Archives :: Rotorcraft Top Stories
Displaying 41 - 60 of 3837 stories.
May 1, 2013
Boeing has now delivered 40 newly developed AH-64E Apaches under the initial low rate initial production (LRIP) program—31 going to the U.S. Army and nine to foreign military sales (FMS) customers. The 31 aircraft are the first of 51 being produced for the Army under LRIP. Those 51 do not include those going to FMS customers, according to Col. Jeffrey E. Hager, project manager for Apache. Total order...May 1, 2013
Portland, Ore.-based Erickson Air-Crane has reached a stock purchase agreement to acquire Evergreen Helicopters, an operator of 64 aircraft—including helicopters and fixed-wing—with headquarters in McMinnville, Ore. The acquisition is set to almost double the size of Erickson as a company. Erickson owns and operates a fleet of 18 S-64 heavy-lift...May 1, 2013
Africair, independent representative of Bell for Africa, has signed a purchase agreement with Scott’s–Bell 47 (SB47) for two 47GT-6...May 1, 2013
Robinson Helicopters announced that the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee Aviation Register (IACAR) issued a type certificate for the R66 turbine on March 15, 2013, the culmination of a process that began in November 2010. The welcome news will now allow Robinson to export 22 R66 helicopters to Russia. A further 18 are in production and...May 1, 2013
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has issued a $6.6-million contract to Lockheed Martin for continued operational support of two K-Max unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The cargo resupply aircraft are deployed with the U.S. Marine Corps. Work will take place at NAVAIR’s Patuxent River, Md. base and various OCONUS locations. According to the Department of Defense, the contract is expected to run...May 1, 2013
The saga of the British government’s drive to replace the 70-year tradition of military involvement in providing the majority of the UK’s search and rescue (SAR) helicopters with a privatized ‘for profit’ organization in order to divest the service off the military balance sheet is now at an end. The announcement by Patrick McLoughlin, the UK Secretary of State at the Department for...May 1, 2013
Shanghai-based Avia-Tek aviation consultancy has forecast the delivery of 65 civil helicopters into the Chinese rotorcraft market during 2013, bringing the total number of airframes in China to 435. Avia-Tek publishes an annual report that in 2011 predicted that the Chinese civil market would have 357...May 1, 2013
On March 21, 2013, the crew of a UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Sikorsky S-61 Sea King rescued a French trawler crewman with serious head injuries on the ninth attempt when a violent storm in the Irish Sea made a boat-to-boat transfer impossible. Although a Royal Navy hydrographic ship, HMS Echo, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution boat Angel responded to the trawler captain’s call for help, the...May 1, 2013
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that a private text conversation was one of the factors that contributed to a series of poor decisions resulting in the August 2011 crash of an Air Methods Eurocopter AS350 B2 in Mosby, Mo. Four people died as a result of the accident, including the pilot, James Freudenberg. According to NTSB, in addition to being distracted from texting...May 1, 2013
The U.S. Army’s rotorcraft fleet is wearing out at a much faster rate than was predicted thanks to a decade of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Department of Defense findings state: “The Operational Tempo (OPTEMPO) in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was, and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is, five times that of peace time, and much higher than the design usage spectrum, further taxing the...May 1, 2013
Sabers have been drawn and the battle is on for the deepwater offshore helicopter market that has already emerged. The large energy companies are now drilling exploratory wells in ocean depths of 10,000 feet or more at distances that exceed 200 miles from shorelines all over the world. The history of ocean drilling has always been in a leap-frog fashion with outward movement from shore generally being in...May 1, 2013
Armed Aerial Scout: Will they or won’t they? “What do we do with the Scout? Do we buy new or do we do a SLEP [service life extension program with the Kiowa Warrior]?” asked Maj. Gen. William “Tim” Crosby, PEO Army Aviation, during his address at the annual Quad-A convention, held this year in Fort Worth, Texas. Addressing industry delegates in the audience, he continued...May 1, 2013
What do the chief executives of a longstanding U.S. helicopter manufacturer, a London-based emergency medical services, offshore and SAR operator, and a hoist and winch supplier from New Jersey have in common? All of them sat down with Rotor & Wing during Heli-Expo in March for exclusive interviews that are part of our ongoing series featuring CEOs from the top companies around the helicopter industry...May 1, 2013
In 1998 at the Heli Japan Conference held in Gifu, Japan, I attended a presentation by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on what they thought future heliport design criteria should include. For instance, at that time the FAA was pushing a 4,800-foot straight line approach at a 3-degree slope. That means you would start the approach 4,800 feet from the pad 250 feet above the heliport. Until...May 1, 2013
One of the advantages of operating rotary wing aircraft is that we are not confined to established airports or operate under FAA fixed-wing standards of “one shoe fits everyone” ideology. In years past, we have all suffered from visibility limitations, controllers not understanding our unique capabilities, ramp positioning problems, prohibitive costs and so on. I will say that in some cases, it...May 1, 2013
First of all, I hate partisan politics. There are too many times when it gets in the way of the nation’s—any nation’s—best interest. Second, while I knew the recent budget battle that raged on Capitol Hill was going to go down to the wire, I had good money that said a resolution was going to be reached at the eleventh hour, thus averting “sequestration,” the automatic...May 1, 2013
The opening late afternoon session of the U.S. Army Aviation Association of America (Quad-A) annual convention usually has a vibrant expectation to it. An eclectic mix of fighting men and women all with aviation in common, some shouldering old buddies with the “where the heck did you go” conversation; beside them old veterans—some recently retired and working in industry, others...April 30, 2013
Las Vegas, Nev.-based All Metal Maintenance Stands has installed a series of multi-purpose stands at the U.S. Coast...April 30, 2013
The U.S. Navy is re-entering an updated Sikorsky MH-60S operational flight trainer (OFT) into service at the Naval Air Station (NAS) near San Diego, Calif. CAE provided a "technology...April 30, 2013
Enstrom Helicopter Corp. is planning to double the current size of its Menominee, Mich.-based manufacturing plant to 77,000 square feet. Expansion plans include...
- Eurocopter Uncovers EC175 VIP, Executive Versions
- AW139 Simulator Begins Operations at FlightSafety Lafayette
- British MoD Restocks Supplies of Lockheed Martin Hellfire Missile
- 2008 Buyer’s Guide Directory Listings: Directory
- Year in Review—Operations: Raw Materials, Helicopters, Pilots — All in High Demand
- RAF Pilot Receives DSO for Using Chinook to Shield Troops
- Solar-Powered Airplane Ready for Coast-to-Coast U.S. Flight
- Senate Schedules Hearing on FAA's Handling of Sequestration and 787 Investigation
- Rotor & Wing Magazine :: Helicopter Foundation Takes Professional Education Courses to San Diego
- Northrop Grumman Touts MQ-8C as 'Rotary UAV of the Future'
Do you receive The Collective?
This weekly e-letter features an in-depth Story of the Week, Top News Picks, Helicopter Jobs and commentary from our Facebook page.
Sign up now and stay up-to-date about all the happenings in the rotorcraft world.
Sign-up now for The Collective, it's free!
Join us on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn