EUROCOPTER EC 145

The 'EC 145' is a twin-engine light utility helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter. Originally referred to as the ''BK 117-C2'', the EC 145 is based upon the MBB BK 117-C1, which became a part of the Eurocopter lineup when Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm was purchased by Daimler-Benz. The EC 145 is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 9 passengers along with 2 crew, depending on customer configuration. The helicopter is marketed for passenger transport, corporate transport, emergency medical service (EMS), search & rescue, parapublic and utility roles.

Contents

Development

Design

Operational History

Operators

Specifications (EC 145)

References

External links

Related content

Development

The EC 145 was a joint development between Eurocopter and Kawasaki Heavy Industries with the aim of significantly increasing the cabin space and take-off weight of the BK 117 C-1. Originally called the BK 117 C-2, the helicopter was selected by the French Defense & Civil Guard for air rescue missions in December 1997 and 32 were ordered at a cost of one billion French Francs. The first BK 117 C-2 completed its first flight at Donauwörth on 12 June 1999 and a second aircraft was built at Kawasaki's plant in Gifu.
Eurocopter designated the new model as the EC 145 with the third prototype in April 2000 and safety certification was awarded by the German Luftfahrt-Bundesamt and Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau in December 2000. The EC 145 was shown at the Paris Air Show in 2001 and more civilian orders followed. Safety certification was awarded by the United States FAA in February 2002 and the helicopter was shown at the Heli-Expo event in Orlando, Florida in the same year.

Design

The EC 145 features a much larger cabin space than the older BK 117 C-1 helicopter with internal space increased by 46cm in length and 13cm in width. Other improvements over the older helicopter include an increased maximum take-off weight and increased range, achieved with improved rotor blades made of composite materials, based on the EC 135 rotors. These are combined with a hingeless rotor system with a monolithic titanium hub, and are powered by two Turbomeca Arriel 1E2 turbine engines. The cabin can seat 8 or 9 passengers and has a level floor throughout with access from both sides and the rear of the helicopter. The all-glass cockpit consists of a Thales Avionics MEGHAS Flight Control Display System with active matrix liquid crystal displays.
The cabin arrangement allows for 1 or 2 pilots with 8 passengers in a club seating configuration, or 9 passengers in a high density seating configuration. The EMS / Casualty Evacuation arrangement can carry up to two stretchered patients with 3 medical staff. The helicopter can be fitted with emergency floats, rescue hoist, search light, load hook and specialist equipment for other operational requirements.

Operational History

The French Defense & Civil Guard (Sécurité Civile), French Gendarmerie and the Hesse State Police of Germany became the first operators of the EC 145 when they received initial deliveries of the helicopter in April 2002. Two of the Sécurité Civile helicopters have crashed since delivery, with one being lost during a mountain rescue operation on Mount Arbizon in the French Pyrenees on 20th July 2003 and the other crashing during a police rescue exercise near Garvarnie in the Pyrenees on 5th June 2006 with the loss of three lives.^[1]
In 2006 it won the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter Program, beating three other helicopters. This large order for a variant given the marketing name "'UH-145'" was placed by the United States Army. The deal involves the supply of 322 "light utility" helicopters with an option for 30 more. The total value (including service and maintenance) is approximately $3 billion. [1]
The planned 322 helicopters have been designated 'UH-72A Lakota' by the U.S. Department of Defense for the United States Army. The first UH-72A was delivered in December 2006.

Operators

★ 1 ordered by Australian Customs in March 2007 for rapid response helicopter service operating from Gove, Northern Territory and expected to be delivered in April 2008.^[2]

★ 1 in service with True North Helicopters.^[3]

★ 1 in service with Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (NHV) for air ambulance duties operating from Bra-sur-Lienne.^[4]

★ 2 in service with HIKO (Heli Kompanija).

★ 30 in service with the French Defense and Civil Guard (Sécurité Civile) for mountain rescue duties. 32 were delivered between 2002 and 2005, but 2 have since crashed.

★ 8 in service with the French Gendarmerie with another 7 ordered in 2006.^[5]


★ 2 in service with ADAC Air Rescue Service for air ambulance duties.^[6]

★ 1 in service with Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht (DRF) for emergency rescue operations.^[7]

★ 1 in service with Hesse State Police (Polizeihubschrauberstaffel Hesse).^[8]

★ 2 ordered by National Utility Helicopters to be used for corporate chartering services in Indonesia.^[9]

★ 1 delivered in 2007 to the Lithuanian Border Guard, to be used for border patrol and coast guard operations in the Baltic Sea.^[10]

★ 1 delivered in 2005 to the corporate operator Aeropersonal, for VIP use.^[11]

★ 1 in service with Transportes Aéreos Pegaso for Gulf of Mexico oilfield operations.^[12]

★ 1 in service with Norsk Luftambulanse for air ambulance duties.

★ 2 ordered by INAER to be delivered between 2007 and 2009 and will be used for emergency medical service operations. ^[13]

★ 1 in service with SOS Helicopter for air ambulance duties on the island of Gotland.^[14]

★ 5 in service with Rega Swiss Air Ambulance for emergency medical missions.^[15]

★ 3 delivered in 2007 to the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit at Loughton, Essex as replacement for the Squirrel fleet.^[16]

★ 1 in service with Air Methods, operated on behalf of Florida Hospital.

