Public-Private Partnership Gives France Modern Military
Training Aircraft
The delivery Friday of the 36th EC120 to marked Hélidax
in France marked an important step in a public-private partnership
set up to provide the French armed forces with a modern and
cost-effective training helicopter.
Photo Courtesy Eurocopter
Hélidax is equally owned by its founders DCI and INAER
France (formerly Proteus). On January 31, 2008, the DGA (French
government procurement agency) awarded Hélidax a contract
for 16,000 to 26,000 flight hours a year to provide ab initio
helicopter pilot training to all three branches of the French armed
forces and the Gendarmerie. The training will take place at the
French Army Air Corp's training school (EALAT) in Dax. As part of
the innovative partnership agreement, Hélidax is responsible
for the financing, operation and maintenance of the helicopters,
and retains full ownership. The training work itself, however, will
continue to be provided by the military instructors at EALAT.
Hélidax officially received its 36th and final EC120 from
Eurocopter in a formal ceremony which included Joseph Saporito,
Executive Vice President of Commercial Programs for the Eurocopter
Group, and Jean-Louis Rotrubin, Chairman of DCI and
Hélidax.
The French Army opted for the EC120 to honor the contract, and
the first three helicopters were delivered to Dax in October 2009.
Within just twelve months, all 36 helicopters were delivered and
have progressively been replacing the 54 SA341 and SA342 Gazelles
previously used for training. With a training staff of 80 and a
fleet of 36 EC120s, the EALAT in Dax is now the largest helicopter
training academy in Europe. Instructors and trainees from Belgium
also serve at the school year round, making it a truly
multinational institution.
Helidax EC120B
The EC120s are delivered up to Eurocopter standard in the NHE
(New Training Helicopter) version to Hélidax. With the
assistance of INAER France, the company then equips the helicopters
with the avionics required by the EALAT, such as a full screen
cockpit with night vision goggle (NVG) capabilities and an
automatic pilot, to better prepare the trainees for the modern
helicopters they will be flying during their careers: the Tiger,
EC725 Caracal and, over time, the NH90. Although the EC120 is less
powerful than the Gazelle, it can perform just as wide a range of
missions: flight training, navigation, night flights with NVG,
autorotations, instrument flights, and initiation to mountain
flying.
The EC120 is the first helicopter with crash-resistance
certification, offering training in optimum safety conditions.
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