470 In Service Around The World
Eurocopter’s heavy-duty family of helicopters, the AS332
Super Puma/AS532 Cougar and their latest-generation derivatives,
the EC225/EC725, have accumulated a total of four million flight
hours in service, the company announced Tuesday. To date, 740 civil
and military variants of this product family are in service with
customers around the world, mostly serving in offshore oil and gas
services in the harsh conditions of the North Sea, SAR (Search and
Rescue) and VIP transport, as well as demanding military missions
such as Combat SAR and troop transport in hostile environments.
Super Puma family helicopters are in operation in more than 20
countries from extremely low temperatures in Norway to extremely
high temperatures in North Africa and in the toughest maritime
environments. This unrivalled experience combined with proven
technological concepts provides these helicopters with an unmatched
warranty of success in life saving as well as oil and gas missions.
The result is an operational availability of the Super Puma family
that exceeds, on average, 98 percent.
Super Puma File Photo
Eurocopter says that in 2009 alone, a total of 81 helicopters
from this product family were sold. Customers of the various civil
variants of the family by now include Awan Inspirasi, Bond Offshore
Helicopters, Bristow Helicopters, CHC, the Chinese Ministry of
Transport, COHC, ERA Helicopters, German Federal Police,
Héli-Union, Hong Kong Government Flying Service, Japanese
Coast Guard, MHS, Sonair, South Korean National 119 Rescue Service,
SSFC and SWHS. Military customers include the Brazilian Armed
Forces, Bulgarian Air Force, French Army Aviation and Air Force,
German Air Force and Mexican Armed Forces.
As the most recent newcomer to the Super Puma/Cougar family, the
civil-certified EC225 and its military variant, the EC725, benefit
from the experience of this large number of operators.
The EC725 helicopter program was initially launched in response
to a French Air Force requirement for a helicopter specifically
designed for Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) missions. The very
demanding mission capabilities required by the Air Force account
for the remarkable performance of this helicopter and its success
in the international market. The key requirements were:
- Long range and high payload.
- All weather capability and autonomous navigation system.
- High level of systems redundancy and high survivability to
warrant mission success.
- State of the art Man-Machine Interface to facilitate crew work
and to improve situation awareness and mission effectiveness in the
harshest environments.
With a take-off weight of 24,251 lbs (11,000 kg), the EC725/225
carries a fuel load of 5,000 lbs, translating to a flight time of 5
hours. In addition to new Makila 2A1 engines with a stronger main
gearbox and a new five-bladed main rotor, the EC725/225 features a
glass cockpit comprised of six large and redundant multifunction
displays.
Eurocopter also says the EC725/225 AFCS autopilot is the first
to be specifically designed for helicopter flight characteristics
rather than being derived from fixed-wing aircraft systems.
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