Airbus Helicopters delivered its 7,000th Ecureuil family helicopter. The aircraft, an H125, went to Blugeon Hélicoptères and will join a fleet of five twins. These aircraft operate from three bases in the French Alps and a fourth in the Pyrenees. Each of them flies around 600 hours a year performing passenger transport, power line surveillance, and mountain rescue, among others.
Christian Blugeon, CEO and founder of Blugeon Hélicoptères, said, «We are proud to take delivery of the sixth H125 in our fleet. As an added spice, this particular helicopter is the 7,000th manufactured by Airbus». Regarding his experience with the model, the executive added: «We have been flying the H125 for more than 20 years. In total, we have accumulated almost 45,000 hours. It is a key element of our development strategy».
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Axel Aloccio, head of Airbus Helicopters’ light helicopter program, remarked that «since the first model took to the skies in 1974, the family has changed the light helicopter market forever.» The first Ecureuil, an AS350C powered by a Lycoming LTS101 engine, made its maiden flight on June 27, 1974.
From that time to date, the family has accumulated more than 37 million flight hours. On the advantages of the Ecureiul, Aloccio continued, «designed to be simple, practical and competitive, the secret to the success of these helicopters lies in their performance and incredible ability to adapt to operators’ needs.»
The Ecureuil family currently has 2,014 customers in 124 countries in all regions of the world. It comprises the H125 and H130 in the civil market, and the H125M in the military market. The H125 variant has an essential record in its history: on May 14, 2005, Didier Delsalle landed an H125 on the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the only helicopter to date to have achieved this feat.
