European Rotors 2022 – another flying success

European Rotors’ second edition, which ran from 7-10 November, saw over 4,000 exhibitors and attendees visit the event. The show floor held over 210 exhibitors, as well as over 15 helicopters.

The show featured a number of training and educational events, including a Rotor Safety Zone featuring a Robinson R44 and ESPN-R hoist demonstrations – as well as ‘Rotorthon’ – an educational event for students to work on industry challenges. Additionally, a careers fair was held on the show’s second day, connecting employers with those seeking a vocation in the industry.

on the show’s second day, connecting employers with those seeking a vocation in the industry. During the show’s opening ceremony, the organizers also announced that European Rotors 2023 will be held in Madrid, Spain, between 28 and 30 November – the first time the show will leave Germany.

“By every standard we have, this show was a success,” said Christian Müller, Chairman of the European Helicopter Association (EHA). “Our exhibitors and attendees are providing really positive feedback, and we are pleased to see that they are very happy with the platform we provided for them. The show also benefited tremendously from the input of our steering committee, which included representatives from Airbus, Bell, Leonardo, and Safran.”

AirMed&Rescue has hand-picked news from the event to share with our readers, making sure you don’t miss anything that happened on the show floor.

AIRBUS TO SUPPLY TWO MORE H145S TO DRF LUFTRETTUNG

German HEMS operator DRF Luftrettung has ordered two more five-bladed H145 helicopters from Airbus. The aircraft are on top of a fleet of 15 previously ordered H145s – of which 11 have so far been delivered – as well as three more H135s ordered in 2020. All 20 Airbus helicopters are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2024.

The contract also includes Airbus’s HDataPower digital maintenance services pack, which employs usage monitoring system (UMS) and flight data to improve maintenance scheduling and fleet management. The new aircraft support the replacement of DRF Luftrettung’s older BK117 and EC145 helicopters.

Airbus also signed new contracts with both SAF Aerogroup and Saudi Arabia’s The Helicopter Company (THC). The contract with THC covers its fleet of 20 five-bladed Airbus H145 helicopters ordered in December 2021. The contract with SAF Aerogroup’s Aero Support Force unit will provide coverage to its fleet of Airbus helicopters, comprising four H215s and one H225.

SAF also signed a second contract to retrofit 15 H125 single-engine helicopters with crash-resistant fuel systems.

BELL ANNOUNCES NEW HELICOPTER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS

Bell announced the signing of purchase agreements for four Bell 505 helicopters, as well as the delivery of a further Bell 505 to a private customer. Three of the aircraft were purchased by Bell’s new independent representative for the Baltic region, Airborne. The fourth has been purchased by a private customer.

505 continue to grow within Europe across many industries,” said Patrick Moulay, Senior Vice President, International Commercial Sales, Bell. “We see great potential for Bell within the Baltics, and we are delighted to welcome Airborne to our ever-growing list of IRs across Europe to expand our support.”

Swiss helicopter operator Air Zermatt also signed a purchase agreement with Bell, for a Bell 429 in helicopter emergency medical service configuration.

The aircraft will be the third of its kind to operate as part of Air Zermatt’s active fleet, and will be used to conduct search and rescue operations in the canon of Valais, Switzerland. The aircraft has enough cabin space to fit two litter carriers.

The contract also includes Bell’s Customer Advantage Plan Premier program – through which the manufacturer will access to parts, improved rates at authorized maintenance centers, and other support.

BUCHER UNVEILS AC70 MULTI-ROLE CABIN INTERIOR

Aircraft interior solutions developer Bucher unveiled the AC70 flex, a flexible cabin interior for the Airbus H145. The solution employs a ‘quick release’ system that allows for the quick conversion of a helicopter’s cabin between emergency medical service, police, cargo, firefighting, military and conventional transport configurations.

The solution is similar to the Airbus H135’s AC67 flex solution, and is intended to serve helicopters who may want to change the configuration of their aircraft several times a day to serve multiple roles – such as smaller private operators who wish to maximize the operational use of their aircraft.

Bucher added that customers can choose between ‘several mission configurations for multiple scenarios … based on [their] mission profile’.

ENTROL TO SUPPLY FLIGHT TRAINING SIMULATOR TO GLOBAL HELICOPTER SERVICE

Entrol has announced that it will supply a new Bell 412 Level 3 flight training simulator to German helicopter operator Global Helicopter Service (GHS).

