BLR Aerospace (Booth 927) secured a new fleet sale for its FastFin retrofittable anti-torque system augmentation device for Airbus H125 helicopters, the company announced this week at Heli-Expo. Helicopter utility service Heli-Austria, the first European operator for the H125 FastFin, placed an order for six more to complement its eight H125s already flying with the system.
The AS350/H125 FastFin tunes airflow to boost tail rotor effectiveness, resulting in significant increases to useful load and aircraft stability, especially in hot/high conditions. According to BLR, the system reduces pilot workload by providing easier control in precision hover-hold operations and better management of the yaw axis when hovering in challenging crosswinds.
"FastFin is beneficial in all flight regimes, but we consider it essential for high-altitude operations," said Heli-Austria managing director Roy Knaus. "We added the FastFin System to eight of our H125s in 2017 and saw such a strong performance margin, we are outfitting the rest of the fleet."
Heli-Austria aircraft routinely operate between 7,000 feet and 10,000 feet msl, and occasionally fly as high as 13,000 feet when performing a variety of vertical reference operations, including logging and construction.
"Heli-Austria is a long-time advocate of the FastFin System, and we are pleased to see they've received such a benefit from the system that they're outfitting the rest of their H125 fleet," added BLR Aerospace president Mike Carpenter. "As word gets out on the benefits of the system, global demand continues to grow."
FastFin is certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and FAA for installation on Airbus H125 helicopters and is available via aftermarket installation or as a factory-fitted STC option on new Airbus H125 helicopters.
The FastFin System is also available for other medium and light helicopters, including the Bell 204, 205, 212, 412, and UH-1. BLR Aerospace also supplies Dual Tailboom Strakes for the Bell 206 series and OH-58, which provide similar useful load and tail rotor authority benefits.