Airbus Helicopters has delivered its 7,000th aircraft from the Ecureuil family of single-engine models, which includes the H125 AStar and H130. The milestone helicopter—an H125 assembled in Marignane, France—was handed over to Blugeon Hélicoptères, a French company that specializes in high-altitude sling work.
It will join Blugeon's existing fleet of five H125s located at three bases in the French Alps and a fourth in the Pyrenees. Each of Blugeon’s H125s flies an annual average of 600 hours performing passenger transport, power line surveillance, filmmaking, avalanche prevention, mountain rescue, and large-scale hoisting missions. The company has logged almost 45,000 hours on the type, and CEO Christian Blugeon has been flying the H125 for more than 20 years.
"Since the first Ecureuil took to the skies in 1974, this family of aircraft forever changed the light-helicopter market and the way aerial work is performed," said Axel Aloccio, head of the light-helicopters program at Airbus. "Designed to be a simple, practical, and competitive aircraft, the secret of its success lies in its excellent performance and its incredible ability to adapt to operators' needs.”
The Ecureuil is currently operated by 2,014 customers in 124 countries in both civil and military versions and has exceeded 37 million flight hours. It holds several altitude records, including on May 14, 2005, when Didier Delsalle landed an H125 on the summit of Mount Everest.