The simulator will be manufactured in 2023, and delivered to GHS’s headquarters in 2024. It will be the sixth Entrol device in Germany, and will enhance GHS’s range of training capabilities.

“This new project will bring a lot of flexibility and synergies to our future training strategy,” said Dominik Goldfuss, CEO and Owner of GHS. “For our overall pilot’s team, we will be able to cover all requirements in terms of training and check flight events, including scenario training, for our missions in remote environments.”

“We believe that FTDs will be crucial for the future of the industry, and it is reassuring to know that companies like GHS share this same view with us. We are glad we have closed the deal at European Rotors 2022. It has been a great show for us,” added Nacho Navacerrada, Head of Sales of Entrol.

HELISERVICE APPOINTED AS A LEONARDO EXCELLENT SERVICE CENTER

Leonardo appointed HeliService International as one of its Excellent Service Centers. The ‘Excellent’ ranking is assigned to Service Centers which are focused on ‘maintaining third party fleets’ and which have ‘the largest scope of service capabilities to meet specific market needs’.

The appointment is intended to boost Leonardo’s helicopter support services in Germany and across Europe. Under the arrangement, HeliService will provide services for the Leonardo AW109 light twin, AW139 light intermediate, and AW169 intermediate twin helicopter types. Leonardo stated that these aircraft types have increased in both ‘importance and presence in Europe … in recent years, with further potential in Germany into the future’.

The recent appointment of HeliService raises the number of Leonardo service centres ranked ‘Excellent’ to six, including four in Europe, one in US, and one in Japan. The manufacturer plans to establish at least one Excellent Service Center in each of its strategic markets.

OPTIMA AERO RECOGNIZE AIRBUS AND BABCOCK FRANCE

Helicopter and engine asset management solution provider Optima Aero has launched a new initiative which aims to calculate ‘carbon footprint avoidance through the reuse of serviceable helicopter parts’. 

As part of the initiative, it presented its first two Green certificates to Airbus Helicopters and Babcock France during the European Rotors trade show, ‘in recognition of [their] responsible part sourcing strategies’.

According to Optima Aero, Airbus Helicopters avoided releasing 9.1 tons of CO2 through the reuse of EC120 tail gear boxes and epicyclical modules. Meanwhile, Babcock France avoided releasing 81 tonnes of CO2 through the reuse of three PW206B2 engines.

Babcock France avoided releasing 81 tonnes of CO2 through the reuse of three PW206B2 engines

SKYTRAC, CORPULS PROMOTE AIR MEDICAL DEVICE WITH REMOTE MONITORING CAPABILITIES

Aviation connectivity specialist SKYTRAC has successfully tested real-time medical data transfer through both satellite communications (satcom) and cellular phone networks, carried out in partnership with corpuls, a manufacturer of robust pre-clinical medical equipment.

The data transfer techniques will be employed for use in the corpuls3 Touch – a three-in-one medical device which incorporates a monitor unit, patient box and defibrillator/pacemaker.

The device will allow for the ‘continuous monitoring of critical patients from the incident site to the hospital’, and is capable of dynamically switching between the two channels according to availability. The corpuls3 Touch is also both MIL-STD810G and DO-160G.

“Iridium Certus midband and 4G/ LTE cellular connectivity are providing significant improvements to air Helicopter operators Aeroheli International and SP Helicopter-Services have announced plans to merge their two businesses into a single company called SP HelicopterService Technik GmbH. The plan was affirmed by the signing of an agreement by Jan Dammes, Managing Partner of Aeroheli and Daniel Schneider, Managing Director of SP. medical operations,” said Luke Billington, Regional Business Manager for SKYTRAC.

SP HELICOPTERSERVICES AND AEROHELI INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCE MERGER

Helicopter operators Aeroheli International and SP Helicopter-Services have announced plans to merge their two businesses into a single company called SP HelicopterService Technik GmbH.The plan was affirmed by the signing of an agreement by Jan Dammes, Managing Partner of Aeroheli and Daniel Schneider, Managing Director of SP.

SP Helicopter-Service said that ‘as a Robinson dealer, Aeroheli International is the ideal partner to cover all business areas for piston-powered helicopters’.