The largest European helicopter manufacturer is in Inuvik, N.W.T., to test its new model in frigid Arctic conditions.
The crews wanted cold weather, and they got plenty of it. Eurocopter’s flight test engineer, Carl Ockier, said the location is a good match for the tests.
“It's the engine starting, it’s batteries, but also the handling qualities change a little bit when it gets cold and we need to verify that everything is as expected,” he said.
Ockier said that if all goes well, the new chopper could be marketed in Canada.
“Mostly emergency medical evacuations, search and rescue missions. The aircraft has a large cabin so you can fit two people in there in case of an accident, for instance,” said Ockier.
Volger Bau, one of the test pilots, has been taking the helicopter up 6,100 metres to test the limits of the innovative design.
"There are 400 sensors that record … every stress, every movement, every RPM (revolutions per minute) from the engine, everything," said Bau.
The basic model is expected to cost about $6 million Euros, or about $8 million Canadian.
There are no comments yet