Rotorcraft
First MD500E to MD530F Helicopter Conversion Done
Upgrade is available at MD Helicopters service centers
MD500E to MD530F conversion for Cleveland Police Department
The first of two Cleveland Police Department MD 00E helicopters was converted to the MD530F configuration by Thoroughbred Aviation. © MD Helicopters

MD Helicopters-authorized service center Thoroughbred Aviation has completed the first MD500E to MD530F conversion at its Lexington, Kentucky base. The customer is the Cleveland, Ohio police department, and the conversion was the first of two that Thoroughbred is doing for that operator. Other MD network service centers can also offer the upgrade.

The conversion program upgrades the engine from the Rolls-Royce 250-C20B/R to the 250-C30 and adds longer main and tail rotor blades, a longer tail rotor driveshaft, tail rotor gearbox extension, modified tailboom, new vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and new cockpit instruments.