Gas Powered Helicopters

AgustaWestland Unveils The AW189 Helicopter

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is proud to unveil the AW189, a new generation affordable multi-purpose twin-engine 8-tonne class helicopter designed in response to the growing market demand for higher payload, longer range and higher productivity. The AW189 complements the modern range of AgustaWestland commercial helicopters and will be certified in 2013 and enter service in early 2014. The AW189 is being developed to perform a wide range of roles including offshore transport, search and rescue, passenger transport and a variety of parapublic missions.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony Bruno Spagnolini, CEO, AgustaWestland said “It gives us great pleasure unveiling the latest addition to our expanding commercial helicopter product range here at the Paris International Air Show. The AW189 demonstrates our commitment to offer the market the most advanced, versatile and cost/effective helicopter in its class by working in partnership with our customers to ensure the AW189 will meet their present and future requirements.” Powered with two General Electric CT7-2E1 engines, equipped with FADEC and built-in particle separators, the AW189 will have class leading performance. The aerodynamically efficient airframe, rotor system and the innovative rotor blade design will ensure the AW189 delivers low fuel consumption, high cruise speed and an outstanding range capability. These factors will enable the AW189 to achieve low seat mile costs and low fuel burn. The spacious unobstructed cabin is configured with 16 seats as standard. Seating options include a high density 18 seat layout or an ultra long range 12-seat configuration with a number of forward and backward facing layouts. A mix of seats, mission consoles, dedicated equipment and litters can be installed according to the operational requirement. A modular fuel system, that is quick to fit and remove, ensures the optimum mission specific trade off between passengers and distance can be achieved. Exceptional external visibility and the deployment of the latest in avionics technology make the AW189 the pilot’s choice. The open architecture avionics suite includes a fully digital glass cockpit with four 8” x 10” displays (AMLCD), a 4-axis dual-duplex digital automatic flight control system (DAFCS) and dual Flight Management System (FMS). All contribute to minimising pilot workload during VFR/IFR flight. Single pilot IFR certification is a design objective. The avionics suite is suitable for the NextGen satellite-based IFR navigation (with vertical navigation and precision approaches) and advanced communication and surveillance requirements. The AW189 sets new standards in situational awareness in low visibility flying conditions and has an all weather capability thanks to its Synthetic Vision System, which emulates the surrounding topography, and to the Enhanced Vision System which sees through darkness, smoke, dusk and light fog, further improving operational safety.

Radio Control Helicopter Buyers Guide | Military Mess

The increasing popularity of flying a radio control helicopter is due to one fact – they are great fun to fly. This popularity has made choosing the right radio control helicopter confusing, as such a wide range of types are available.

You see, the beginner has to choose a RC helicopter to start with, to get some flying experience, and get a taste of the hobby to see if it is right for him. Do you get a gas or electric model? Do you want to fly it inside or outside? What are channels and how many do you need? These are the essential basic questions, so you can see how someone just starting out with this hobby can easily get confused.

So first of all, what fuel should power your radio control helicopter?

Well, assuming you are a beginner to RC helicopters, electric is the most suitable power source.

You see, an electric powered radio control helicopter runs quietly, but still very fast. They also maneuver every bit as well as their gas powered brothers. Another advantage with an electric helicopter is you do not have stinky, messy fuel to deal with, or have to mess about with engine tuning and such. The fuel is a lot cheaper too!

So, an electric powered radio control helicopter is the way to go if you are a beginner in this hobby. When you have gained some flying experience, you can work your way towards a gas engine model.

Radio control airplanes have used gas engines for some time now, and recently they have become more favored in RC helicopters.

If the RC helicopter hobby takes a serious hold on you, then at some point you will want a gas engine model. You see, the serious fliers find these types ideal for action, tinkering with, and flying ability. They modify their models to adjust things like rotor speed and hover times.

I know what you are thinking – why would anyone want to modify a perfectly good model? Because the factory default specifications are set to please the majority of fliers. But experienced fliers like to fine tune their helicopter to just the way they like it, and squeeze out every flying advantage they can get from their radio control helicopter.

Next, will you be flying your helicopter inside? If so, you should get a RC micro or RC mini helicopter . These models are electric powered, so they run quietly with no smells. But their small size makes them harder to control than a big model. However, they are cheap – and when you are starting out you can expect to crash often, but because these models are cheap, you will have little to worry about if you break it beyond repair.

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