★ 2 in service with CJ Systems Aviation Group in Pennsylvania.

★ 8 ordered by Era Helicopters in 2007 for oil & gas support in the Gulf of Mexico.^[17]

★ 5 ordered by Geisinger Life Flight to replace Eurocopter BK117 & Sikorsky S-76 helicopters in the air medical service role in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, with delivery expected to start in late 2007.^[18]

★ 1 in service with the Emergency Medical Services of Lee County in Florida.^[19]

★ 3 ordered by The MetroHealth System in 2007 for air ambulance services in Cleveland, Ohio.^[20]

★ 2 owned by the Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, Ohio

★ 2 in service with STAR Flight which replaced EC 135 helicopters for emergency medical services in Travis County, Texas.^[21]

★ 3 in service with STAT MedEvac operating air ambulance services from Pittsburgh.

★ 332 UH-72A Lakota models ordered by the U.S. Army with deliveries starting in 2007.^[22]

★ 3 in service with Vanderbilt University Medical Center for its LifeFlight air ambulance service in Tennessee and being operated by Air Methods.^[23]

★ Tulsa Life Flight, a US air ambulance service based in Tulsa, Oklahoma has recently ordered 2 EC-145s to replace their aging BK-117s that have been in service since 1987.

Specifications (EC 145)

{{aircraft specifications
|plane or copter?=copter
|jet or prop?=prop
|ref= {Eurocopter Canada}^[24]
|crew=1 or 2 (pilots)
|capacity=9 passengers
|length main=13.030 m
|length alt=
|span main=11.000 m
|span alt=
|height main=3.45 m
|height alt=
|area main=143.33 m2
|area alt=
|empty weight main=1,792 kg
|empty weight alt=3,951 lb
|loaded weight main=3,585 kg
|loaded weight alt=7,903 lb
|useful load main=1,793 kg
|useful load alt=3,953 lb
|max takeoff weight main=3,585 kg
|max takeoff weight alt=7,903 lb
|engine (prop)=Turbomeca Arriel 1E2
|type of prop=free-turbine turboshafts
|number of props=2
|power main=550 kW
|power alt=748 shp
|power original=
|never exceed speed main=278 km/h
|never exceed speed alt=150 kts
|max speed main=278 km/h
|max speed alt=150 kts
|cruise speed main=280 km/h
|cruise speed alt=151 kts
|stall speed main=
|stall speed alt=
|range main=705 km
|range alt=380 nm
|ferry range main=1,380 mi
|ferry range alt=461 nm
|ceiling main=5,485 m
|ceiling alt=18,000 ft
|climb rate main=14.9 m/s
|climb rate alt=2,940 ft/min
|armament=
}}

References

1. Police Aviation News - Accidents & Incidents
2. Australian Aerospace News & Events - Contract Signed For One New EC145 Helicopter
3. Eurocopter - First EC145 Delivered In The South Pacific
4. Belgian Aviation History Association - New Helicopter For Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (NHV)
5. Aerospace Technology - Eurocopter EC 145 Helicopter
6. EADS N.V. - EC 145 Sets New Standards For Emergency Medical Services
7. DRF - Aircraft Data
8. Flug Revue Online - First EC 145s Delivered
9. EADS N.V. - Eurocopter South East Asia & National Utility Helicopters Sign Contract For 2 EC145 helicopters
10. EADS N.V. - Lithuanian Border Guard Orders Eurocopter EC 135 & EC 145
11. AviationNow - Eurocopter Mexico Sells First EC 145...
12. EADS N.V. - Eurocopter Delivers 400th EC135 For Offshore Operations In Mexico
13. EADS N.V. - The INAER Group Continues The Renewal Of Its Fleet With Nine New Eurocopter Helicopters
14. EADS N.V. - SOS Helicopter Of Sweden Orders First EC 145 In The Scandinavian Market
15. ROTOR On Line - To Care For Patients In The Best Possible Conditions
16. BBC News - Met Police Unveil New Helicopters
17. Aviation Today - Era Orders 20 Eurocopters For Offshore, New EMS Services
18. Airborne Law Enforcement Association Press Releases - Geisinger Life Flight Selects Eurocopter EC145
19. Eurocopter - Breaks The Bank In Las Vegas
20. American Eurocopter - MetroHealth To Update Metro Life Flight Fleet with Eurocopter EC145s
21. STARFlight Rescue - Helicopters
22. EADS North America - The UH-72A Light Utility Helicopter Enters Operational Service With The First Fully-Equipped U.S. Army Unit
23. Vanderbilt LifeFlight Press Release - Vanderbilt Integrates, Expands Transportation Services To Lebanon, Purchases Three State-Of-The-Art Helicopters
24. Eurocopter EC 145 Technical Data

External links

★ Eurocopter EC145

★ American Eurocopter - EC145

★ EADS North America - UH-72A Light Helicopter

★ Aerospace Technology - Eurocopter EC 145

★ Flug Revue - Eurocopter EC 145 (BK 117B2)

★ Helicopter Association International - Eurocopter EC 145

★ Rega - Eurocopter EC 145

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