Editor’s Notebook
BY IAN PARKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Helicopters need TLC too
B
earing in mind that I started my As with many areas of technology military developments
journalistic career writing about feed through into the civil world. Reduced parts count,
helicopters and was editor and reduced maintenance and increased reliability is one of them.
European editor of two helicopter titles, I’m sure readers will The low-parts-count, low-maintenance GE38-1B turboshaft
not mind if I wax lyrical about rotorcraft. And indeed, this is will power Sikorsky’s CH-53K for the US Marine Corps. But
our Heli-Expo issue, so even more reason to talk about them. it won’t be long before that engine finds its way into civil
Helicopters can be shunned by many areas of society, not rotorcraft and turboprop applications.
least fixed wing aviation. Many plank wing people don’t fully There’s a gap in the market for large turboshaft engines.
understand them, don’t particularly trust them and don’t think Europrop International has the above-gap market with the
they should mix it with airplanes. There are time-honored jokes 10,000shp-class TP400. Rolls-Royce dominates the below-gap
such as the one about helicopters not taking off – it’s the Earth end with the 6,000shp-class Rolls Royce AE2100/1107C family.
that rejects them. Or the one about them just being a whole Between these lies a currently vacant power range, thought to
load of vibrating components flying in very tight formation. be ripe for development and growth over the next few decades.
Rotorcraft are highly complex and maintenance-intensive. First to market in this unpopulated region will
In their early years the maintenance manhours per flight hour unquestionably be the 7,500shp GE38-1B, selected to power
figures were quite unbelievable. Today, there’s still a way to the 84,700lb US Marine Corps Sikorsky CH-53K. Ed Birtwell,
go before they can approach fixed wing figures, but they are GE’s vice president and general manager for turboshaft
much more reliable than they ever were – which is just what engines, has compared the new GE38’s market potential with
you want if you’re a soldier being pulled out of a hot spot, the that of the company’s flagship T700, a 3,000shp-class engine
crew of a sinking vessel, the potential victim of a wild fire, or which powers thousands of Sikorsky Black Hawk and Boeing
just a holidaymaker stuck on a cliff. AH-64 Apache helicopters, among many others.
As Igor Sikorsky is reported to have said “If a man is in “We hope that this is a program that has the success of the
need of rescue, an airplane can come in and throw flowers T700 with other applications,” Birtwell said.
on him, and that’s just about all. But a direct lift aircraft could To realize that potential, new classes of heavylift helicopters and
come in and save his life.” Yet many unfamiliar with rotorcraft medium-lift, fixed-wing transports will have to emerge over the
seem to think their brave crews perform these rescues in next decade. The market could include growth versions of existing
spite of their aircraft rather than because of them. helicopters such as the CH-53K, as well as possibly all-new aircraft.
The helicopter is the only vehicle so far invented by man that has “We will always have a huge need for medium lift helicopters
saved far more people than it has killed – and a key to that ability is like the Black Hawk,” said Rhett Flater, executive director of
high reliability which comes, in part, from good maintenance. the American Helicopter Society. “On the other hand, some of
That maintenance used to be totally reactive or required by the experiences that the US Marine Corps and the Army have
a schedule; the rotorcraft went into the hangar because it was encountered in Afghanistan in particular, but also Iraq, justify
shaking, rattling or rolling unusually, or because it said so on the need for helicopters capable of carrying heavier payloads.”
the work sheet. Today we have health and usage monitoring Another option for GE could be capturing a share of Rolls-
systems (HUMS) which constantly monitor a helicopter’s health Royce’s grip on the heavy-lift market. The USMC is investigating
and how it’s being used. Faults can be identified very early in the GE38-1B as a replacement for the AE1107C that powers the
their development and corrected with minimal disruption to BellBoeing MV-22 Osprey, a medium-lift tiltrotor. USMC officials
the flying schedule and well before a catastrophic accident. have expressed concerns about the durability of the AE1107C
Now the industry is pushing for airliner-levels of reliability after experiencing sand ingestion in Iraq.
and availability. Forward-looking Bell Helicopter has certified So maintenance and durability issues may once again be
the model 429 to the latest version of Part 27 airworthiness driving the re-engining of a technology-leading airframe. And
standards. Its maintenance program is said to be the only where better to close this discussion on the juxtaposition of
one in the helicopter industry that is based on Maintenance fixed and rotary wing aircraft but with the aircraft type that’s
Steering Group 3 (MSG-3) practices that are the foundation bringing them together – tiltrotor.
of the world airlines’ unprecedented reliability. The 429 is the The Oprey’s development has been costly, delayed and fraught
first rotorcraft to have its maintenance program approved by with unexpected difficulties – but did you really expect the
the European Aviation Safety Agency to these high standards. evolution of such an advanced bird to be otherwise? It has laid the
Bell plans to continue its test program, overseen by airworthiness foundation for a whole new family of aircraft with both wings and
authorities, to support additional revisions to the maintenance rotors. Good maintenance planning and performance will be at
manual and reductions in the 429’s maintenance costs. the sharp end of keeping them safely and effectively in the air.
AM
4 Aviation Maintenance | avmain-mag.com | February/March 2010
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