Rotorcraft
New Rotorcraft 2005
The year since Heli-Expo 2004 has not been a bad one for the helicopter industry, all things considered.

The year since Heli-Expo 2004 has not been a bad one for the helicopter industry, all things considered. The industry put on a confident face at Heli-Expo in March last year, with companies logging a record number of deals at the show. Bell announced its intention to claw back market share from Eurocopter and within 48 hours had taken walk-up orders for 11 copies of the just-launched IFR version of its 427 light twin.

At July’s Farnborough Air Show, many helicopter OEMs were conspicuous by their absence. In contrast, AgustaWestland, on the eve of becoming a wholly Italian-owned operation, fielded the most models of any manufacturer–fixed or rotary-wing–at the event. It even unveiled a new model: a growth variant of the A109 known as the “Grand.”