What a Difference a Blade Makes

The Swiss Air-Rescue Service, Rega—a private, non-profit air-rescue service providing emergency medical and air-ambulance service in Switzerland and Liechtenstein—has ordered 12 additional five-bladed Airbus (formerly Eurocopter) light-utility, twin-engine H145 helicopters to be operated from its mountain bases in the Swiss Alps.

The new machines will replace Rega’s current fleet of AgustaWestland AW109SP helicopters. The order follows a March 2022 initial contract for nine H145s. By 2026, Rega plans to operate an all-Airbus fleet comprising no fewer than 21 five-bladed H145s.

Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Evan stated: “To effectively operate life-saving air rescue services in Switzerland, we understand that the ability to perform optimally at altitude is paramount. The five-bladed H145 landed on the Aconcagua in Chile, a mountain that is nearly seven-thousand-meters high—no other twin-engine helicopter has ever achieved this feat. That is why we are especially proud that Rega has put its faith in the five-bladed H145 and decided to make it the only helicopter type in its fleet to perform such critical missions.”

Rega CEO Ernst Kohler added: “By selecting the five-bladed H145, we are ensuring that Rega will continue being able to provide its patients with reliable and professional medical assistance by air for the next 15-years.”

The five-bladed H145s will feature a state-of-the-art navigation suite especially tailored to Riga’s mountain air-ambulance mission. The system, which is built around Garmin’s GTN750 Xi Flight Management architecture, incorporates and controls a multi-sensor system that provides highly accurate and reliable navigation capabilities. Even in the event of GPS signal loss, Rega’s H145s will navigate reliably by dint of their Thales’ Inertial Navigation Systems (INS). The INS system, in conjunction with the GTN750Xi, facilitates the helicopters’ certification as navigation procedure RNP-AR 0.1 capable—the highest precision navigational performance in the helicopter flight environment. Pilot workload is further reduced by an advanced dual-duplex, 4-axis autopilot specifically designed for helicopters. The configuration will also include a new Vincorion hoist apparatus currently being certified on the five-bladed H145.

The addition of a fifth rotor blade increases the Airbus H145’s useful load by 330-pounds (150-kilograms). What’s more, the relative simplicity of the machine’s new bearingless main rotor design eases maintenance, thereby improving serviceability and reliability while improving ride comfort for crew and passengers alike.

The H145 is powered by two 894-shaft-horsepower Safran Arriel 2E engines, each managed by dual, Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) systems. The aircraft’s twin-engine reliability is complemented by a fully segregated fuel supply system, a duplex hydraulic system, dual electrical systems, and redundant lubrication of the main transmission. The H145’s inherent crashworthiness derives in part of its energy-absorbing fuselage and seats, as well as its crash-resistant fuel cells.

The worldwide fleet of more than 1,600 H145 family helicopters has logged more than seven-million flight-hours.

Rega operates 14 Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) stations throughout Switzerland. Last year, the company’s helicopter crews carried out 14,330 missions.

FMI: www.rega.ch