Spain's government has selected Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW206B3 engine to power the 36 Airbus H135 helicopters it has ordered for the Spanish Air Force and Navy, Guardia Civil, and National Police, P&WC (Booth 5309) announced today at Heli-Expo. Airbus Helicopters offers the H135 with either the PW206B3 or the Safran Arrius 2B2 Plus turboshaft engines.
The Guardia Civil and National Police have operated the PW206B3 and predecessor PW206B2 on their EC135 fleets for 16 years and the engines have brought "full satisfaction," according to the Spanish Ministry of Defense’s General Directorate for Armament and Materiel. "This along with the overall performance of the PW206B3 engine were the major decision factors here.”
Certified by Transport Canada, EASA, and FAA in 2014, the PW206B3 delivers 500 to 700 shp and features Fadec, three major rotating components, and a modular design for ease of maintenance. “The PW206B3 is the third variant of the PW206B engine developed to power successive models of the H135 helicopter, one of the most popular light twin-engine helicopters on the market with more than 25 years of service in military and civilian applications,” said Nicolas Chabée, P&WC v-p of helicopter sales and marketing.
The aircraft engine OEM also announced today that its PT6B-37A engine will power the four Leonardo AW119Kx light-twin helicopters ordered as part of a fleet renewal by Mercy Flight Central, a helicopter EMS operator serving the Finger Lakes and central and southern Adirondack regions of New York.
“As Mercy Flight Central evaluated options for our replacement aircraft, we focused on equipment that would serve our needs for decades,” said Mercy Flight president and CEO Jeff Bartkoski. “The AW119Kx with the PT6B engine was our clear No. 1 choice. The engine provides us with an outstanding record of reliability and performance while achieving efficiencies that exceeded other alternatives.”