Airbus Helicopters
 | |
| Company type | Operating Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Aérospatiale Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm  |
| Headquarters | Marseille Provence Airport Marignane, France |
Key people | Bruno Even (CEO)[1] |
| Products | Helicopters |
| Revenue | €6.3 billion (2013) |
Number of employees | 23,000 |
| Parent | Airbus |
| Subsidiaries | Subsidiaries |
| Website | airbushelicopters.com |
Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Airport in Marignane, France, near Marseille.[2] The main facilities of Airbus Helicopters are at its headquarters in Marignane, France and in Donauwörth, Germany, with additional production plants in Brazil (Helibras), Australia, Spain and the United States. The company was renamed Airbus Helicopters on 2 January 2014.[3]
History
Airbus Helicopters was formed in 1992 as Eurocopter Group, through the merger of the helicopter divisions of Aérospatiale and DASA. The company's heritage traces back to Blériot and Lioré et Olivier in France and to Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf in Germany.[4]
Airbus Helicopters and its predecessor companies have established a wide range of helicopter firsts, including the first production turboshaft-powered helicopter (the Aérospatiale Alouette II of 1955); the introduction of the Fenestron shrouded tail rotor (on the Gazelle of 1968); the first helicopter certified for full flight in icing conditions (the AS332 Super Puma, in 1984); the first production helicopter with a Fly-by-wire control system (the NHIndustries NH90, first flown in full FBW mode in 2003); the first helicopter to use a Fly-by-light primary control system (an EC135 testbed, first flown in 2003); and the first ever landing of a helicopter on Mt. Everest (achieved by an AS350 B3 in 2005).[5][6][7]
As a consequence of the merger of Airbus Helicopters' former parents in 2000, the firm is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus. The creation of what was then called EADS in 2000 also incorporated CASA of Spain, which itself had a history of helicopter-related activities dating back to Talleres Loring, including local assembly of the Bo105.
Today, Airbus Helicopters has four main plants in Europe (Marignane and La Courneuve in France, and Donauwörth and Kassel in Germany), plus 32 subsidiaries and participants around the world, including those in Brisbane, Australia, Albacete, Spain and Grand Prairie, USA.[8][9]
Since approximately 2006, Eurocopter has been involved in the planning for the proposed pan-European Future Transport Helicopter project.[10]
As of 2014, more than 12,000 Airbus Helicopters were in service with over 3,000 customers in around 150 countries.[11]
Eurocopter sold 422 helicopters in 2013 and delivered 497 helicopters that year.[12] In 2014, AH built a concrete cylinder for testing helicopters before first flight.[13]
| Dec 1970 | Jan 1992 | July 2000 | Sep 2000 | Jan 2001 | Dec 2006 | Apr 2009 | Sep 2010 | Jan 2014 | May 2015 | Jan 2017 | Apr 2017 | ||
| European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company NV | Airbus Group NV | Airbus Group SE | Airbus SE | ||||||||||
| Airbus Industrie GIE | Airbus SAS | ||||||||||||
| Airbus Military SAS | Airbus Defence and Space SAS | ||||||||||||
| EADS Defence and Security | Cassidian SAS | ||||||||||||
| Astrium SAS | EADS Astrium SAS | ||||||||||||
| Eurocopter SA | Eurocopter SAS | Airbus Helicopters SAS | |||||||||||
Historical emblems
Historical emblems of the company:
-
1992-2000 -
2000–2010 -
2010–2014 -
2014-present
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Products
When the division changed its name from Eurocopter Group to Airbus Helicopters in 2014 the trade names of the products were changed (applied by 1 January 2016) to reflect this. Suffixes, as well as the differentiation for single or twin engines, were no longer to be used. Military versions were to be symbolized by the letter M. The only exceptions to this new branding were the AS350 B2, AS635 and 565, the EC145e, the AS332 and 532, the Tiger and the NH90, which will keep their current names.:[14]
| Original name | Current name | Maiden flight | MTOW [t] | Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC120 Colibri B | H120 | 9 Jun 1995 | 1.715 | 5-seat single-engine[a] |
| AS350 Ecureuil/AStar B2/B3e | H125 | 27 Jun 1974 | 2.25 | single-engine |
| AS355 Ecureuil 2/TwinStar | — | 28 Sep 1979 | 2.54 | light twin-engine utility helicopter |
| AS550 Fennec & AS555 Fennec 2 C3e | H125M | 1990 | 2.25 | single and twin engine |
| EC130 T2 | H130 | 24 Jun 1999 | 2.43 | single-engine 'wide-body' |
| EC135 T3/P3 | H135 | 15 Feb 1994 | 2.91 | civil twin-engine |
| EC635 T2e/P2e | H135M | May 1998 | 2.9 | twin-engine military |
| EC145e / T2 | H145 | 12 Jun 1999 | 3.6 | civil twin-engine |
