Leonardo Helicopters signed a sales deal earlier this month for five of its new AW169 medium twins for a customer in Brazil, boosting its total order book—including firms orders, framework agreements and options for the model—to more than 150. Of that total, more than 20 are destined for operators in Brazil, Leonardo noted. These orders are distributed across multiple customers. Overall, the company claims a 50-percent market share of the multi-engine executive/private helicopter market. The AW169 is part of a family of medium-class helicopters fielded by the company that share a common cockpit layout, design philosophy and maintenance/training concept.
The AW169 is powered by two Fadec Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210A turboshafts in the 1,000 shp class. With a 222-cu-ft main cabin, the helicopter can carry up to 10 passengers and two pilots. Baggage capacity is 50 cu ft.
Avionics equipment includes modern glass cockpit with three 10-inch by 8-inch LCDs, four-axis, dual-duplex digital autopilot, dual SBAS GPS with WAAS and EGNOS capability, ADS-B OUT, TCAS II, HTAWS, synthetic vision, enhanced vision, satcom, weather radar, NVG compatibility and many more options.