HAI Heli Expo

Sikorsky Aircraft unveiled its X2 Technology Demonstrator Aircraft Sunday at Heli-Expo in Houston. The counter-rotating coaxial rotor design is aimed at delivering the high-speed cruise while keeping the low-speed handling, hovering and autorotation safety characteristics that operators want. “The X2 Technology Demonstrator is an integrated suite of technologies intended to advance the state-of-the-art, counter-rotating coaxial […]

The main players in the civilian turbine helicopter market delivered 813 aircraft last year, a 30 percent increase over the previous year, and that rate of growth is expected to continue, Honeywell predicts in its annual forecast of helicopter sales released at Heli-Expo. The company says medical and law enforcement sectors will account for 65 […]

American Europcopter announced at Heli-Expo that it had delivered its first EC225 to a U.S. customer. The EC225 is a heavy twin-turbine helicopter that draws on the company’s experience with the Super Puma family of helicopters. Era Helicopters bought the helicopter for its offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. “We are excited to be […]

Sikorsky and its subsidiary, Schweizer Aircraft Corp., announced Sunday they are developing the next generation of the popular Schweizer 333 and that it will incorporate technology derived from the unmanned Fire Scout VTUAV. “The S-434 helicopter introduces a whole new level of flight performance,” said Schweizer President Paul Schweizer. “With a four-bladed rotor system, increased […]

Orlando – Many segments of general aviation sufferedunnecessarily under the often-nonsensical constraints of our”post-nine-one-one” airspace system:  flight training, electronicnewsgathering and other operations heavily dominated by helicopters. In fact,some helicopter-dominated segments continued to bleed the red ink borne ofillogical restrictions for nearly a dozen weeks after the terroristattacks-by-airliners; some still do. This state of affairs generated […]

Click on any image to view a larger version.   Heli-Expo opened Thursday to an enthusiastic crowd.   The “fun” began earlier in the week…   …as the display aircraft arrived at the conventioncenter…   …and AVweb was there, for these behind-the-scenesshots.    But it was the convention floor, seminars, and displays…   …where folks gathered… […]

Be sureto check out AVweb‘s exclusive image gallery from Heli-Expo 2001! Most should remember the lyrics of an old rock song that promised, “Oh, it never rains in southern California … it pours.” Well, that was the story for about half of the Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) annual Heli-Expo 2001. Off and on during the […]

Back to AVweb‘s Heli-Expo 2001 coverage. Entering the exhibit hall Agusta/Bell AB 139 mockup Honeywell’s AB 139 cockpit display Bell 412 EP spec sheet Eurocopter EC 130 B4 showed off its brand new type certificate Another view of the Eurocopter EC 130 B4 Eurocopter EC 130 B4 fenestron Honeywell’s helo EGPWS display Honeywell’s Primus Epic […]

IFR Rules, New Ships Bode Well; Noise Issues, Neighbors Bedevil Potential A week ago Friday, the FAA acknowledged that helicopters are, well, different.After years of wishing and hoping, lobbying and praying by the helicoptercommunity, the folks at 800 Independence took the “FAR”-reaching stepof publishing rules changes for IFR helicopter flights that lower fuel-reserverequirements and ceiling […]

The Heli-Expo 2000 exhibit floor was crowded with booths and displays, plus a record-territory number of  attendees. This mock-up of the forthcoming Agusta/Bell AB139 drew plenty of attention. This is a 12-pax twin. The latest variant of Sikorsky’s S-76. Bell’s 427, in PHI colors. They might fly differently than a fixed-wing aircraft, but they’re all […]