BLR Aerospace has announced it is now accepting pre-certification orders to secure production slots for its FastFin tail rotor enhancement and stability system for the H125 helicopter.
BLR is on track for Federal Aviation Administration certification of the H125 FastFin System in the third quarter of this year, according to company president Mike Carpenter. Approvals from the European Aviation Safety Agency, Transport Canada and Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil are expected to follow by year end.
Once certified, the system will be available to the aftermarket and as a factory-installed supplemental type certificate option on new Airbus H125 helicopters.
FastFin uses advanced airflow management to increase the effectiveness of the H125 anti-torque system and an extensive flight test program has established baseline performance expectations. For example, with as much as a 10 percent increase in available right pedal, aircraft useful load may be increased up to 140 pounds in out-of-ground-effect hover for most temperature/altitude combinations.
In hot and high operations, FastFin has been shown to provide an increase in-ground-effect hover useful load of as much as 85 pounds. Additional benefits include a reduction in pilot workload, easier control in precision hover-hold operations and better management of the yaw axis when hovering in challenging crosswinds.
Though they are based on the same aerodynamic principles, the H125 FastFin differs from BLR’s flagship product for Bell mediums because it does not modify the vertical fin but is comprised of an advanced tailboom aerodynamic cowling, a tailboom strake and vortex generators.
1,000 of BLR’s performance-enhancing FastFin systems have been installed on various light and medium helicopters worldwide.
“BLR is pleased to bring this beneficial technology to the H125 operating community and to Airbus Helicopters,” said Carpenter. “Initial interest is strong and we encourage operators to secure their production positions now as initial production quantities are limited.”
“The H125 is already acknowledged worldwide for its performance, versatility, safety and operating costs. The additional performances brought by the BLR FastFin system will benefit our H125 operators performing very demanding missions especially in hot and high conditions,” said Mathilde Royer-Germain, Airbus Helicopters’ vice president of the light helicopters program.
