. For more information, visit
www.rockwellcollins.com.
EGPWS
Honeywell’s Enhanced Ground
Proximity Warning Systems
(EGPWS) are designed to mini-
mize risk and maximize reaction
time by constantly monitoring ter-
rain and obstacles in proximity of
the aircraft. Honeywell’s MK XXI
EGPWS is a TSO-C194 HTAWS
designed specifically for VFR heli-
copters without a radio altimeter,
and it exceeds the FAA TSO-C194
HTAWS requirements. It includes
an internal GPS
card and inter-
faces to weather
radar indicators,
multi-function
displays and
stand-alone displays. The MK
XXII EGPWS is a TSO-C194
HTAWS designed specifically for
IFR-equipped helicopters with a
radio altimeter. In addition to its
HTAWS required modes, the sys-
tem includes several GPWS modes
and unique callouts for excessive
bank angle, tail strike protection and
autorotation. For more information,
visit aerospace.honeywell.com.
A P R I L 2 0 1 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 45
 PRODUCTS | UAVS
UAS Notebook
by Mark Colborn
sUAS NPRM - The FAA
Wants Your Input
t’s difficult to believe, but the
I FAA is actively soliciting our
opinion on a variety of issues
related to small unmanned
aerial systems (sUAS). Regardless of
your feelings on this subject, don’t
miss this rare opportunity to help
shape the future of aviation. The
comment period will end April 24.
Many entrepreneurs in the U.S.
want to use sUAS’s for non-rec-
reational purposes. In the long-
awaited 195-page Notice of Pro-
posed Rulemaking (NPRM), enti-
tled Operation and Certification of
Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems,
the FAA outlines a plan that makes it
less cumbersome for businesses and
public safety agencies to fly sUAS’s.
Police and fire can chose to operate
under the proposed Part 107 rules as
civil aircraft, or continue to operate
as public use. But operating under
public use will require agencies to
undergo the Certificate of Waiver
or Authorization (COA) process.
The proposals in the NPRM that so
far have garnered the most atten-
tion include see-and-avoid rules (or
line-of-sight), impact damage miti-
gation, and operator certification
requirements.
The FAA is charged with pro-
tecting the safety of the NAS and
is steadfast regarding the concept
of see-and-avoid. Until emergent
collision avoidance technologies
undergo vigorous testing and are
proven reliable, the FAA will require
operators to always be within line-
of-sight of their machines. This
explicitly rules out drone pack-
46 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
age delivery – to the chagrin of
corporate at Amazon.
The agency is considering less
restrictive rules for sUAS’s less than
4.4 pounds. Machines this small can
be made out of materials that break
up on impact, thus mitigating injury
to persons or damage to property on
the ground. The FAA is particularly
interested in public feedback on this
micro-UAS proposal.
It also wants small UAS opera-
tors to pass an aeronautical knowl-
edge test, then obtain an unmanned
operator certificate with a sUAS
rating. The exact procedures for
how this will be accomplished are
not clearly defined in the document.
Perhaps the FAA is planning to cre-
ate a new category of airman certifi-
cate with several privilege level class
ratings covering all future UAS types
- for instance, issuing small UAS and
micro-UAS class ratings first, fol-
lowed in a few years by autonomous
UAS operator class ratings? The
FAA only expressed the need to test
a potential non-recreational sUAS
operator’s aeronautical knowledge.
But licensed pilots are already tested
on this subject. The website - www.
regulations.gov - has received sever-
al comments that question the need
(and expense) for currently licensed
pilots to obtain this extra rating.
They are also interested in opin-
ions on the following:
• Can drones be launched from
vehicles?
• Is the 500 ft. AGL altitude
restriction too high or too low?
• Should sUAS operators be
allowed to deviate from FAA
regulations in the event of an
emergency?
• Is the proposed speed limit of
100mph too fast?
• Should drones be allowed to
tow objects or banners?
• Should registration numbers
be displayed on drones, and do they
need to be fire resistant for identifi-
cation following a crash?
• Should drones be allowed to
fly at night? This restriction would
directly affect non-recreational
sUAS deployment in Alaska, and
the FAA wants to know if the rules
should be different for this region.
• The current proposal allows
a 17-year-old to obtain an operator
certificate. Can that age be lowered?
Knowing the potential beneficial
applications of sUAS’s to society, the
FAA also recognizes that insufficient
data exists to properly integrate
this technology into the airspace
above 500 ft. AGL. They want non-
recreational operators to report any
crashes resulting in damage to prop-
erty, or injury to persons.
The FAA requests public com-
ment on any portion of the pro-
posed rule. Since aviation safety is
the purview of the FAA, not our
privacy concerns, comments should
strictly address safety of flight issues.
Comments can be filed by mail, via
fax, in person, or electronically at
www.regulations.gov. Aviation as
we know it is changing. Don’t miss
this unique opportunity to guide
this explosive industry - and the
FAA - into the future.
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 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E

 COMMERCIAL | TECHNOLOGY
Leading Edge
By Frank Lombardi
Under the Big Top
I
recently got together with a
college buddy of mine to catch
up on things. As he vented
about his job, it was clear that
there were many aspects of it that
have caused him frustration over the
years. “I swear, one day, I am going to
run off and join the circus!” he said
to me in desperation. I chuckled
and reflected on my own employ-
ment, which definitely has its trying
moments. I was about to agree with
his idea of joining the circus, but
then I paused. I realized I already
perform in one.
Not to be cynical, but seriously,
let’s talk about what we pilots wear.
