• 07 May 2024 11:51 AM
• 0

Heli-Expo Finale

By Kenneth I. Swartz
Vertiflite, May/June 2024

At the last convention to bear that name, Heli-Expo 2024 highlighted progress in the helicopter industry, with an eye towards the
future of vertical flight. (Photo above: Cal Fire S-70i Firehawk with a Kawak 1,000-gal belly tank at the Sikorsky booth. All photos by the author.)

Heli-Expo 2024 returned to the Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) roots in Anaheim, California, with a four-day convention and trade show on Feb. 26–29. It was attended by 15,000 people from 87 countries, with 625 exhibitors and 63 rotorcraft on display.

This was the last such event for the trade association, which rebranded itself as Vertical Aviation International (VAI) on Feb. 26 and announced that its future conventions will be called “Verticon.”

Late last year, HAI celebrated its 75th anniversary. Just as the American Helicopter Society became the Vertical Flight Society in 2018 as it was celebrating 75 years, HAI set out to rebrand in late 2022.

The association traces its origins to the Helicopter Council, which was founded in December 1948 by six commercial helicopter operators in California. In 1949, it became the Helicopter Association and soon after the Helicopter Association of America (HAA), which held until 1981 when it took the HAI moniker.

VFS and VAI have a long history of collaboration that advances the interests of their respective stakeholder groups. With technology being a key aspect of safety, noise, efficiency and affordability, technical advances and innovations facilitate improvements in the operational use of vertical flight aircraft.

Equinor Orders Super Mediums
One of the biggest news announcements at Heli-Expo was that Equinor signed a purchase agreement for 10 Bell 525 Relentless aircraft for North Sea offshore operations, with deliveries expected to begin in 2026, along with an order for five new Leonardo AW189s that will enter service in early 2025.

Development of the 19-seat super medium Bell 525 was revealed at Heli-Expo 2012, featuring a pair of General Electric CT7-2F1 turboshaft engines and a five-blade composite main rotor system.

The prototype 525 first flew on July 1, 2015, but the certification program has moved slowly due to an accident in July 2016 and the introduction of the world’s first fly-by-wire flight control system in a civil helicopter.

The 525 has a maximum takeoff weight of 20,500 lb (9,300 kg), compared to the earlier generation twin-engine Bell 214ST (see below) — the largest civil helicopter Bell had produced to date — with a weight of 17,500 lb (7,938 kg).

Bell expects to obtain 525 type certification by the US Federal Aircraft Administration (FAA) as a Part 29 transport category helicopter later this year, followed by certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Icing flight test and certification has also been a high priority since bad weather capabilities are essential for operations by customers flying for offshore oil operations in Europe’s North Sea.

Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company that accounts for 60% of production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and is also active in many other offshore regions, including Canada, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico.

“These helicopter types will supplement the current Sikorsky S-92. All three helicopter models meet stringent safety requirements. By increasing from one to three helicopter models on the NCS, we get more flexibility and regularity,” said Kjetil Hove, Executive Vice President, Exploration & Production Norway, in a press release.

Since 2016, Equinor has only used the Sikorsky S-92 (which replaced the EC225 in 2016 after an accident and fleet-wide grounding) for personnel transport and search and rescue (SAR) services on the NCS.

Equinor said it annually transports 160,000 offshore employees to and from the NCS, resulting in more than 24,000 flight hours and 16,000 offshore landings per year.

“We depend on safe and efficient logistics operations to maintain a high activity level on the NCS well into the future. The new models feature technological improvements in terms of pilot support systems, passenger comfort and noise reduction,” said Ørjan Kvelvane, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Joint Operations Support.

It’s very unusual for a national oil company to be the launch customer for a new helicopter type, but the current shortage in offshore aircraft probably worked in Bell’s favor.

Equinor said operators Bristow and CHC currently have 46 Sikorsky S-92 machines based in Norway, of which 24 are under contract with Equinor. The helicopters are mainly used for transport services, but also for SAR — with the S-92A soon to be joined in the SAR role by a pair of Leonardo AW139s contracted from Lufttransport RW AS.

