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.

Contributor

Mark Huber

Airbus Helicopters is displaying a corporate helicopter at AvPro's static exhibit (#23) here at NBAA as well as displaying a model of the new medium twin H160 and the H160 virtual reality display at the Airbus Corporate Jets booth (4421).

 


The third H160 test aircraft, PT3, recently joined that aircraft's test program after undergoing successful lightning indirect effect and power-on testing this summer. The three aircraft are augmented by two non-flying testbeds for&nbsp;dynamic and systems integration. The flight-test campaign for the medium-twin helicopter has thus far included cold weather and snow trials in Canada earlier this year and testing of components, including antennas and inlet barrier filters. Development and performance flights are continuing. To date, the H160 has achieved maximum cruise speeds up to 155 knots and flights beyond 400 nm. Final range is expected to “significantly” exceed that number, the company said. A spokesman said letters of intent for a number of the helicopters have already been signed and that Airbus Helicopters plans to announce launch customers by year-end. Certification is expected next year, with customer deliveries starting in 2019.

 


The H160 has an all-composite airframe, flat-floor cabin, oversized cabin windows and a baggage compartment that can hold 661 pounds. The cabin can be configured to seat four or eight passengers in executive/VIP layouts or utility seating for 12.&nbsp;The H160 incorporates a variety of new technologies, among them Blue Edge active tracking main rotor blades in a five-blade system with a double sweep design that reduces noise and makes the ride smoother; new Safran Arrano engines that offer 10 to 15 percent better fuel consumption; and the Helionix avionics system with four large touchscreens, the architecture of which already is flying on the Airbus H135, H145 and H175. The tips of the Blue Edge blades have a bend. As rotor blades spin, the tips emit vortices. Bending the tips disrupts the “blade vortex interaction” from one blade to the next, reducing the helicopter’s noise signature by as much as 5 dB.

 


<h2>Operational Efficiencies</h2>

 


The Safran Arrano engines (1,300 shp each) have a two-stage centrifugal compressor and variable inlet guided vanes, which cut fuel consumption in all phases of flight and particularly at cruise power. They help propel the H160 to its estimated maximum cruise speed of 160 knots and service ceiling of 20,000 feet and give it an anticipated range of 450 nautical miles. Airbus Helicopters also maintains that the Arranos will cost less to maintain than other engines in their class.

 


Helionix avionics are designed to reduce workload by providing pilots with the information they need when they need it. The avionics couple to a four-axis autopilot and a first-limit indicator that shows all engine instrument data. Other advanced features include traffic and weather advisories, terrain avoidance and a synthetic-vision system. To help control costs, Airbus opted against a fly-by-wire flight-control system and decided to make rotor-blade de-icing optional.

 


The H160 also incorporates a canted fenestron tail rotor that further cuts noise. The canted fenestron and the biplane horizontal stabilizer on the tailboom combine to improve lift. Electrically activated landing gear and brakes in place of the traditional hydraulic systems trim weight and improve reliability. A health usage and monitoring system tracks key maintenance parameters and with the proper datalink can transmit them to technicians on the ground while the helicopter is flying.

 


Airbus plans to use the H160 as the model to revamp its production processes, cutting final assembly time to just 18 weeks—about half the time it now takes for the AS365. The final assembly line in Marignane in the south of France will integrate five major component assemblies that will be completed and tested before they reach the line. This means that lead time will be stable in the final assembly line. The flow will be automated and move down two production lines, each with several workstations capable of assembling the various H160 configurations. Airbus intends to ramp up to 50 helicopters per year following certification.

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