MD Helicopters is busy modernizing and rebranding aircraft for both its military and civil markets. Parts and service have also been brought in-house.

Details of two projects were revealed at a recent Heli-Expo Convention:

1. The MD 6XX that has familiar features of the MD 600N, a fast, powerful machine recognized for its agility and smooth ride. The MD 600N is also one of the quietest and safest helicopters ever made, and it is used for a variety of purposes from executive transport and law enforcement, to aerial survey, and utility operations, and light observation military missions. It flies faster than most other helicopters and is able to hover higher, making it hugely versatile.
2. The MD 969, a highly modernized makeover of the MD 902 Explorer that boasts low operating costs coupled with high performance and dependability. Like the MD 600N, the MD 902 Explorer attracts operators in all market segments from search and rescue, air medical, and law enforcement, to executive transport, as well as utility and offshore operations. Safety is a primary factor and its crash-worthiness capabilities are greater than any other light- or medium-twin helicopter currently in the air.

The New MD 6XX

MD 6XX Debut HAI-HELI Expo 2017 – courtesy of MDHelicopters.com

Displayed in an aeromedical configuration, the MD Helicopters’ MD 6XX mock-up was unveiled at the convention. It has the same shape fuselage as the MD 600N, but a lot is different. For instance:

• Instead of a no-tail rotor anti-torque system (NOTAR) the helicopter has a four-bladed aft rotor with rotor blades supplied by HTC, and resized stabilizers.
• It features boosted flight controls and composite fuselage panels.
• The cockpit is supplied by Genesys.
• It boasts a single Rolls-Royce M250-C34E2 turbo-shaft engine rather than a single-turbine engine.

According to Lynn Tilton who founded Patriarch Partners that owns MD Helicopters, the redesigned, rebranded MD 6XX will have a maximum takeoff weight of about 2,500 kg/5,500 lb. It will have a maximum speed of 160 kt, four-hour endurance, and a range of 500 nm. Aimed at foreign military customers, certification is expected to be complete by the end of 2018, although Tilton says it might in fact take another year of testing.

The New MD 969

Re-imagined and significantly modernized, the light-twin engine MD 902 Explorer will be rebranded as the MD 969. Complete certification is scheduled for June this year (2017), about four years later than originally expected.

The new MD 969 also features the Genesys system, and it will have an upgraded Canadian Pratt & Whitney PW206E engine with four-axis autopilot.

Remarkably, the original McDonnell Douglas-designed MD 902 was launched 26 years ago. After acquiring the company in 2005, Tilton brought parts production in-house and began her strategy of developing new versions of existing aircraft. MD Helicopters’ parts and service were also brought in-house.

Prime Industries & MD Helicopters

Prime Helicopters recently became a valued supplier of MD Helicopters parts and service. Models the company actively supports include the MD 500, the MD 520, and the MD 530. All are regarded as safe machines that may be used for a multitude of different missions.

If you are looking for top quality parts and components for MD Helicopters, contact Prime Industries to see how we can help. We offer competitive prices and our professional staff will do all they can to meet your needs.

Six German students given the opportunity to come up with innovative new ideas for small electric airplanes have taken creative transportation technology to a whole new level.

The challenge, which came from Airbus, was to conceptualize an eco-friendly, quiet, two-seater electrical plane that was easy to operate on short runways and near large cities. The students participating in the project were not expected to consider usual Airbus specifications or Airbus parts that would normally be part of a new airplane design.

Quite literally, the sky was the limit!

A Magic Carpet Ride

“This box-wing electric airplane design was one of the finalists in Airbus Innovations’ “Magic Carpet” project.” – Airbus

Bruno Saint Jaimes, Airbus head of creative design and concepts, believes that the Magic Carpet Project has more importance than many people realize. In fact, he believes that the best ideas from the project can be used by Airbus as it works towards “more electric aviation” in the future.

But it also has an important role in terms of transportation in general. This has been an opportunity for design students to think out of the box.

“Electricity has the potential to change the future of flying vehicles,” he says.

Traditionally, as Saint Jaimes point outs, most transportation design students believe that their skills are only applicable to the automotive industry. So the Magic Carpet contest was conceived to show this isn’t true. Innovative ideas are also vital to expand the aerospace industry. By involving next generation designers, Airbus could show that aircraft aren’t simply machines and that the potential for design is immense.

“And we can have fun at Airbus,” he says.

