Features Aircraft manufacturers
More power for the H125, leveraging Safran Arriel 2D

Airbus Helicopters at Heli-Expo announced what the company describes as a major performance increase on the H125, by making full use of the available power of Safran Helicopter Engines’ Arriel 2D.

Airbus expects the extra power to be certified this summer and will be included as a standard feature on all new-built H125s at no price increase. A retrofit solution will be available for all VEMD-equipped H125s (AS350 B3e) by the end of this year and will only consist of a simple VEMD software upgrade.

The aircraft’s external and internal load lifting capabilities will increase by up to +140 kg, explains Airbus, with a large part of it already available at low altitude and low external temperatures, while the hover ceiling OGE will be improved by more than 1,500 ft (up to 12,600 ft).

Airbus continues to explain these figures will be further increased when the H125 is equipped with the BLR Fast Fin tail rotor enhancement and stability system, resulting in a total additional gain of up to +190 kg of external and internal load-lifting capabilities and the hover ceiling OGE being improved by +2,300 ft (up to 13,400 ft) compared to the current H125 performance.

At Heli-Expo, Airbus is also highlighting how the H125 will provide what it describes as increased operational simplicity based on new options aiming to improve visibility and pilot awareness. This includes a more compact and simplified instrument panel that reduces its surface area by 40 per cent and incorporates a Garmin G500H TXI touch screen; a remote FLI solution developed by California-based AKV Inc., which will allow to display the main VEMD engine parameters on a smartphone or a tablet via a Bluetooth connection, while keeping external loads in sight; and two additional upper windows for improving upward visibility.

“I am very happy to be presenting these new H125 features, which are the result of a continuous dialogue with our customers,” said Axel Aloccio, head of Airbus’ Intermediate Single Program. “The extra power offered by the H125 raises the bar within the single engine helicopter market to reach levels never attained up to now by such platforms and confirms the superiority of the H125 in terms of payload and value for money. And our new options for the aerial work market segment will not only simplify our customer’s daily missions, but more importantly, will further increase the safety of these very demanding operations.”