Products
Government FastFin sales soar at BLR Aerospace
March 25, 2014 By Carey Fredericks
March 25, 2014, Santiago, Chile - Government and military sales of FastFin Tail Rotor Enhancement and Stability Systems are taking off, up 30 per cent over two years, officials at BLR Aerospace say. Some 200 of the 600 FastFin Systems in operation worldwide are flown for government or military missions.
Recent sales to the UK Ministry of Defence (Bell 412 systems with follow on options) and the Philippine Air Force (eight UH-1H systems with options for 13 more) illustrate how FastFin can benefit operators with diverse mission profiles and operational challenges.
The UK Ministry of Defence, for example, operates Bell 412s in Cyprus, carrying heavy loads at high-density altitudes. The Philippine Air Force operates at Sea Level, and is faced with challenging winds. Other government operators include the U.S. Department of State, Colombia, and Peru, among others.
“FastFin is the most cost-effective solution for improving useful load, cross wind tolerance, and operational safety available on the market today,” said Dave Marone, BLR’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “For many operators, performance improvement positively impacts ROI, and BLR’s patented FastFin System includes certified hover performance increases up to 91 percent.”
The FastFin system includes two parallel stall strips, known as Dual Tailboom Strakes, on the tailboom and a reshaped vertical fin. FastFin optimizes airflow around the tailboom, dramatically improving tail rotor authority and wind azimuth tolerance. FastFin also improves aircraft stability, positively impacting operating costs and cycle fatigue in structures and demands on tail rotor rotating components. In addition, with FastFin installed, most operators will receive between a 10 and 90 percent increase in useful load depending on specific model and density altitude.
