Vector Aerospace is now approved to repair and overhaul the tail rotor gearboxes of the Airbus Helicopters H130 and EC130 B4. The Canada-based maintenance group will provide the new service from its facilities at Langley and Richmond in British Columbia, which already supports many Airbus models, including the H125/AS350, the AS355, the BO105, the H135/EC135 and the AS332.
The company is already providing extensive support to the EC130 B4 and the H130 (formerly the EC130 T2) with D-level structural repairs, dynamic component repairs (also including main rotor gearboxes), plus scheduled maintenance, including 12-year inspections. Vector also is an authorized repair center for Turbomeca Arriel 2 engines.
The Langley site is a new 88,000-sq-ft facility, incorporating new avionics and structures shops plus 65,000 sq ft of hangar space. Due to open during the first half of this year, it will also feature expanded engineering and STC development capability.
Separately, Vector (Booth 7556) has been selected by the San Bernandino Sheriff’s Department to perform 12-year inspections on three AS350B3 AStars. In work to be performed over the next two years, the company will also overhaul a pair of Arriel 2B1 turboshafts for the California customer.
South Africa’s Mercy Air recently contracted Vector to convert its AS350BA helicopter into a -B2 model so that it can be used for humanitarian missions. The work will be done at Vector’s facility in Andalusia, Ala.
“Upgrading our AS350BA to a -B2 provides us with much needed safety and performance margin,” said Mercy Air manager Matthias Reuter. “In Africa we face a harsh operating environment of high density altitudes and long distances between bases. We partner with a host of organizations that bring social, medical and spiritual help in remote areas of South Africa.”