| EC645 T2 | H145M | 12 Jun 1999 | 3.6 | military twin-engine |
| AS365 Dauphin N3+ | AS365 N3+ | 24 Jan 1975 | 4.3 | civil twin-engine |
| AS565 Panther MBe | AS565 MBe | 29 Feb 1984 | 4.3 | military twin-engine |
| EC155 B1 | H155 | 17 Jun 1997 | 4.92 | long-range passenger transport |
| X4 | H160 | 13 Jun 2015 | 5.67 | AS365/EC155 replacement |
| EC175 | H175 | 17 Dec 2009 | 7.8 | twin-engine transport/utility |
| AS332 Super Puma C1e/L1e | H215 | 13 Sep 1978 | 9.15 | twin-engine transport/utility |
| AS532 Cougar ALe | H215M | Sep 1977 | 9 | twin-engine |
| EC225 Super Puma e | H225 | 27 Nov 2000 | 11.2 | long-range passenger transport |
| EC725 Cougar | H225M | 27 Nov 2000 | 11.2 | long-range tactical transport |
| NHIndustries NH90 | NH90 | 18 Dec 1995 | 10.6 | twin-engine, fly-by-wire [b] |
| EC665 Tiger | Tiger | 27 April 1991 | 6 | attack helicopter |
- ^ with Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
- ^ via 62.5% share in NHI joint venture
- Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota – light utility helicopter in operation with the U.S. Army and Navy
- HH/MH-65C/D Dolphin – medium-sized search & rescue and drug interdiction helicopter
- KAI KUH-1 Surion – medium-sized twin-engined transport/utility helicopter developed in cooperation with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)
- X³ rotorcraft – hybrid helicopter with two forward propellers, which achieved a 255-knot speed milestone in level flight in June 2011.[15]
- Airbus Helicopters X6 – Two year concept study into the possible launch of an 11.5t helicopter to replace the H225.[16][17]
Some of the helicopters were renamed in 2015, resembling Airbus airplane naming.[18]
Note: On Airbus Helicopters aircraft designed in France, the main rotor turns clockwise when viewed from above, in common with rotorcraft deriving from Russia. Airbus Helicopters products developed in Germany have a main rotor which turns counter-clockwise when viewed from above, in common with American rotorcraft.
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See also
Comparable major helicopter manufacturers:
- AgustaWestland
- Bell Helicopter
- Boeing Rotorcraft Systems
- MD Helicopters
- Russian Helicopters
- Sikorsky Aircraft
References
- ^ "Bruno Even Appointed CEO of Airbus Helicopters". airbus.com (Press release). 14 February 2018.
- ^ "Legal Notice and Disclaimer Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine." Airbus Helicopters. Retrieved on 24 January 2014. "[...]whose registered Office is located Aéroport International Marseille-Provence – 13725 Marignane Cedex – France"
- ^ Airbus Helicopters
- ^ Airbus Helicopters history Archived 14 January 2014 at archive.today
- ^ "Landing on Air". National Geographic Adventure. 1 September 2005. Archived from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Everest 2005: The Helicopter land on Everest with video: But it is good?". wayback.archive-it.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "French Everest Mystery Chopper's Utopia summit". MountEverest.net. 27 May 2005. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Airbus Helicopters – Spain Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Airbus Helicopters – Interactive Network Map Archived 15 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Rüstung: EU beschließt Bau von Helikopter" (in German). Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ Airbus Helicopters – Who We are Archived 14 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Airbus Helicopters aims high with new branding and a strategic transformation Archived 3 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "HeliHub.com New dynamic testing method at Airbus brings helicopters to market quickly". helihub.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ http://www.airbushelicopters.com/w1/jrotor/100/sources/projet/pdfs/page7.pdf
- ^ Eurocopter's X3 hybrid helicopter makes aviation history in achieving a speed milestone of 255 knots during level flight Archived 27 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "PARIS: Airbus Helicopters launches X6 concept phase". 16 June 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "www.airbushelicopters.com/website/en/press/Airbus-Helicopters-launches-X6-concept-phase,-setting-the-standard-for-the-future-in-heavy-lift-rotorcraft_1771.html". www.airbushelicopters.com. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "Airbus renames fleet". Vertical Magazine. April 2015. p. 36. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)
External links
- Official website
- Helibras
- Airbus Helicopters timeline at Helis.com
- Dominic Perry (20 February 2018). "Faury leaves Airbus Helicopters a business transformed". Flightglobal.
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