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 At the HeliRussia 2013 helicopter show held in Moscow in May, the HeliVert joint venture, which had been set up by Russian Helicopters JSC and AgustaWestland, unveiled its first AW139 helicopter assembled in Russia.
AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters signed the preliminary agreement on establishing the HeliVert joint venture to make AW139 commercial helicopters in Russia at the Farnborough air show in July 2008. The basic legal documents governing the activities of HeliVert were signed during the previous Le Bourget air show two years ago – in June 2011, and personnel of the HeliVert JV were trained in Italy, at the training centre of AgustaWestland, from January to March 2012.
The HeliVert plant is on the premises of the Russian Helicopters’ National Helicopter-Making Centre in Tomilino in the Moscow Region. The plant, which was built from scratch, features the most advanced facilities in Russia, boasting cutting-edge helicopter manufacturing technologies. The assembly of AW139s from knockdown kits supplied by AgustaWestland kicked off in Tomilino last year.
The first Russian-assembled helicopter (c/n 60001) was rolled out on 18 December 2012 and flew its maiden flight on the next day, 19 December, following a brief ground test programme. On a 37-min.-long flight, the brand-new AW139 passed relevant tests in line with the methodology approved by the Russian aviation authorities. In April this year, the first AW139 assembled in Tomilino was painted, fitted with the cabin interior, displayed at HeliRussia 2013 and then prepared for delivery.
The second Russian-assembled AW139 (c/n 60002) was completed and furnished for trials this spring. Plans provide for it to be ready for delivery in late June. In all, three AW139s in the VIP version are to be assembled in Tomilino this year. Further down the road, the company will be able to make 15–20 machines a year, and its personnel will exceed 100, once it has reached its maximum output rate.
In the run-up to HeliRussia 2013, Take-off correspondents had been afforded an opportunity to visit HeliVert’s assembly facility in Tomilino to see with their own eyes that the company’s personnel had learnt the complete cycle of AW139 helicopter assembly. At the time, two more machines (c/n 60003 and 60004) were sitting in the assembly shop in various stages of completeness.
The HeliVert AW139 production programme is intended to meet the growing demand for the type on the Russian market and the markets of other CIS nations for use as corporate VIP wagons for commercial carriers.
On 16 May 2013, during the HeliRussia 2013 show, HeliVert and Exclases Russia, the official AgustaWestland distributor for Russia and CIS, made a contract for five Russian-assembled AW139s. This is the second contract between HeliVert and Exclases Russia, with the first AW139 to be delivered in June under an earlier deal.
The AW139 medium multipurpose helicopter with a takeoff weight of 6,400 kg is believed to be among the world’s best twin-engined helicopters in its class in terms of speed, flight performance and passenger cabin capacity. It is the only helicopter in its weight class, which has the Full Ice Protection System (FIPS) allowing flying under all icing conditions permitted. The AW139’s powerplant comprises two Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6C-67C turboshaft engines with a takeoff power of 1,680 hp each. With a crew of one or two pilots, the AW139 carries up to 15 passengers in standard version or six to eight passengers in the corporate or VIP configurations.
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