History of Leonardo helicopters AW139
HELIHoMe history 📜 😉 : The AgustaWestland AW139 is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced principally by AgustaWestland. It is marketed at several different roles, including VIP/corporate transport, offshore transport, fire fighting, law enforcement, search and rescue, emergency medical service, disaster relief, and maritime patrol. In addition to AgustaWestland's own manufacturing facilities in Italy and the United States, the AW139 is produced in Russia by HeliVert, a joint venture between AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters. 📝 The AW139 was originally designed and developed jointly by Agusta and Bell Helicoptersand marketed as the Agusta-Bell AB139, being redesignated AW139 when Bell withdrew from the project. Since entering service in 2003, the AW139 has become one of AgustaWestland's most influential products; it has been subsequently developed into two enlarged medium-lift helicopters, the military-orientated AW149 and the AW189 for the civil market. 📰 In 1997, the Italian helicopter manufacturer Agustalaunched a programme to develop a replacement for the Bell Huey family of helicopters (which had been built in very large numbers by Bell Helicopterand under license by Agusta) with a potential market of 900 aircraft being predicted. In 1998, Bell and Agusta entered into an agreement, setting up a joint venture, Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company (BAAC), to develop two aircraft: a conventional helicopter and a tiltrotor aircraft. These became the Bell/Agusta AB139 and Bell/Agusta BA609 respectively; Bell was to be the leading partner for the development of the BA609 while Agusta would be the lead partner for the AB139; it was intended for production, sales, and support to be shared. 📖 On 26 September 2000, the first order for the type was placed by Bristow Helicopters. The first preproduction helicopter flew on 3 February 2001 at Vergiate in Italy, with two further AW139s also participating in flying trials. The first production AW139 made its first flight on 24 June 2002. European JAA certification was received in June 2003, and its FAA type certificate followed in December 2004. By May 2005, the AW139 had received in excess of 100 orders worldwide. In the US, the type was marketed under the designation US139, and was entered into the US Army's Light Utility Helicopter competition. One key market for the AW139 was the oil & gas industry, which required helicopters of increased endurance for offshore operations. In 2005, AgustaWestland bought out Bell's 25% share in the program and all of its rights to the AW139 for $95 million. In April 2008, AgustaWestland revealed that it was in the process of certifying an increase in the AW139's max gross weight to 14,991 lb (6,800 kg) to better compete in long-range markets served by helicopters such as the larger Sikorsky S-92 and Eurocopter EC225. In 2007, a second production line at the AgustaWestland Aerospace plant in Philadelphia, United States was established; the Philadelphia plant produced its 200th AW139 in September 2014, at which point U.S. production was intended to reach 40 units per year in the near future. By 2011, AgustaWestland was producing 90 AW139s a year, the type was being directly attributed as responsible for 9.5% of the company's overall revenue in 2010. By 2013, a combined total of 720 AW139s had been sold to over 200 operators in 60 different countries. In 2011, a military-configured variant, the AW139M, was revealed by AgustaWestland. It was promoted at the US market, including for the U.S. Air Force's Common Vertical Lift Support Program. The AW139M is equipped with a high definition forward-looking infrared (FLIR), self-protection system, heavy-duty landing gear, and has low thermal and acoustic signatures; a significant proportion of the equipment is sourced from American manufacturers. Options offered include an external stores system including various armaments, armored seats, self-sealing fuel tanks, and a full ice-protection system for all-weather operations. The AW139 serves as the basis for AgustaWestland's wider business strategy, under which it aims to produce a standardised family of helicopters with common design features. The sharing of components and design philosophies is intended to simplify maintenance and training for operators, commonality also lowers the production costs. The AW139 was the first of this group, and as of 2014 it was to be joined by the larger AW149and AW189, aimed at military and civilian customers respectively. Advances made in the development of new models are intended to be transferrable onto existing family members, decreasing the cost of future upgrades for the AW139. In June 2010, it was announced that AgustaWestland and Rostvertol would build a manufacturing plant in Tomilino, Moscow Region, where it was initially planned to produce AW139s by 2012. HeliVert, a joint venture between AgustaWestland and Rostvertol, commenced domestic production of the AW139 in 2012, at which point it was planned that between 15 and 20 helicopters would be produced per year. The first AW139 to be assembled in Russia made its first flight in December 2012. In January 2013, the Russian Defense Ministry was reportedly considering placing an order for seven AW139s. In January 2014, HeliVert, received a Certificate of Approval from the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee to commence production of commercial AW139s. In September 2014, a certificate was granted to perform comprehensive maintenance and servicing of the type at the Tomilino facility. In 2015, AgustaWestland unveiled an AW139 variant with an increased gross weight of 7 tonnes, this enabling a range of 305 km while carrying 12 passengers; existing AW139s can also be rebuilt to the newer heavy-weight model. The heavier airframe comes at the expense of decreased hot and high performance however. In November 2015, AgustaWestland demonstrated a 60-minute "run-dry" test (no oil) of an AW139's main gearbox, 30 minutes greater than any other certified rotorcraft at the time. 🚁 AB139 Original Italian-built production aircraft, 54 built. AW139 Designation change from 55th aircraft onwards, built in Italy. AW139 (long nose configuration) Long nose variant with increased room for avionics built in Italy and the United States. AW139M Militarised variant, capable of carrying various weapons payloads. HH-139A Italian Air Force designation for ten search-and rescue configured AW139Ms. VH-139A Italian Air Force designation for two VIP configured AW139s. ⚒ General characteristics * Crew: one or two * Capacity: 15 passengers * Length: 16.66 m (54 ft 8 in) * Main rotor diameter: × 13.80 m (45 ft 3 in) * Width: 2.26 m (10 ft 0 in) * Height: 4.98 m (16 ft 4 in) * Main rotor area: 149.57 m2 (1609.97 ft2) * Empty weight: 3,622 kg (7,985 lb) * Gross weight: 6,400 (7,000kg for 7t version) kg (14,110 lb) * Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C-67C turboshaft engine, 1,142 kW (1,531 hp) each Performance * Maximum speed: 310 km/h (193 mph) * Cruising speed: 306 km/h (191 mph) * Range: 1,250 km ( miles) * Endurance: 5 hours 56 min * Service ceiling: 6,096 m (20,000 ft) * Rate of climb: 10.9 m/s (2,140 ft/min) Armament * 2 x 7.62 mm FN MAG machine guns mounted in side windows (Irish Air Corps) * Goodnight, flight, landing and weekends 🌙 😜 * #Helihome #helihomehelihistory #helicopter #leonardohelicopters #agustawestland #agusta #AW139 #helihistory #history #вертолет #вертолетнаяистория #история #спокойнойночи #выходные #weekends #goodnight 🚁 💨
