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

Airbus Helicopters has announced it will develop, jointly with Korea Aerospace Industries, two five-ton-class rotorcraft that meet “South Korea’s requirements for its next-generation Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) and Light Armed Helicopter (LAH).” Both will be based on the 10,800-pound H155, formerly known as the EC155B1. As part of the agreement, Airbus Helicopters will transfer the company’s technical know-how for Korea to develop new indigenous products. The program is similar to that already used with the Surion utility twin. “We are committing our full support in ensuring the LCH and LAH projects will be completed on time, on cost and to specification,” said Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Faury.
The $1.5 billion deal covers production of approximately 300 LCH/LAH–the LAH accounting for the majority–in Korea.
The LCH will have a new canopy, new avionics (full glass cockpit) and new main gearbox with significantly increased time between overhaul. It is expected to enter service in 2020, followed by the LAH in 2022. The H155 features the same digital four-axis autopilot as the Surion, Airbus noted. A company executive in January told AIN the competitor in the tender was AgustaWestland.

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In this article

EC155/H155

Airbus Helicopters

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