A second Airbus Helicopters H160 prototype (PT2) took its first flight on January 27, 2016, at the Marseille Provence Airport, France.
The second prototype is the first H160 to fly with the Turbomeca Arrano engines. PT1 had accumulated more than 75 hours of flight testing by the end of 2015, allowing the aircraft to open the flight envelope and validating some of the helicopter’s features and handling qualities right from the start.
“After a very busy year 2015 in terms of flight activities, introducing PT2 is an important step in the H160 development as we will launch performance testing with the Turbomeca Arrano engines,” said Bernard Fujarski, head of the H160 Program.
“The development program will benefit from five development aircraft; two helicopter zeros and three flying prototypes will be paving the way to entry into service in 2018.”
2016 will be an equally active year for the H160 with the beginning of its commercialization and many other milestones in helicopter development, industrialization and preparation of support activities in order to bring a fully mature helicopter to the market.
You can see a video of the H160 PT2 test flight here.
January 29, 2016