The project, which took place at Pforzheim’s Hochschule University over a five-month period of time mid-2016, resulted in six amazingly different electric aviation designs:

1. Glider A hang-glider type aircraft that uses electric propulsion to start up, take off, climb and cruise. It is controlled by shifting weight and features a propeller that can be folded away when gliding. The Airbus parts can also be disassembled to transport and store the plane.
2. Stingshot Designed with a double fuselage, the innovative Stingshot has a distinctly futuristic appearance. It also has two separate cockpits, one for an instructor and the other for a trainee pilot.
3. Lightweight aircraft Ultra lightweight, with wheels integrated with the tips of the wings, this electric plane has twin engines. Also futuristic-looking, it features a big cockpit that is sphere shaped, providing a magnificent panoramic view in flight.
4. Boxwing The unique design of this low-weight electric aircraft makes it stable and agile. It also optimizes positioning of the battery pack used to power the aircraft.
5. Asymmetrical aircraft Another Airbus electric two-seater, this asymmetrically designed plane has pusher fans that are powered by electric motors that are mounted at the rear of the plane. The design provides a high degree of propeller integration, effectively reducing the risk of propeller-type accidents for those using the aircraft.
6. Flux Sleek and ultra-modern in design, the Flux featured electric fans that are integrated with the aircraft, rather than protruding from it’s exterior.

The Role of Airbus in the Project

All six students participating in the project worked closely with people from Airbus who reviewed their progress and gave advice relating to engineering and technical requirements. This enabled them to integrate suitable Airbus parts and Airbus services with their very different, innovative designs.

According to Saint Jaimes, the project was such a huge success the company is hoping to expand the Magic Carpet Project to many more design schools in Europe and in the USA.

Of course, the Magic Carpet planes are simply models, so you’re not going to find the Airbus parts used to build them. But if you’re looking Airbus parts, components, and Airbus services for aircraft currently in service, Prime Industries can help you. Contact us to check our current inventory, or to see whether we can find items for you that aren’t currently in stock.

With half the world’s population living in cities, traffic congestion is a daily challenge for commuters. It is forecast that as urbanization increases, by 2030 60 percent of the world’s population will be living in cities. These include sprawling megacities that are spread all over the world.

It’s not just the irritation of sitting in a traffic jam for hours during so-called rush-hour traffic. Studies show that traffic congestion impacts negatively on the economy. For example:

• In 2014 Sao Paulo traffic at rush hour stretched a record-setting 344 km. These enormous back-ups were found to be costing the Brazilian economy at least US$31 billion every year.
• People working in London, and driving to work, were found to be losing the equivalent of 35 days (or more than a month) every year.

With this harsh reality in mind, Airbus has a plan to enable travelers and commuters to fly over traffic jams.

Airbus Initiatives to Relieve Urban Congestion

The Airbus initiatives are revolutionary and aim to change urban travel for millions of people within the next 10 years. They include:

• Project Vahana, launched in February 2016, is developing a self-piloted flying vehicle platform for cargo transport and individual passengers. The technology used includes reliable sense-and-find, and the first prototype will be flight-tested late 2017. According to Rodin Lyasoff, CEO of the project, global demand is likely to support fleets of millions of these flying vehicles worldwide.
• Skyways, a project that is concentrating on autonomous commercial drones that will be able to fly over urban areas safely. With similar goals to those of Amazon, Airbus aims to take the lead and gain Amazon, DHS, and similar companies as customers.
• CityAirbus that will provide electrically operated aerial vehicles for multiple passengers. While the first working models will be operated by pilots, the plan is to switch to autonomous craft once aviation regulations have been changed. The feasibility study for this project is complete and the company is positive it will go ahead. Airbus has stated that flights will cost a similar amount to a regular taxi ride, but will considerably quicker and much more thrilling!

Science Fiction or Reality?

Airbus is setting its sights really high with all three of these ambitious projects. While some critics say that flying taxis and other autonomous aircraft sound more like science fiction than reality, the Airbus team is adamant that the best solutions to alleviate congestion on the ground are in the sky.

Airbus Helicopters Vassilis Agouridas is critical of current “smart city concepts,” pointing out that they totally ignore aircraft.

“That’s why we’re convinced that this represents a truly disruptive opportunity for Airbus,” he says.

There is certainly no doubt that the race to launch safe and successful air mobility has begun. In addition to developments out of the Airbus stable (or more appropriately, hangar):

• The German company e-volo launched its first electric Volocopter in March 2016 with one passenger on board.
• South African-born Canadian-American inventor and business magnate Elon Musk, wearing his SpaceX cap, stated late 2016 that he was still interested in electric jets that could take off and land vertically.
• Even NASA is working on prototypes.

Airbus recognizes that the new market is developing very quickly and is determined to be ahead of the game when it comes to these new air-focused industries.

While the new aircraft will be tiny when compared to the huge Airbus jets that currently fly the skies, Airbus parts and Airbus services will be as important as ever.

If you have an Airbus fixed wing aircraft or Airbus helicopter, Prime Industries can help with aircraft parts and services. We supply, repair and overhaul components and parts, so if you’re looking for something, call us now. We’ll do whatever we can to help.