Bell completed more than 50 Relentless customer demonstration flights by 2022. Equinor has not announced who will operate its new 525s, but Bristow and CHC are probably the top candidates.

Mega Orders
Helicopter manufacturers like to compete when it comes to order announcements at shows like Heli-Expo.

The Helicopter Company (THC) of Saudi Arabia signed two large framework agreements with Airbus and Leonardo that included 38 firm orders and options for 210 helicopters. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, THC commenced operations in late 2019 and currently has a fleet of 47 rotorcraft working across a wide range of sectors.

The agreement with Airbus is for up to 150 helicopters, including eight H125s and 10 H145s converted from options in an earlier contract.

The agreement with Leonardo is for 20 firm AW139s and covers the future acquisition of AW109s, AW169s, AW139s and AW189Ks.

THC was established with the goal of contributing to Saudi Vision 2030 — an ambitious plan to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and develop new public service sectors. In March 2023, THC operated a fleet of 11 Airbus H125s, 12 H145s and one H160, and 23 Leonardo AW139s.

In a separate transaction, Saudia Technic, formerly known as Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries, signed a partnership with United Rotorcraft, a division of Air Methods Corporation, to launch Saudi Arabia’s most expansive helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (FAA Part 145) capability.

Airbus Helicopters
Airbus CEO Bruno Even reported that the rebound of the energy market and air ambulance programs is driving sales of medium, super medium and light twin engine helicopters, while economic uncertainty lowered demand for personal and business aircraft and commercial sales, which still lag behind 2019 levels. In 2023, Airbus helicopters logged more than three million flight hours, which is a new record for the company.

The helicopter company had revenues of €7,337M ($7.8B) in 2023, reflecting a 48% to 52% split between civil and military business, and a 47% to 53% split between sales and service versus aircraft platforms.

Last year’s helicopter order intake included 108 H125, 39 H-130, 29 H135, 186 H145, 25 H160 and 14 H175 helicopters, plus eight orders for the NHIndustries (a joint venture with Leonardo and GKN’s Fokker) NH90 military helicopters.

Airbus’ top seller of 2023 was the five-blade H145 (BK117D-3) with 185 of the twin-engine helicopter on order as of late February. This includes 62 firm orders (plus 20 options) from the German Bundeswehr for the German Army (57) and the Luftwaffe’s special forces (five), plus an order in late 2023 from the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) for 42 H145s (plus 22 options), with 36 allocated to the Sécurité Civile and six to the Gendarmerie Nationale.

To support the high demand, Airbus is now establishing a North American final assembly line for the five-blade H145 in Columbus, Mississippi. Since opening in 2006, the Mississippi plant has assembled 463 UH-72As (with a tail rotor) and 18 UH-72B (with Fenestrons) Lakota helicopters for the US Army, as well as 35 of the 43 EC145e produced for Metro Aviation. Metro Aviation received Airbus’s final-ever produced EC145/UH-72A in March 2024, marking the end of the tail rotor version of the popular H145.

The EC145e (BK117C-2e) was introduced in 2014 as a lightweight, low-cost version of the tail rotor-equipped EC145 for air ambulance and utility customers. Metro Aviation, a large emergency medical services (EMS) operator and helicopter completion center, became the exclusive sales agent for the EC145e, which it upgraded to an instrument flight rules (IFR) configuration using the lightweight Genesys Aerosystems HeliSAS helicopter autopilot and stability augmentation system and electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) technology.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the H125/AS350 Ecureuil family, with the prototype AS350C making its first flight in Marignane, France, on June 27, 1974. The AS 350B3e was rebranded the H125 in 2014, and the AS350/H125 fleet recently surpassed 40 million flight hours.

Last year, Airbus announced that it will develop a single-pilot IFR version of the single-engine H125 in direct partnership with Genesys Aerosystems. Airbus displayed the IFR prototype at Heli-Expo featuring an upgraded cockpit, a new autopilot as well as redundant hydraulic and electrical systems. The IFR H125 will be produced exclusively at the Mississippi plant after FAA certification, expected later this year; this will be the third FAA-certified, single-engine IFR helicopter—the Leonardo AW119 and the Bell 407Gx received their approvals in 2019.

