48
GA
/ Vol. 5 / No.9 / SEPTEMBER 2013
Helicopter News
Sagita Sherpa on view
On the 7th of August, Safomar
Aviation (Aircraft Sales and Leasing
Division), delivered a new MD500E
to Mrs Tina De Jager, a rare game
and cattle farmer from Vryberg. The
helicopter was tested and accepted
at the factory in Mesa, Arizona.
The helicopter was equipped at
Sagita, a Belgian based company,
recently presented a model of
its experimental helicopter, the
Sherpa, for the first time. It aims
to make the helicopter simpler,
more efficient, more reliable and
more affordable. The helicopter's
rotors are directly driven by
turbines which are themselves
powered by hot air and fumes
from the helicopter's power plant.
Sagita claims that this makes
the the aircraft approximately
85 percent efficient while doing
away with the need for a tail rotor.
The Sherpa's propulsion
system bears explaining a
little more fully. Rather than
driving the rotors directly, the
Sherpa's engine instead powers
a compressor with an air intake
at the rear of the helicopter.
That compressor feeds some
of its air to the engine to aid
combustion, while the rest
draws heat from the Sherpa's
cooling system before being
mixed with engine exhaust
fumes to heat the air to 100º C
(212º F). The compressed hot
air drives two turbines which
directly drive the Sherpa's
two contra-rotating rotors.
Sagita claims that no
additional cooling measures
are required, and that because
fewer moving parts are needed
overall, maintenance is reduced.
The two-seater's distinctive
bullet-shaped fuselage comes as a
result of the air intake to the rear,
needed to supply the compressor
with air. The cockpit is about
1.45 m (4.8 ft) wide and 1.26 m
(4.1 ft) high. The Sherpa's nose-
to-tail length, excluding rotors,
is just under 4.8 m (15.8 ft).
The 1:1 scale Sherpa viewed
at shows is just a model, and
at this stage the helicopter's
performance is theoretical.
However, Sagita says that the
260 kg (573 lb) helicopter can
lift an additional 171 kg (377 lb)
of load. It has an expected cruise
speed of 158 km/h (85 knots),
range of 400 km (250 miles) and
a maximum flight time of 3 hours.
Its ceiling is 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
It's hoped that the aircraft,
in development since Sagita's
founding in 2008, will make
its debut flight in 2 years, and
go on sale in 3. It's target price
is 150,000 (US$200,000).
Though a full-scale working
prototype is yet to be built, Sagita
claims to have proven the concept
(albeit with an electric motor)
with a one-fifth scale model. ·
A new MD500E
handed over to
a game farmer
MD Helicopters factory according
to Tina's specified requirements
pertaining to avionics, instruments,
extended range tank, a cargo hook
and the interior and exterior paint
scheme and design with Tina's
requirements/guidance and the
assistance of Safomar's graphics
subsidiary PICAL. Tina's choice to
buy the MD500E emanated from
her game work which entails
tracking and darting, game capture
and observation. Also, Tina flies
extensively to other farms as well
as out of border. The MD500 is
ideally suited to this type of work
and the specific requirements
with its power, agility, speed and
Mrs Tina De Jager & Mr Shai Shalem
at Hand Over ceremony.
stability. Hence she eyed and
studied the MD 500E for a while
before making her final choice.
The helicopter was assembled at
Helifix in Wonderboom airport,
under the supervision of an
engineer from the MD factory.
The helicopter was imported
for Tina by Starlight Aerosales,
who have supplied Tina with
helicopters in the past, they also
attended to the administrative
and regulatory aspects as well.
The helicopter was sold by Safomar
Aviation (Aircraft Sales and
Leasing Division) MD Helicopters
distributor for South Africa and
other African countries.·
AW139 maintenance
enhancements drive down costs
and increase availability
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica
company, is pleased to announce the
introduction major enhancements
to the Maintenance Programme
for the best selling AW139
intermediate twin-engine helicopter,
which will reduce maintenance
and operating costs and enable
operators to further increase
aircraft availability and utilisation.
Thanks to the proven capabilities
and safety demonstrated over
nine years of operation with an in
service fleet of now more than 580
helicopters that have accumulated
approximately 750,000 flight hours
so far, AW139 operators can now
benefit from a new progressive
maintenance programme as
well as life extensions on major
transmission components.
The new progressive maintenance
programme allows more efficient
maintenance planning, especially
for those operators who need
maximum availability for daylight
missions and can resort to
maintenance at night, such as in the
offshore oil and gas support market.
The introduction of the progressive
maintenance programme has been
achieved as a result of the strong
cooperation and partnership set
up between the company, through
its Customer Support & Training
and Engineering departments,
and customers via a dedicated
Maintenance Improvement Team.
The new maintenance plan will
reduce direct maintenance costs and
further increase aircraft availability
and utilisation. In a continuing
effort to drive down AW139
operating costs AgustaWestland
has been able to extend the Time
Between Overhaul (TBO) for the
AW139's Main Gearbox from
the current 5000 flight hours to
6000 flight hours and the Tail and
Intermediate Gearboxes from 5000
flight hours to 7500 flight hours.
The 20% and 50% increase in
TBO will be a significant benefit
to operators in reducing their
operating costs as well as making
the aircraft even more competitive
in the market it now dominates.
State-of-the-art technology,
outstanding performance, low
operating costs and the only
helicopter in its class to meet the
latest operational standards, have
made the AW139 the helicopter
of choice in the intermediate twin
market and the benchmark in the
global oil & gas sector and other
roles. With its power reserve, the
AW139 delivers Category A (Class
1) performance from a helipad
(elevated or at ground level) at
maximum take-off weight with an
unmatched one engine inoperative
capability. Over 200 customers
have ordered more than 730 AW139
helicopters so far. The AW139 is
part of the AgustaWestland Family
of new generation helicopters
that includes the AW169 and
AW189 models, which possess
the same high performance flight
characteristics and safety features
as well as sharing a common
cockpit layout, design philosophy
and maintenance concept. This
commonality will allow more
effective operations for customers
operating helicopter fleets across
the 4 to 8.5 tonnes categories.
For the AW189 and AW169
AgustaWestland is progressing
the definition of the relevant
Maintenance Programmes through
the MSG-3 methodology, having
established dedicated Maintenance
Review Boards in which experts
from leading helicopter operators
in the offshore, EMS and SAR
markets participate as well as
those from engine manufactures
and aviation authorities. ·