Rotor & Wing 2010-12.pdf

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December 2010

Serving the Worldwide Helicopter Industry

rotorandwing.com

Sikorsky Unwraps X2 Offspring:

The S-97 Raider

’Four Horsemen’ Speak at AUSA

Pressure to be Fast

EDITORS’

CHOICE

2010

EDITORS’ CHOICE

& YEAR IN REVIEW: 2010

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

By Joy Finnegan

YEAR IN REVIEW

jfinnegan@accessintel.com

T

he year is closing. Overall, 2010

was not such a bad year—it

could have been worse. The

helicopter industry saw some

milestones and continued to take

orders throughout the year, though not

at the pace some would like. The civil

helicopter market remains depressed

as a result of budget cuts and the reces-

sion. The military market remains solid

but the future is unclear. What impact

will the drawdown in Iraq and Afghani-

stan have on future helicopter orders?

Helicopter financing was a contin-

ued challenge this year. As we reported

in our February issue (“ Helicopter

Financing Tight but Not Terminal ”),

there is a credit crunch with banks

ratcheting up lending standards, high-

er interest rates and increased scrutiny

of borrowers. There is nothing wrong

with that but when honest, decent,

proven businesses cannot get the loans

they need to purchase helicopters,

then it is a problem. This problem per-

sists. But once the funds open up again,

there should be a pent-up demand that

needs to be filled. This probably won’t

be a rush like the glory days, which

were a bit unrealistic with speculators

buying delivery positions. But, there

are businesses that need additional

assets and are ready to buy, who are

simply waiting until the banks come to

understand, once again, how financ-

ing a helicopter can and will make

them money. Part of the problem lies

with the mergers of numerous banks

and the loss of helicopter-savvy loan

officers. With education, due diligence

and clean paperwork, hopefully, prog-

ress on financing will be made in the

coming year.

A continued focus on safety per-

vaded the industry with numerous

programs to reiterate the need for

caution, judgment and training to help

prevent accidents. NTSB Chairman

Deborah Hersman spoke to Rotor &

Wing early in the year (March 2010

issue) to discuss the NTSB’s advocacy

of “raising the bar.” Hersman stressed

that just meeting the minimums was

not enough and that OEMs and opera-

tors should stretch to improve safety,

including adding equipment, even if

it is not regulated. She also stressed

assuming personal responsibility, say-

ing, “We’ve seen a lot of voluntary

measures taking place absent FAA

requirements.”

The FAA did finally propose stricter

rules for helicopter operations in an

October notice of proposed rulemak-

ing, and is seeking comments to those

proposed rules. The NPRM proposes

changes for air ambulance operators, all

commercial helicopter operators and

all Part 135 aircraft (both helicopter

and fixed-wing). Among the proposed

rules for HEMS are the use of HTAWS,

employing lightweight aircraft record-

ing systems, mandating flights be con-

ducted under Part 135 and amend-

ing the VFR weather minimums and

IFR ops at airports/heliports without

weather reporting. The complete list of

proposed rules can be found at: www.

faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemak-

ing/recently_published. The comment

period is open through Jan. 10, 2011.

During Heli-Expo, OEMs touted

their successes. AgustaWestland CEO

Guiseppe Orsi unveiled the Grand-

New, an updated version of the Grand

with a new avionics package, etc. Bell

CEO John Garrison acknowledged the

company had a “challenging” year and

also called the 429 an “amazing helicop-

ter” and the first designed through the

Maintenance Steering Group 3 pro-

cess. Eurocopter President and CEO

Lutz Bertling highlighted the Bluecop-

ter program, which aims to lower noise

and reduce CO2 and NOx emissions.

Sikorsky President Jeffrey Pino said

Sikorsky Innovations was working with

the U.S. Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop

active rotor technology. MD Heli-

copters CEO Lynn Tilton introduced

the company’s new president, Robert

Molsbergen. Frank Robinson of Robin-

son Helicopters announced the pricing

for the new R66 was set at $770,000

with a $75,000 deposit, but cautioned

the price could go up soon.

Late in the summer, Robinson Heli-

copter announced that legend Frank

Robinson would retire and son Kurt

Robinson would assume leadership of

the company. The younger Robinson

assured devotees of the company that

“the rest of the company’s management

has been in place for two decades” and

that there wouldn’t be much in the way

of changes. “We’ve all been taught in

the ways of Frank, and we understand

this company and how it runs,” he said.

Also in the summer, Sikorsky ’s

X2 reached 225 KTAS on its way to

250 KTAS. Just a few weeks later, on

September 15, the X2 unofficially set a

new world speed record for a helicop-

ter, achieving 250 KTAS during level

flight at the Sikorsky Development

Flight Center in West Palm Beach,

Fla. An impressive milestone. Now

we will see what product Sikorsky can

delivery based on this technology (See

Rotorcraft Report, page 12).

Kudos to Sikorsky for taking the

reins and pushing forward instead of

doing things the way they have always

been done. Which brings us to the gov-

ernment procurement process. This is

an issue that has been a challenge. Do

we need newer, more efficient ways

to get the military what they need as

quickly as possible? Commercial-off-

the-shelf (COTS) products such as the

UH-72A Lakota are meeting the needs

of the Army and saving the taxpayers

money. Don’t get me wrong. There

is a need for procurement security

and fairness. But when it comes at the

expense of the warfighters, the success

of their missions and innovation, then

we need to review “how we’ve always

done things.” Here’s to 2011!

4

ROTOR & WING MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2010

WWW.ROTORANDWING.COM

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