News
MSH making progress on Skye SH-09 helicopter
August 14, 2017 By Marenco Swisshelicopter
The program development of Marenco Swisshelicopter's Skye SH-09 has hit yet another milestone. On June 28, prototype three (P3) was rolled out.
The program now has two prototypes that will be used for test flights: P2 and P3, which comes close to the serial version. Both prototypes will contribute to achieving a quicker progress to the type certificate. P2 has flown more than 50 flight hours, with some 30 in the past three months.
And if ground tests are included in this calculation, the rotor system has already rotated for more than 100 hours. A fourth helicopter will reinforce the fleet in the first quarter of the next year. MSH has 12 fixed purchase contracts in place and more than 100 international purchasing commitments. From an entrepreneurial view, MSH has already reached important milestones in the first half-year.
In Mollis, MHS had the opportunity to celebrate the construction of the 3,800 metre squared production hall. This structure houses production space, administration rooms, training and product support areas. A second production hall is located in Näfels. It will serve after a complete modernization and reconstruction as a logistics centre as well as for the production of cell structures and rotor blades.
The Näfels facility will support one of the largest autoclaves in Switzerland. This facility will be ready for production in August. The staff here has increased from 136 to 213, the bulk of which are highly specialized engineers. Personnel development will take place over the next 20 months , mainly in production. Serial production of the SH-09 will start in approxiimately 20 months in Mollis and Näfels.
The MSH management team was reinforced with Michele Riccobono, head of flight operations and fight testing, and Jan Nowacki, chief operating officer. Both have extensive experience in the European helicopter industry.
