Video By Lyn Burks


of Vancouver.” By the end of 1970, VHI had delivered 43 new helicopters and had 30 customers for total sales of $7 million. This was all done by 83 employees. It was a significant achievement for a new company competing with established helicopter companies in North America.


In 1974, Aérospatiale took full control of VHI. Two years later, the company had grown to 110 employees and was rebranded as Aérospatiale Helicopters Corporation (AHC). By 1978, AHC delivered its first AS350, SA 341 Gazelle, SA 315 Lama, SA 330J Puma, and SA 360C Dauphin helicopters to the North American market.


In 1979, things really took off for AHC with its sales to the U.S. Coast Guard of nearly 100 Eurocopter HH-65A Dolphins (a version of the AS365 Dauphin helicopter). This is when AHC went from being a small player to a serious contender in North America.


The Dolphins are now the backbone of the Coast Guard’s search-and-rescue capability. New engines were installed


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in the HH-65As in 2007. With further upgrades such as all-glass cockpits, they are expected to keep flying well into 2035.


In 1980, AHC opened its plant in Grand Prairie, Texas, which is now the headquarters of Airbus Helicopters North America. Four years later, the German aerospace company Messerschmitt- Bölkow-Blohm – now part of Airbus and designer of the Bo 105 light twin-engine helicopter – set up a facility in Fort Erie,


Ontario, which means that in addition to being in the U.S. for 50 years, the manufacturer has maintained a footprint in Canada for 35 years. AHC became American Eurocopter after Aérospatiale merged with the German firm DASA in 1992. In 2004, American Eurocopter opened a new production facility in Columbus, Mississippi.


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