Have you ever glanced at yourself
in the mirror while in full pilot garb?
Total clown show. Well, that’s not
where I was originally going with
this; it just happens to be a related
observation. Helicopter flying is dif-
ficult for many reasons. Unlike our
airplane counterparts, almost none
of our flying is kept in balance by the
basic machine itself. While it can
seem effortless to the unversed, in
reality it takes quite a bit of work to
tame the instability of the machine,
especially in a hover.
The helicopter’s weak static sta-
bility (initial desire to return to trim),
cross-coupling between axes, and
creation of its own gusty air lend to
its difficulty. It is also dynamically
unstable in a hover. If we decided to
stop the constant job of making tiny
cyclic corrections while in a hover
and freeze the stick, the first wind
gust would begin the helicopter
drifting. The increase in airspeed
as it drifts would cause the rotor to
flap back. The machine would pitch
to follow the rotor, slow to a stop,
48 R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
reverse direc- Static & Dynamic Stability Defined
tion, then
h e a d b a c k Positive static stability is defined as an aircraft’s initial tendency to
return towards trim after experiencing a disturbance. Dynamic stability
toward its ini- describes its characteristic motion over time, after being disturbed.
tial trim with Having positive static stability does not guarantee positive dynamic
a gain in ener- stability. When an aircraft is disturbed from trim, either by a gust or
gy (i.e. speed). control input, it can begin an oscillatory motion. If the amplitude of
A pendulum the oscillation decreases with time, the aircraft is said to have positive
action would dynamic stability. If the oscillation continues with no decrease in
begin,increas- amplitude, it is neutrally stable. If the amplitude increases with time
it is unstable. Even a dynamically unstable aircraft can be controllable
ing in sever- (i.e. a hovering helicopter), as long as the frequency of oscillation is
ity with every low enough to allow ample time for pilot corrective action.
c ycle. The
The “flight characteristics” subsection of Parts 27 and 29 of the
good news is Federal Aviation Regulations describe the stability requirements of
that the diver- Normal and Transport Category helicopters.
gence hap-
pens slow enough that with practice more gradual restoring force and
we learn to cancel the oscillations may cause you to wander around on
out and hold our position with a your ball. Whether you agree with
great deal of precision… a feat wor- my analogy or not, one thing is cer-
thy of any skilled circus performer. tain. You do not want your plates to
Imagine if before every flight, stop spinning… at least not until the
someone announced, “Watch now, show is over.
ladies and gentlemen, as our pilot I think part of the cynicism that
goes up against a host of natural many helicopter pilots develop is
and mechanized forces that will try due to the lack of awareness that
to topple him, including the most others have as to what it takes to do
relentless: gravity. Prepare to witness what we do. If only upon landing
him bring order to chaos, as he bal- we were met with the applause and
ances on a beach ball… that has been cheers from the crowd, as is the
placed inside a bowl… while using case when the circus gymnast takes
fire to spin a couple of plates on the a bow with outstretched arms. But
end of two sticks.” alas, rarely does this happen. And
Depending on the size and rotor really, we shouldn’t expect it to.
characteristics of your particular Most of us do our job because we
aircraft, your beach ball may be very embrace its challenges, take pride
large, making it easier to balance. in its necessity, and strive to perfect
When things do get out of bal- it to such a degree, that it just seems
ance, the walls of the bowl work to plain easy. It is for this reason, that
return you to trim. If your bowl has instead of becoming frustrated
steep walls, it will provide a stronger with the uninitiated while we work
return towards the center-point to accomplish all this safely, we
but might make it easier to over- should be smiling and taking quiet
control; while a shallow bowl with pride in the difficult privilege of
less curvature will provide a weaker being a helicopter pilot.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
 May 2015:
Offshore Supremacy, UAV Part II
Predicting and Riding Out the Turmoil of
the Offshore Market. As the price of oil remains
depressed, oil and gas companies have scaled back
their Exploration and Production (E&P) budgets
and plans for 2015, sending shockwaves across
the rotorcraft market. Offshore operators are fly-
ing fewer hours, and at least some of their plans
to update aging fleets with new aircraft purchases
have been put on hold for now. But for many play-
ers in this arena, this is not the first time they have
faced such things. Here we look at what strategies
are being taken to deal with what insiders recog-
nize as a short-term blip in the market, the duration
of which is, however, critically important to suc-
cessful business planning, yet nigh impossible to
predict.
The Precarious Position of Powerline and
Pipeline Patrol. With the commercialization
of UAV operations moving forward in the United
States, we send our editors out to what will no
doubt become the frontline of the coming battle
– powerline/pipeline patrol operations, to see how
helicopter operators are preparing and adjusting
for the new world order.
Bonus Distribution: AUVSI, AHS Forum, EBACE
.
W W W. R O T O R A N D W I N G . C O M
The Airbus AS350 … No, Make that the
H125: Top Retrofit and Upgrade Options. As
Airbus Helicopters renames the workhorse of its
existing helicopter fleet to fall sequentially in its
proper order within the family (bigger than a 120,
smaller than a 130) we take a moment to ask opera-
tors to tell us what they consider to be the all-time
best retrofit and upgrade options available for this
aircraft.
The 2015 RW Technical Information Series:
Commercial UAVs, Part II. In part II of this
multi-part series, we begin to look at some of the
platforms that would seem to show the most util-
ity and promise for integration within a helicopter
operators existing fleet.
Essential Equipment Options.
● Windows and Window Repairs
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A P R I L 2 0 1 5 | R OTO R & W I N G M AGA Z I N E 49
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