The Airbus H160 was finally certified by the FAA in June 2023 and by Transport Canada in December 2023, following EASA certification on July 1, 2020.

There are now eight H160s registered in the US and one in Canada. Three are corporate aircraft, including two registered to Merck & Co. Inc., an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in New Jersey. Four belong to PHI Inc. of Lafayette, Louisiana, and will soon enter service flying offshore for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico once pilot and maintenance training and route proving flights are completed.

Last September, PHI signed a framework agreement with Airbus for 20 super-medium H175s and eight additional H160s for worldwide use. Airbus has also received its first EMS H160s orders from two unnamed air ambulance providers in the US.

The H175 entered service in the Gulf of Mexico in 2016, flying to deepwater rigs for the Mexican operator Transportes Aéreos Pegaso of Mexico. In the US and Canada, Airbus’s priority was to certify the H160, but the H175 is next in line. This past winter, H175s were flying in northern Canada and Norway to support icing certification requirements.

Airbus did not record any new orders for its H225 in 2023; the company continues to invest in the heavy-lift helicopter, with an enhanced main gearbox (eMGB) certified last year that will be installed on all new aircraft and is available for retrofit when a transmission comes up for overhaul. Other enhancements include a new in-flight monitoring system “in order to continue to raise the bar in terms of safety” and help reduce the maintenance costs, which were recently reduced by 10% per flight hour, Airbus said.

More than 100 H225s were withdrawn from the offshore market in 2016 following an accident in Norway, but about 20 remain in oil and gas service, primarily China, Vietnam, Brazil and southern Africa.

However, the Airbus Helicopter CEO is confident about receiving new orders for the H225 and the future of the H225 as a military and civil helicopter that will remain in production “beyond 2040.” More specifically, Evan sees a trend towards the H225 becoming the “only heavy helicopter being civil certified.”

Evan said that Airbus increased its research and development funding by 20% in 2023, “and will continue to do so.” He said that Airbus is now pursuing incremental and disruptive innovation in parallel, leveraging the five technology demonstrator aircraft in service or in development “in order to mature new types of architecture, but also new technology that we could introduce in a new program or on a current one.”

The demonstrators include DisruptiveLab, FlightLab and PioneerLab, based on the H130, H130 and H145 respectively, as well as the compound Racer and CityAirbus NextGen electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. These aircraft are being used to test systems that will reduce emissions, weight, drag and sound levels, as well as improve maintenance and safety.

The first flight of the Racer is expected soon, and the CityAirbus prototype was rolled out in Germany shortly after Heli-Expo (see “Electric VTOL News,” pg. 74).

Other technologies being tested include the Vertex project that allows a helicopter to be flown from a tablet, the Rotor Strike Alert System (RSAS), a dedicated health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) for light helicopters, and the electric Engine Back-Up System (EBS) that will provide emergency power for an autorotation in the event of engine failure.

Enstrom Helicopters
Since purchased by Indiana-based Surack Enterprises in May 2022, Enstrom has grown to 160 employees, resumed helicopter production and sales, and applied a lot of engineering resources to developing and flight testing a new crash-resistant fuel system (CRFS) for all three of its helicopter models.

In December 2018, the FAA issued Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) SW-17-31R2, which required that all new production helicopters sold in the US after April 5, 2020, be equipped with a CRFS to minimize the potential for a post-crash fire and maximize survivability.

The SAIB was issued when Enstrom was struggling financially, eventually entering bankruptcy in early 2022. Now, the CRFS has been installed in a new 280FX and 480B, and Enstrom is awaiting FAA certification of the tank.

The FAA CRFS rules have no impact on exports sales, allowing Enstrom to finalize the sale of four 280FX helicopters to the Peruvian military and two turbine-powered 480Bs to the Zambian Air Force.

Leonardo Helicopters
Leonardo Helicopters entered 2024 with revenues of €4,725M ($5.0B) in 2023 and an order backlog worth €14,426M ($15.4B), according to year-end financial results released a few weeks after Heli-Expo.

Leonardo Helicopters hit its financial targets for the sixth year in a row, said Gian Piero Cutillo, managing director of the helicopter division, adding “that it’s not the first year that we have solid commercial and operating performance.”

