Rotorcraft

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

Latest

Checklist Creep Adds Complexity

The proliferation of checklists is yielding detail saturation and skill deterioration due to dependency, say some users.

Rotorcraft

January 8, 2019

Bell Unveils Nexus Air Taxi Concept at CES

Bell’s proposed solution for urban air mobility has a name, configuration and a team of partners aimed at bringing the Nexus to service by the mid-2020s.

Rotorcraft

January 7, 2019

Bristow-Columbia Deal Stalls

Bristow says "market conditions" prevented it from closing on its planned purchase of Columbia by the end of 2018.

Rotorcraft

January 7, 2019

Spain Signs Deals To Double NH90 Fleet and Upgrade Chinooks

Spain is expanding its rotary-wing force through deals to buy NH90s in both transport and maritime versions, and to upgrade its Chinooks

Rotorcraft

January 3, 2019

More Articles

Dart Adds EASA To List of Bell 505 EFS Approvals

The system, the first of its kind, is incorporates a six-pod, tri-bag design to provide greater stability without impeding egress

Rotorcraft

January 2, 2019

AW139 Crashes After Hitting Zipline in UAE, Crew Killed

A SAR AW139 crashed after hitting a zipline on the UAE's highest peak enroute to pick up an injured patient.

Accidents

December 29, 2018

SB>1 Defiant Breaks Cover

The Sikorsky-Boeing team developing the Defiant tactical/utility transport compound helicopter demonstrator has unveiled the prototype

Rotorcraft

December 28, 2018

Leonardo Celebrates First M-345, TH-119 Flights

As the year draws to an end, Leonardo has achieved significant first flight milestones for two of its important defense programs

Aircraft

December 22, 2018

KAI Unveils Light Attack Helicopter

With a first flight set for next spring, the LAH is an attack version of the H155 Dauphin developed jointly by KAI and Airbus

Rotorcraft

December 21, 2018

Airbus Makes First Unmanned Flight in VSR700 Helicopter

The autonomous, unmanned "tactical vehicle" is based on the Helicopteres Guimbal Cabri G2 and fitted with a diesel engine.

Rotorcraft

December 20, 2018

LRASM and Sea Venom/ANL: Anti-ship Missiles Make Progress

Two anti-ship missile programs have achieved significant progress as LRASM enters service and Sea Venom/ANL moves into qualification testing

Aircraft

December 19, 2018

Bell VP, Former Dealer Head Indicted On Fraud Charges

Bell VP Jay Ortiz and Puerto Rican dealer charged in connection with sales of 429s, 407.

Rotorcraft

December 19, 2018

First Serial-production Airbus Helicopters H160 Flies

The first serial production H160 will be delivered to launch customer Babcock in 2020.

Rotorcraft

December 18, 2018

Bell V-280 Celebrates First Year Of Flight

The Bell V-280 tiltrotor has achieved a variety of performance milestones over the course of 85 flight test hours.

Rotorcraft

December 18, 2018

Airbus Secures H225M Order from Hungary

Hungary has followed up its order for H145s with a sizeable purchase of H225Ms, with which it will complete the transformation of its rotary-wing force

Rotorcraft

December 17, 2018

Robinson Safety Course Logs 21,000 Graduates

Helicopter OEM Robinson offers popular 3.5-day safety course at its U.S. factory and through foreign dealers throughout the year.

Rotorcraft

December 17, 2018

Helicopter Insurance Premiums Could Double

Sticker shock looms for those renewing helicopter insurance policies.

Finance, Taxes, Insurance

December 17, 2018

Leonardo Sells More Firefighting AW139s

Fire agencies in Italy and the U.S. are placing orders for additional Leonardo intermediate twin helicopters.

Rotorcraft

December 14, 2018

Turkey’s T625 Utility Helicopter Is Named Gökbey

Following its first flight in September, Turkey's-six-tonne helicopter now has a name. The type is also due to get an all-Turkish engine in the future.

Rotorcraft

December 14, 2018

All-electric R44 Sets Flight Record

A Robinson R44 modified by Tier 1 Engineering has set a new world record for electric-powered helicopter flight.

Rotorcraft

December 13, 2018