Hélidax passes flying milestone
Hélidax EC120 Colibri helicopters have flown more than 20,000 hours
Since May 2010 Hélidax has trained student
pilots, including pilots from Belgium,
with some 40 trainees having graduated. A third intake of pilots has just started
its ab initio training in the EC120/NHE (New Training Helicopter). In thirteen
months of flying the EC120, the flying school has flown more than 20,000 hours
on the EC120 helicopter.
Of Hélidax’s 36 aircraft, 32 are made
available each morning for students of the French Army Air Corps’ training
school (EAALAT) in Dax. The utilization rate of Hélidax’s aircraft approaches
100 percent.
“We are pleased to confirm that the availability of Hélidax’s EC120/NHEs is excellent”, states
Jean-Louis Rotrubin, chairman of DCI and Hélidax. “The 20,000 hours of flying time we have gained in just over a year have made it possible to train two students’ intakes in the next generation aircraft. However, we do expect to leave it at that, because Hélidax’s potential goes beyond the needs of the military.”
“In addition to the contract signed in January 2008 covering Hélidax’s purchase of 36 EC120s, the last of which was delivered in October 2010. Eurocopter and Hélidax have built a true partnership. This rests in particular on the operational support provided by Eurocopter that guarantees the helicopters’ operability and availability, ” adds Dominique Maudet, Eurocopter executive vice
president Global Business & Services. “Another important factor in the partnership is the invaluable feedback Hélidax is able to give concerning its experience of maintaining the EC120s and their behavior in operation.”
For an aircraft in the light helicopter
category, the EC120 can cover quite a wide range of missions: flight training,
navigation, night flights with night vision goggles, autorotation, instrument
flying and initiation to mountain flights. Its compact size, low operating
costs, excellent flight quality and ease of flying have made it a particularly
popular choice for training missions. Eurocopter has delivered to date almost
700 EC120s to many of the world’s air forces.