In 2022, Leonardo received an order for 32 military AW149s from the Polish Ministry of Defence, which increased its backlog and delivery revenues. Besides this order, Cutillo said Leonardo also saw a 20% increase in orders from other government and civil customers.

On the civil front, development is progressing on the singleengine Kopter AW09 and twin-engine AW609 tiltrotor. The company is developing an 11,250-lb (5.1-t) increased gross weight version of the AW169, as well as an 11-pasenger offshore version with a modular fuel tank.

PS5 (HB-ZXF), the final prototype of the AW09 and the first production representative aircraft, made its first flight in Mollis, Switzerland, on Feb. 24, the Saturday before Heli-Expo. Leonardo expects to bring the aircraft to market in 2025 following EASA certification.

Leonardo signed a distribution agreement with Metro Aviation to become the distributor for the single-engine AW09 in the US and Canada, and Metro placed a commitment for 30 helicopters. Metro’s association with the AW09 dates to the then Kopter SH09 in 2017, when it designed multiple medical interiors for the new, large-cabin helicopter.

Metro operates 160 helicopters on some 40 air ambulance programs in more than 25 US states. It also operates a large helicopter completion center specializing primarily in air medial and law enforcement interiors.

Meanwhile, UK and Ireland distributor Sloan signed preliminary sales contracts for nine AW09s, helping to boost preliminary sales totals for the AW09 to nearly 100 units.

While the AW09 development and flight test program has been based in Mollis, Switzerland, the new helicopter will be assembled at Leonardo’s facilities in Vergiate, Italy. Leonardo believes that the AW09 is an appropriate platform to explore the benefits of hybrid propulsion and how it could find its way into a new product.

Matteo Ragazzi, Director of Engineering and Innovation, said that Leonardo is studying two concepts, “one is more tailored for safety enhancements versus a single, and the other one is to complement the two power solutions in a normal mission.” He noted that, “At this stage, what we don’t want to do is just a demo. It makes no sense because the technology is available. What we are studying is… sales as a potential product.”

On the military front, Leonardo is delivering new AW149s and AW101s to Poland, and is engaged in several sales campaigns across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Leonardo now has two AW249 attack helicopters flying for the Italian Army and two more under assembly.

For military and naval missions, the company also continues to develop the optionally piloted SW-4 Solo helicopter, which is manufactured at Leonardo’s PZL-Świdnik facility in Lublin, Poland. Last year, Leonardo and Daedalean conducted a 40-hour flight test program on the SW-4 and SW-4 Solo using the Swiss technology company’s artificial intelligence (AI) systems for situational awareness and flight control.

Leonardo expects to exceed 1,100 employees in the US by the end of 2024 as it expands its manufacturing and support capabilities at Northeast Philadelphia Airport in Pennsylvania and expands its maintenance capabilities in Florida to support the growing fleet of US Navy TH-73A Trasher training helicopters based at NAS Whitting Field.

There were 70 TH-73As in service with the Navy by Heli-Expo, and they’re now flying 5,700 flight hours per quarter. Leonardo sees many opportunities for international sales of the TH-73A, based on the AW119, to countries seeking a modern single engine IFR certificated trainer.

Leonardo’s Northeast Philadelphia plant is also building the MH139 Gray Wolf for Boeing for delivery to the US Air Force.

The company is continuing to build its training capabilities and has been developing its own line of full-flight simulator (FFS), flight training devices (FTD) and virtual reality (VR) device offerings. Cutillo said Leonardo now has 40 simulators on five continents and more than 220 pilot instructors.

The new Leonardo Virtual and Extended Reality (VxR) Simulator made its first appearance with a motion base in Anaheim representing the AW119Kx a year after the system was officially launched at Heli-Expo 2023. The system uses previously qualified Level D Full Flight Simulator Data, but instead of a visual dome, the pilot wears a VR headset.

MD Helicopters
Since MD Helicopters LLC (formerly MD Helicopters Inc.) emerged from bankruptcy in August 2022, the new management team has been focused on accelerating helicopter production; rebuilding its supply chain; hiring production, engineering and support staff; supporting its customers; and introducing a series of performance upgrades to its well established product line.

