Robinson: what’s new! 
Robinson sales were up compared to 2017, with 305 livery helicopters, the palm returned to R44 with 174 units sold. Just behind, the famous R66 with 77 units and 34 R22.

Robinson was very surprised with his new avionics available on R44, R66 and Robinson is also talking about the R22 with its new accessories.

A brand new Garmin Display Unit (Garmin Display Unit) 1060 Txi will replace the Garmin 500 with its 10.6 ‘screen. Full of changes with a shared touch screen and a brighter LED display. But what caught my attention is the brand new “little” Garmin GDU 700L Txi, the pearl in my opinion, simple clear and super intuitive. I was introduced by Kurt Robinson himself, the 700Txi association with a Gps Garmin 6 serie, is extraordinary! Small simple oriented landscape mode, in a dash ultra useful, it will be my next …

Of course, everything comes together with the autopilot, and Kurt insists a lot on the safety aspect: “ the new avionics are so complete that the distraction is possible in flight, I recommend the autopilot to have the time to properly configure its Gps and secure the flight with the latter engaged! </ em> “Certifications are underway for these new Garmin, will soon be available for sale for the autonomous 2018. Perfect for a new machine in 2019! … .

The palm of novelty is heated seats! Yes yes you read well, the first helicopter in the world that offers optional heated front and rear seats and even the front seat is heated, an interesting option for us in Canada …

Finally, the cargo hook on the R66 will offer 1200 Lbs of lifting with a brand new bubble for the driver who will be left! With a reminder of the engine and mass indicators on the left side! In the process of being approved, it should not be long. The R66 equipped with the cargo hook also offered the cable cut option with a reinforcement of the main amount of the windows and a system of guiding the cable towards the upper or lower wire cutters. Well thought out, this option will delight authorities (police and others) who ask for cable cuts for their tenders and their work at low altitude. In the course of homologation too.

BELL: Forward to the future … 
With its new brand Bell and its new Logo, Bell surprised with its 407 GXi. A new version of the famous 407 with the brand new Garmin G1000H NXi “integrated flight desk” with the new engine M250-C47E / 4. Incorporating a dual Fadec channel for better performance at altitude and in high heat. 133 knots cruising. The new Garmin is 5 times more powerful and faster than the “old” with better definition (LED) and much clearer.

The 505 sported new colors with a younger design and a very nice and expected option: the door cylinders that keep the front doors open! Well ! The new skates were presented. Bell and Dart just got a Canadian STC for a 505 flotation system!

Also Bell announces much more efficiency on the production line of the Bell 505. With the introduction of SAP, efficiency and reduction of delivery times to predict. The strong demand of the 505 forces Bell to build faster! Really a good thing!

Interesting to see that Bell is very involved in the future of modes of transportation with BellAirTaxi, a future concept of connected air taxi under development by Bell. Very futuristic, the staging and the presentation make you want to follow!

Airbus: Wow the H160
Airbus really spoiled us with the display of the brand new medium twin engine H160. Which machine, still under development, the H160 has already accumulated more than 650 hours of test flights and its European certification and FAA is expected for next year. For the first landing in the US, the model under development was presented in Las Vegas. Impossible to remain motionless in front of so much technological development! Bravo

Four orders were signed at the show for the H160 in the US … we do not know yet who … Airbus strengthens its dominance in the US market with 55 civilian helicopters sold between Canada and the US, Airbus announced to have won 70{df33236fdb274e6eb65f65099d885631a9e3b55cd4ffde168228189f2f798bed} of calls for offers on the market in 2017.

Airbus is very much focused on reducing maintenance costs and plans to reduce them by 20{df33236fdb274e6eb65f65099d885631a9e3b55cd4ffde168228189f2f798bed} with H160 customers. Beautiful trend!

Also presented were the EC135 and EC145 with new avionics. More than 1300 H135s have been delivered since the beginning and the new Helionix certification with Airbus will help the pilot to be better and more quickly alerted to difficulties in flight and significantly improves the H135.

Airbus continues to develop the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) with “Blade” in order to boost helicopter air transport in urban areas. The partnership with Blade is in addition to Voom (Brazil), which has already stolen thousands of passengers for travel to Sao Paulo. It seems that the association between the builders and the new technologies of reservations have a lot going on at HAI …

Kopter: Be prepared to want one! </ h3>
Kopter (formerly Marenco) has changed its name and is moving towards manufacturing. The main focus of the manufacturer was to strengthen its position with its new animated SH09 of 1200 dual strength Fadec control HTS Honeywell with a carbon fiber body. Up to 7 passengers, this light single engine of 5 blades will change the game and will position itself as a serious alternative to the airbus B3 E. The focus is really given to the certification in 2019 for the 27 new owners in Europe and the next step with the construction of a new factory in the US will be the certification around 2020. Then will come Canada. We can not wait to see a Swiss manufacturer with its legendary precision on the market! I particularly liked the alternatives that this model offers and especially the rear opening at height of man. To follow closely!

Leonardo: the Trekker is coming soon 

Leonardo returns with 10{df33236fdb274e6eb65f65099d885631a9e3b55cd4ffde168228189f2f798bed} profits, sales are rising.

Many beautiful interiors at Leonardo, the AW169 executive version with its captains seats is impressive. Beautiful novelty the Trekker, a version of the AW109 Grand New on skates is being certified in the US and soon in Canada. We did not review the previous Sw-4 or AW009 from last year, according to my contact, the project was questioned.

On the other hand, the AW609 Tiltrotor is planning to finish their flight tests shortly and want to reach certification for 2019! Some are anxiously awaiting this new player! It will be the first TiltRotor on the civilian market!

Miscellaneous: MD nice order / Congratulations to HeliTowcart / Blue Power / A German R22? 
Helitowcart our favorite Quebec manufacturer signs the sale of its bear paws line for Aero Design! They will be able to focus on helicopter removal solutions! Congratulations!

  • Md Helicopte