Airbus Helicopters is planning to deliver the first upgraded H225 (formerly known as the EC225e) at the end of the year. The main changes include more automation for oil rig approaches, an increased mtow and a greater range. However, to minimize development costs, the company has opted to retain the current Turbomeca Makila 2A1 engine rather than replace it with the 2B model, which was supposed to enable a major payload increase.
In the cockpit, the optional Rig’N Fly GPS-navigation-assisted software program aims to make approaches to, and takeoffs from, platform-based helipads safer and simpler. “It reduces pilot workload,” Airbus Helicopters operational marketing director Régis Magnac told AIN. Once the crew has prepared the approach, only two pilot inputs are required. The first one is to engage the approach mode. The second one takes place at the missed-approach point. If the pilot can see the platform, he continues the approach; if not, he goes around.
The result is more standardized approach flightpaths. The trajectory will be parallel to a direct approach, thus making a go-around safer, as the path ahead will be obstacle-free. The manufacturer expects that as a result, operators will experience a reduction in the number of incidents such as wrong-deck landings.
Rig’N Fly uses dual radar altimeters, dual GPS receivers and weather radar. The pilot interface centers on an enhanced cursor-control device. The system, which is retrofittable, has just been EASA certified. “Oil companies have begun requesting such systems,” Magnac said.
The maximum takeoff weight will increase to 11,160 kg (24,581 pounds) from 11,000 kg (24,229 pounds), leaving room for an additional 352 pounds of fuel, according to Magnac. As a result, the radius of action can be pushed to 300 nm with 10 passengers.
The optional extra fuel tank (removable) will be housed in the baggage compartment located in the aft cabin, beneath the tail boom. Reinforcements will be added in the area. It will take half of the compartment’s volume. However, the extra fuel tank will mean fewer passengers, who will have to store their baggage in the main cabin.
No Engine Change
The helicopter manufacturer initially marketed EC225e with a 1,200-pound payload increase, which it planned to accomplish by replacing the original engine with the Makila 2B with a new combustor and new high-pressure turbine blades. Flight testing began in 2014. However, the plummeting oil price and the resulting sharp fall in heavy helicopter sales–Airbus received orders for only two H225s in 2015–changed the game. “We are no longer integrating the Makila 2B into the H225,” Magnac said. Development costs would have been longer to recoup in today’s sluggish market, while the higher price would have made the helicopter even harder to sell. The Makila 2A1 can accommodate the 352-pound increase, deemed enough in current market conditions.
The decision not to pursue the development of the Makila 2B to power the H225 was made by Airbus Helicopters, in coordination with Turbomeca, according to the engine maker. “Our teams were informed that Airbus had difficulties in the offshore market and that they wanted to reassess the H225’s perimeter of evolution,” a spokesman said. The Makila 2B has no other application and its development has come to a stop.
After the certification of the Rig'N Fly system, Airbus engineers are now working on obtaining approvals for the higher mtow and the extra fuel tank. The final assembly of the first upgraded H225 will start in the coming months.