MD president Brad Pedersen said that “2023 was a pretty successful year.”

The company delivered 10 helicopters last year, with five going to law enforcement agencies, one going to the US Department of Agriculture and four going to private individuals, which is more deliveries than MD has in a single year since it was delivering large numbers of military helicopters to Afghanistan.

Last year, MD also secured orders for 25 military and five commercial helicopters, which gives it a firm backlog that extends into 2025. To stabilize production, the company has signed new long-term supplier agreements and has been growing its spare parts inventory, improving overhaul capabilities, and updating its parts distributor and service centre agreements.

The company has identified 700 critical parts that it wants available to support its aftermarket spare parts business. It said it has done a good job building its inventory, but it will be another 6–12 months “to get our supply chain healthy… and get the parts in the queue,” with long-lead items that include bearings, castings and extrusions being the most challenging to procure.

MD estimates that it has roughly 1,700 helicopters in the field. Many were built in the 1970s and 1980s, with an average age of about 36 years old. MD estimates that, with an attrition rate of about 2% each year, the fleet’s declining by about 15–30 aircraft a year.

MD sees a great opportunity to introduce upgrades to its legacy fleet that will upgrade the technology and improve performance, “making them relevant, more useful and keep them flying.”

For many years, MD has offered its “E-to-F” upgrade program to convert an MD 500E to an MD 530F. It required customers to ship their aircraft to the factory, where the aircraft would receive longer main and tail rotor blades, a new main rotor gearbox, a tail rotor gearbox extension, a modified tail boom, new vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and replace the 420-shp Rolls-Royce 250-C20 turbine engine with a larger, 650-shp zero-time 250-C30 model. Starting in mid-2024, this upgrade program can be performed by way of a technical bulletin by an authorized MD service center anywhere in the world.

At Heli-Expo, MD announced three new upgrades for the single-engine 500D, 500E and 520N helicopters, initially called the Super D, the Super E and Super N, with significant improvements in maximum gross weight, useful load and hover performance.

MD contemplates three different Super D upgrades for the MD 500D priced between $450,000 and $995,000. They involve adding longer main and tail rotor blades, a tail rotor gearbox extension, a modified tail boom, and new vertical and horizontal stabilizer. Two of the configurations see the 500D retaining its 250-C20B or 250-C20R engine, and the third sees upgrading it to the more powerful 250C-30, like the MD 530F.

The Super E upgrade is similar to the 500E to 530F upgrade, but the aircraft retains the D-model main rotor gearbox and the lighter weight 250-C20B engine.

The Super N conversion is currently in development and will see the 520N’s 250-C20 engine replaced with a 250-C30 engine and the addition of an inlet barrier filter. Curiously, several of the 520N NOTAR prototypes flew with -C30 engines, but MD never offered the 250-C30 version as a product.

When MD exited bankruptcy, the management team decided they didn’t have the time or capital to revive the company’s twin-engine MD902. Since then, MD has been having exploratory discussions with a number of parties interested in purchasing the type certificate and building the large NOTAR aircraft, but deals like this take time, Peterson said.

When it comes to the MD 600N, Peterson said that providing support for the 85 aircraft in the field has been challenging. He said that the company is struggling to get tail booms, NOTAR blade fans and rotor blade tension torsion (TT) straps from suppliers for the 520N; getting suppliers to support the 85-unit MD 600N fleet is even more challenging, adding that, “It’s hard to find people who are willing to invest to do that.”

Pedersen would like to “improve the efficiency, improve the build” of the MD 500 family that was first designed by Hughes in the 1960s “and someday I’d like to do something with a larger fuselage… that would open other markets to us,” he noted. In addition, “we need a luggage compartment.” But his priority today is doing “a lot of little things… to get us competitive.”

When the US pulled out of Afghanistan, many new MD helicopter aircraft were left behind, but there were more than a dozen MD 530F Cayuse Warrior in the US for maintenance. Six went to a foreign buyer, six went to the US Department of Agriculture and one or two went to the US Army in Huntsville, Alabama. MD is currently rebuilding one with battle damage.

