Story ID: 
Leonardo AW169 Turns 10
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Leonardo is marking the 10th anniversary of the AW169 on May 10, 2012, it has since delivered 140 of the light intermediate helicopters. 
Word Count: 163
Leonardo is marking the 10th anniversary of the first flight of its AW169 light intermediate twin helicopter. The helicopter was certified by EASA in July 2015 and to date Leonardo has accumulated orders for 300 AW169s and delivered 140 from its final assembly line in Vergiate, Italy, to operators in 25 countries. The global fleet has logged more than 110,000 flight hours. 

The AW169 features technology new for the time in its category, including cockpit touchscreen displays, auxiliary power unit mode running one engine with rotors stopped, and all-electric retractable landing gear. Maintenance and training solutions developed for the AW169 include virtual to full-scale maintenance simulation, a range of flight-training devices up to level D full-flight simulator, and advanced health usage monitoring system technology.

More recent upgrades include an increased maximum takeoff up to 4.8 tonnes, the choice of three different undercarriage options (retractable, fixed, and skid landing gear) and, in December 2021, the Phase 7 core avionics software release and performance increase packages.