Thu, Feb 27, 2025
To Hold Presser At Verticon March 11
Van Horn Aviation announced it has received an STC/PMA for its new tail rotor for the Airbus Helicopters AS350. The new design replaces the current spar-and-paddle design with two composite tail rotor blades attached to a steel hub with self-lubricating spherical bearings, eliminating the elastomeric half-bearings in the current design.
The in-house designed new rotor also eliminates the inspections, replacements, and several ADs associated with the current design while also reducing control loads andincreasing performance.
Dean Rosenlof, CEO of Van Horn Aviation said, “When we first tackled the AS350 tail rotor design, our main goal was to solve the maintenance problem posed by the elastomeric bearings. Through four years of research and redesign, we’ve not only solved that issue but also produced a system that noticeably enhances tail rotor performance on the venerable AS350.”
Van Horn will host a press conference at Verticon on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at 3 pm with a display of its new AS350 rotor with components and installation tooling. Van Horn engineers, flight test personnel, and management will be in attendance.
The new tail rotor includes these components:
- Two individually-replaceable swept-tip composite tail rotor blades
- Removable pitch horns to allow interchangeability with various pitch links
- Steel hub with industry-standard teeter axis for reduced pitch link loads
- Spherical bearings to eliminate elastomeric bearing inspection and replacement issues
- Drive shaft extension and teeter stop
- New tail rotor bolt and installation hardware
The new AS350 tail rotor blades feature a laminar flow airfoil for better efficiency and swept tips for noise reduction.
Terry Tyner, Flight Operations Manager for Van Horn said, “Our AS350 tail rotor introduces several major improvements over the OEM system, from allowing operators to replace a single damaged blade to eliminating the time and expense of frequently replacing elastomeric bearings. In addition, they are great blades to fly. They’re very responsive.”
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