Sikorsky
Leon Silva, Sikorsky’s head of Global Commercial and Military Systems, reported that both the S-76 and S-92A fleets around the world are seeing increased utilization “and there is increased interest in our S-92A Plus, which is our next version of the S-92 platform,” not only from the offshore sector but also the VVIP, head of state and SAR sectors.

Sikorsky said the lead time to produce a new, offshore configured S-92A Plus is about 36 months. The aircraft will feature Sikorsky’s Phase IV gearbox that “has a redundant oil system that was designed that in such a way that a full oil loss will not inhibit this gearbox,” said Silva, who expects the gearbox to be certified in 2025.

The VH-92A Presidential Helicopter is equipped with a Phase III gearbox but could be upgraded “after we gain some hours and some experience with a Phase IV,” said Silva.

With the drop in offshore demand, most of Sikorsky’s recent S-92 work has focused on the VH-92A presidential helicopter Program, which will see the last of its 23 deliveries this year.

Silva acknowledged that like other helicopter original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Sikorsky has unprecedented supply chain challenges and “we’re certainly still in the midst of that recovery.” This is the result of the high utilization rates of offshore customers — approximately 14,000 hours a month — and that a significant number of aircraft that were in storage three years ago have returned to service.

One of the major challenges is a global shortage of S-92A main gearboxes. This was highlighted in October in a notice published by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers’ (IOGP) aviation subcommittee (ASC). At that time, the ASC reported that six operators reported 31 S-92As aircraft on ground (AOG) awaiting replacement main gearboxes, and “that the total of 31 has the potential to double by the end of 2024.”

Asked when he believes the S-92A supply chain issues will be resolved, Silva said, “We think by the end of the year we will be through the major challenges and back on top.”

Meanwhile, Silva said Sikorsky is starting to leverage data collected from 2.3 million flight hours of S-92A operations and new technological methodologies validating fatigue life to provide life increases to parts. For example, the S-92A main rotor hub was previously life limited to 9,000 hours “but has now been raised to a certified level of 16,000 hours.” Sikorsky is now applying the same methodology to extend the life of the main S-92A gearbox housing, “which is one of our supply challenges.”

Last year, Sikorsky delivered three SAR S-92As to Korea and will be delivering some S-92As to Head of State customers in 2024.

One of 16 Sikorsky S-70i Firehawks ordered by Cal Fire was on prominent display at the Sikorsky booth. Other US firefighting agencies serving in California and Colorado also operate or have ordered new Firehawks, and Silva believes there are sales opportunities for the helicopter in Europe.

Sikorsky delivered three S-76D for export in 2023. Last year, the company announced that it was looking at an international partner to take over the program. Silva reported “there’s actually more interest this year than it was in the past” but has paused its market engagement “to decide where our best strategic approach is,” said Silva. The S-76D suffered from low demand and high production costs, and is now no longer approved for deliveries in the US due to the FAA’s requirement for CRFS tanks took effect in 2020.

At the press conference, Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo also provided an update on the company’s Sikorsky Innovations unit. A year after it announced plans to develop a Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator (HEX) in partnership with GE, Sikorsky unveiled its HEX configuration and provided details of its development road map (see “Sikorsky’s HEX Signs,” pg. 46).

McDermott Adds 214B-1/214ST Type Certificates
McDermott Aviation of Australia is the new type certificate owner of the single-engine 214B-1 and twin-engine 214ST. It also is the world’s largest operator of the heavy-lift helicopter models, which Bell originally developed in the late 1970s for the pre-revolution Iranian Air Force.

The 214B-1 proved popular in the heavy-lift utility and firefighting market, and the 214ST flew to some of the first deepwater platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and SAR in the North Sea, until replaced by the S-92A and H225 about 20 years ago.

Company founder John McDermott bought his first 214B-1 in 2002 for firefighting work in Australia with the main attraction being “that it was a Bell helicopter, which we knew intimately, and it was an aircraft built for hot and high performance.” Ease of maintenance was also an important consideration versus more complex helicopters.

