New Hill GT50 Turbine Engine To Offer Maximum Continuous Power of 400 HP

Hill Helicopters has unveiled its Hill GT50 light turbine engine, designed specifically for the new Hill HX50 personal helicopter. The GT50 is a compact, light, and innovative solution.

"The GT50 was designed and developed by a team of industry veterans, using methods, tools, and techniques pioneered over decades," says Hill Helicopters President and CEO Jason Hill. "It is an intelligent ensemble of proven ideas and architecture, embodied into a new engine that fully exploits modern advancements, manufacturing methods, and supply chain opportunities to fulfill a specific market need."

Designing its own engine allowed Hill Helicopters to move outside what they called, 'the constraints of existing engines designed in the 1950s.'

The Hill GT50 employs state-of-art component and gas-path design. The performance and operating range for the compressor and turbines is coupled with an efficient and robust three-can combustor system.

The historically expensive and heavy compressor turbine gearbox of current helicopter engines has been eliminated and replaced by a direct-drive starter-generator to dramatically reduce the cost and mechanical complexity of the engine. Extensive use of redundant electrical engine ancillaries further simplifies the engine package and a modular design makes for easy maintenance of the unit's core components. The engine is also fully electronically controlled and features a FADEC System.

Additionally, the Hill team took advantage of today's economies of scale in manufacturing turbine components. On-demand advanced manufacturing processes and improved supply chains for the specialized materials used in turbine engines allowed for significant cost and time savings in developing, manufacturing, and delivering an affordable new engine.

"The availability of reliable, powerful, and affordable engines is what limits light helicopter design today," Hill adds. "When considering the overall mix of requirements necessary to power a truly ground-breaking aircraft, we saw the opportunity to design a simple turbine engine with unmatched efficiency, power, and cost. In simple terms, by developing the advanced GT50 engine, Hill has completely unlocked the potential of the helicopter in terms of both performance and cost, providing the enchanting opportunity to relaunch general aviation."

Hill GT50 Turbine Specifications:

• Maximum Continuous Power: 400 hp
• Take-off Power (5 mins): 440 hp (Up to 10,000 ft, ISA +15°C)
• Emergency Power (30s): 500 hp
• Fuel Consumption (MCP): 35 U.S. gallons per hour
• Fuel Type: Jet A1 (Alternatives to be announced soon)
• TBO: 5,000 hours or 20,000 cycles, on condition.
• Control: Hill FADEC (Dual channel, with manual reversion)
• Management: Fully integrated with Hill Digital Cockpit
• Weight: 220 lbs

FMI: www.hillhelicopters.com