Mark Huber is an aviation industry veteran who has worked in the flight training, aircraft sales, aircraft component, and airport development businesses. He has flight time in more than 50 different and diverse aircraft, including helicopters, aerobatic aircraft, vintage warbirds, jet fighters, business jets and turboprops, and transport-category aircraft. He has jumped out of several of these—on purpose—with a parachute. His defense and aviation journalism has been published in a variety of national and international periodicals.

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Mark Huber

Enstrom Helicopter unveiled a mockup of a new, low-cost, two-seat piston-powered trainer yesterday at Heli-Expo 2014 in Anaheim, Calif. The TH-180 is a scaled-down version of the company’s three-seat FX-280.
Company officials said the TH-180 should have direct operating costs of $175 per hour and an hourly fuel burn of less than 12 gph. The launch price is $365,000. It will be powered by the 210-hp Lycoming HIO-390 and feature an engine governor and electric clutch switch. First flight is anticipated this summer and certification is targeted for 2015.
Compared with the 280, the TH-180 has more robust landing gear and weighs 500 pounds less, about 2,250 pounds maximum gross weight, said <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2014-01-30/biegler-lead-enstrom-helicopter">Enstrom CEO Tracy Biegler</a>. “We basically scaled an F model,” he said. He called the market for the TH-180 “huge.”
He said that Enstrom’s new expanded production plant in Menominee, Mich., has the capacity to build 100 TH-180s per year. The <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2013-01-15/chinese-firm-buys-enstrom-helicopter">company’s new owner, the Chongqing Helicopter Investment Co. (CQHIC)</a>, contributed engineering assistance on the pylon and tailcone modeling for the new helicopter.

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