McDermott then formed a joint venture with Isolair in Oregon to develop, certify and manufacture the 713-gal (2,700-l) capacity “Tsunami” tank system so it could attack brush fires threatening populated areas, where helicopters with releasable buckets pose a safety hazard and are restricted.

The business grew and McDermott won its first international contract for the 214B-1 in 2004. “Our company has grown based on customer demand,” said McDermott.

The Australian company bought its first 214ST around 2010, but later sold it to an operator that needed a 214ST for an overseas contract, and reverted to the 214B-1 for heavy-lift work.

In 2012, McDermott started talking with Bell about potential acquisition of the type certificates to help resolve some major parts issues and “to give us control over our own destiny,” but no agreement was reached.

In February 2015, Bell signed an agreement with Erickson of Oregon to start the transfer of the type certificates of the 214B-1 and 214ST. McDermott worked with Erickson, which was a 214ST operator, to start manufacturing parts for Bell, but the company went into bankruptcy the following year. Transfer of the type certificates to Erickson remained in limbo until September 2020.

In the meantime, McDermott continued to grow its 214B-1 fleet, acquiring a licence to manufacturer specific parts for the aircraft’s 2,930-shp (2,183-kW) Lycoming T5508D turboshaft, and re-entered the 214ST market.

Demand grew and McDermott won a seasonal firefighting contract in Greece and began using 214B-1s, but the firefighting work required a lot of flying between islands, and refilling its tanks and buckets from the ocean was better suited to a twin engine helicopter like the 214ST.

That’s when McDermott worked with HeliTak in Australia to develop the 925-gal (3,500-l) collapsible FT3500 tank for its Bell 214ST fleet. An Open Water Adapter recently introduced works with the snorkel pump system so the helicopter can reload from the ocean in forward flight, rather than needing to come to a hover each time.

McDermott needed more 214STs for his contracts, so he acquired all of Erickson’s Bell 214ST fleet, spare parts and support equipment. The type certificates for the 214B-1 and 214ST were also included in the deal, and the transfer was registered with the FAA in November 2023.

Today, McDermott operates about 50 helicopters, including four turbine-powered Soloy-Bell 47Ts, four Bell 206L LongRangers, four Bell UH-1s, three Airbus Dauphins, six Airbus AS3355 TwinStars, 16 Bell 214B-1s and 14 Bell 214STs, and is building up a couple more 214STs.

The company is starting to make 214B-1 and 214ST parts for its own fleet and other operators. It recently set up a manufacturing operation in Canada and a 214ST maintenance facility in Andalusia, Alabama, partially because of a shortage of helicopter mechanics in Australia.

Columbia Helicopters
Columbia Helicopters of Aurora, Oregon, is in transition from the world’s largest commercial operator of tandem rotor helicopters to a manufacturer of Part 29 transport category helicopters.

In late 2006, Columbia acquired the FAA Type Certificates for the Vertol 107-II and Model 234 Chinook from Boeing after operating both models for decades. This allowed Columbia to make its own parts to keep both helicopter models flying, as well as more easily modify the aircraft to meet its mission needs.

Both helicopters primarily flew external load missions like heli-logging, firefighting and powerline construction until the 2008 financial crisis grounded most of the logging fleet due to no demand for new houses.

That led Columbia to win a military contract with the US Transportation Command in 2011. It eventually saw three commercial Model 234 Chinooks and nine 107s retrofitted with passenger interiors deployed to Afghanistan. In the first eight years, they transported nearly a million passengers and carried 222 million lb (100,000 t) of payload in 137,268 flight hours.

Following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Columbia identified an opportunity to sell the 107 and 234 to other operators, including those seeking to replace the Russian Kamov Ka-32s and Mil Mi-8s, Mi-18s and Mi-26s in their fleets. Many international operators have grounded these helicopters because of international sanctions on trade with Russia, EASA’s cancellation of the Ka-32 type certificate, and the disruption of parts distribution and technical support.

Sales to other operators began with four Columbia-owned US Army CH-47D Chinooks to Rotak Helicopter Services in Alaska with a technical support contact. This was followed by the sale of a Model 107-II to Heliswiss International of Switzerland and one to Daejin Air of South Korea, as well as an order from the Korean Forest Service for a new Model 234 with a glass cockpit.

