Enstrom Helicopter (Booth B2624) revealed several enhancements to its 280FX light piston single on Tuesday at Heli-Expo 2019. In addition, the launch customer for the refreshed helicopter will be delivered to the Menominee, Michigan-based company's first French customer in years. “We look forward to the first of many new Enstroms going into France,” said director of sales and marketing Dennis Martin.
France-based Golf Tango, a flight training school, will take delivery of the first upgraded 280FX, which features redesigned cabin doors with an external hinge, improved LED forward and aft landing lights, a new collective design with illuminated control panel, and redesigned avionics and switch console.
The cabin doors and collective upgrades mimic what is found on Enstrom’s larger turbine 480B. “This mirrors our 480 collective system, so for pilots that are training in this, when they go to the turbine aircraft, it’s going to be a real natural transition,” Martin said.
In other news, Enstrom also announced a new authorized service center in France, Copter & Boat’s Dream, which Martin said has been servicing Enstroms for a long time. "But now it’s going to have the full support backing of the factory,” he added.