Sikorsky S-92A HELIBUS debuts at Paris

June 13th, 1999

Sikorsky has introduced its S-92A HELIBUS to the world's aerospace community at the Paris Air Show. The utility variant on static display allows viewers to see the large cabin and rear ramp. Meanwhile, flight development continues the company's Development Flight Centre in West Palm Beach, Fla.

With the first three of five development aircraft now at the facility, the ground and flight testing of the S-92 are well underway. Aircraft number 3 joined he development programme in May and will begin flying in July 1999.

The development programme has achieved significant milestones. Since the Ground Test Vehicle, Aircraft 1, first ran in August 1998, it has accumulated more then 150 hours and is currently conducting the 200 hour FAA endurance run to certify the entire drive system including main, intermediate and tail gearboxes.

Aircraft 2 continues to expand its flight envelope. Since first flight in December 1998, Aircraft 2 has logged more than hours in the air. The aircraft has completed the majority of its low work and has expanded its flight envelope to the edge. Flights have now been flown at all airspeeds up to 165 knots and the maximum dive airspeed has been achieved at just over 180 knots. Autorotations have been conducted at various airspeeds, as well as manoeuvres up to 45 degrees angle of bank and 1.9gs.

Flights have also been flown at maximum gross weights with various centre of gravity (cg) locations, from full forward cg to full aft cg. Tethered hover flight was recently completed recording 31,000 pounds of thrust generated, confirming projected performance parameters.

The active vibration system has been tested throughout the flight development programme and reflects significant improvement over a passive system. Data flights continue with current emphasis focusing primarily on the handling qualities of the aircraft at various operating weights.

Aircraft 3 recently arrived in West Palm Beach to join the flight development programme. The aircraft will be painted, instrumentation installed and will begin flying during July 1999. Aircraft 3 is the closest representative to the production model, with the GE-CT7-8 engines and Auxiliary Power Unit installed. Aircraft 3 development will be primarily focused on power plants and automatic flight control system (AFCS) work. Aircraft 4 will be the last aircraft to join the flight programme. It will fly in July 2000.

Aircraft 5 has been developed without the flight test instrumentation package and is at the Paris Air Show on static display. After Paris, Aircraft 5 will return to Stratford, Conn., for installation of its instrumentation package. The aircraft will then join the flight development programme in West Palm Beach, Florida early next year. Aircraft 5 is the only development S-92 representing the utility configuration.

The five development aircraft will be active in the flight development programme from now until certification in 2001 and will fly about 1,400 hours of flight time.

The HELIBUS is being developed by an international team of companies led by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Members of the international team are: Embraer in Brazil, Gamesa in Spain, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, Jingdezhen Helicopter Group/CATIC of the People's Republic of China, and Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taiwan.

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