Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

Writer

Thierry Dubois

A French court recently ruled that the Bell 429 light twin helicopter production skid gear does not infringe Eurocopter’s landing skid gear patent, following a complaint filed by the European helicopter manufacturer.


“Integrity is woven into the fiber of our company,” said Bell Helicopter CEO John Garrison, praising the decision. The French court also ordered Eurocopter to pay Bell Helicopter and Bell Canada, each, the sum of €65,000 ($85,000) in costs. A spokesperson for the European manufacturer told AIN Eurocopter now plans to lodge an appeal.


In addition, an infringement suit is going on in North America. In January, the federal court of Canada ruled that Bell Helicopter did infringe on a patent for the EC120 and EC130 landing gear. In the ruling, the court found Bell had “callous disregard for the rights of Eurocopter.” However, it also ruled that the Bell 429’s current production design does not infringe the patent. The Canadian court nevertheless found the development of the production gear would not have been possible without the development of the prototype gear that was similar to the EC120/130’s.

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