Production of the first new 234 is now underway in the Columbia hangar adjacent to Aurora State Airport outside of Portland using a 234 airframe Boeing had never completed in the 1980s.

For the new 234, Columbia is working with Genesys Aerosystems, a Moog company, to develop and certify a state-of-the-art digital cockpit. Vermont-based GPMS International will implement its Foresight MX predictive HUMS on the 234 and CH-47D, with both systems to be certified with an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate (STC).

Heli-Expo 2024 Videos Again this year, VFS made a number of informative video recordings at Heli-Expo. More than 40 helicopters were captured during takeoffs from Fullerton Municipal Airport on Feb. 23–24 and/or landings at the Anaheim Convention Center, 6 miles (9.5 km) away. VFS also recorded the press conferences of most of the major helicopter OEMs, as well as those of VFS, VAI and other companies, and interviewed a number of exhibitors. HAI held three one-hour panel sessions discussing advanced air mobility (AAM), moderated and composed largely of VFS members or staff. Video recordings of each of these are posted in a Heli-Expo 2024 playlist on the VFS YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/VTOLsociety.

Rob Roedts, Vice President of Aircraft Solutions at Columbia, said there is a lot of international interest in using the Chinook for firefighting, but many countries are unable to operate a restricted-category CH-47D, which has not been civil certified.

“So, what we’re doing is developing a conversion process of taking a CH-47D and turning it into a Model 234,” so they can be sold to commercial operators and public safety agencies, said Roedts. “Columbia has built a lot of capability in the last two years to take on this program and recently formed a partnership with Boeing that includes a sustainment program to make those aircraft viable long term and perpetually worldwide.”

Roedts said the partnership with Boeing to support the creation of the 234 Special Purpose (234SP) helicopter was essential because Boeing is the OEM for the Chinook, even though Columbia bought the rights to the commercial Chinook.

The process of turning the CH-47D into the 234SP is similar to what Bell did when it created the Model 210, which was a civil-certified version of the US Army’s UH-1H Huey, with a refurbished and zero-timed UH-1H fuselage, dynamic components from the Bell 212, and an FAA-certified Honeywell T53-517B engine.

Columbia expects to certify the 234SP in 2025 and has already signed two launch customers, including Rotak in Alaska, and an unnamed operator. The 234SP will also feature the digital cockpit and HUMS system being developed for the new Korean 234.

In parallel, Columbia is developing a new version of the Model 107 that incorporates new GE engines as well as the best features of Columbia’s upgraded 107-II and the military CH-46E Sea Knight, which retired from US Marine Corps service in August 2015. Columbia has formed a partnership with Piasecki Aircraft Corporation to use the former Sikorsky Heliplex in Coatesville, Pennsylvania (see “Piasecki Relaunches the Heliplex,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2023). The first prototype of the new Model 107-III was delivered to the Heliplex in January. The formal launch of the new 107-III will occur later this year following consultations with potential customers.

In addition to its own fleet, Columbia has about 35 former military Model 107s from Canada, Sweden and elsewhere in storage in Aurora, Oregon, and has started purchasing retired military CH-46Es to support the new venture. The high-time Model 107 in the Columbia fleet has 85,000 flight hours.

An Eye on the Future
As seen at the final HAI Heli-Expo, the helicopter industry is adapting to new demands for capacity and capability, with several operators now becoming OEMs.

Next year’s VAI Verticon will be held March 10–13, 2025, in Dallas, Texas. With the new branding, VAI hopes to increase its support to the broader vertical flight community as it continues to expand to encompass uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), advanced air mobility (AAM) platforms and other new technological innovations.

About the Author
Ken Swartz is a senior aerospace marketing and communications strategist, running Aeromedia Consultants. A long-time consultant to the aviation, aerospace and vertical flight industry, he’s held management positions in the regional airline, helicopter and aircraft manufacturing industries for 30+ years, and has reported on vertical flight since 1978. In 2010, he received the Helicopter Association International’s “Communicator of the Year” award. He can be reached at kennethswartz@me.com.