FLUG REVUE first flight gallery: NH Industries NH90 (High Cabin)

First Flight Gallery: NH Industries NH90 (High Cabin)

Read the original first flight press release:

FIRST FLIGHT OF THE SWEDISH ARMED FORCES NH90 HIGH CABIN VERSION

Aix-en-Provence, 18 March 2005.
NHIndustries and its Partner Companies, AgustaWestland – Eurocopter – Stork Fokker, are proud to announce that the first Swedish Armed Forces serial production NH90 took to the air today at the Eurocopter Marignane facility in France.

The flight started at 13:15 and lasted 55 minutes. The NH90 was flown by:
- Philippe BOUTRY, experimental test pilot,
- Denis TRIVIER, flight test engineer,
- Jean-Claude RABANY, flight engineer.

This is the fourth serial production NH90 leaving the ground, following the NH90s for Germany, Finland and Italy.

Sweden has ordered a total of 18 NH90s, all of them fitted with the High Cabin, of which 13 will be dedicated to Tactical Troop Transport (TTT) / Search and Rescue (SAR) missions and 5 to Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) missions.

The first Swedish NH90 will now stay in Marignane to qualify the High Cabin version and perform the integration of the mission system required by the customer. Thanks to a strong and reliable partnership between NHIndustries and FMV (Swedish Defence Material Administration), this system developed by the Saab Group will be profitably fitted and qualified by Eurocopter.

In addition to the already well-known outstanding features of any standard NH90 (full Fly-By-Wire flight control system, full composite crashworthy airframe, full aircraft/avionics/mission system integration and state-of-the-art system suite available for multirole operation and multi-national cooperation in the modern military scenario), the Swedish NH90 introduces to the world the first high cabin version of the NH90. By adding 24 centimetres to the standard version cabin height, the NH90 High Cabin version offers a cargo volume increased by 2.5 additional cubic meters for a total of 17.50 cubic meters. Especially, the 1.82 m overall height allows any cabin crew (Surgeons, medics, loadmasters, etc.) to perform their mission within a highly comfortable environment, ensuring hence highest rates of success notably as for SAR activity.

The four assembly lines based in Agusta, Eurocopter (in France and in Germany) and Patria (the Finnish contractor for Nordic NH90s production) are day-by-day getting up new achievements to cope with the impressive logbook of the NH90 Programme in Europe and overseas, reaching now a gross total of 443 NH90 including the existing 86 options and the Australian selection for 12.

Maiden Flight of the High-Cabin NH90 for the Swedish Armed Forces

Marignane, March 21, 2005 - Eurocopter is pleased to announce that the first production NH90 helicopter in the high cabin version for the Swedish Armed Forces has performed its maiden flight at Eurocopter's plant in Marignane, France, on March 18.

The maiden flight lasted 55 minutes and was performed by a Eurocopter flight test crew consisting of Philippe Boutry (pilot), Denis Trivier (flight engineer), and Jean-Claude Rabany (flight technician). At the end of the flight, the crew declared that it was completely satisfied with the behavior of the aircraft.

To mark the occasion, Fabrice Brégier, Eurocopter President and CEO, stated: “Today's successful maiden flight of a significantly modified variant of the NH90, as compared to the standard version, confirms the remarkable development potential of this aircraft. NH90 is the major player in the medium-class military helicopter category and has already established itself as the NATO standard helicopter of the 21st century.”

To date, a gross total of 443 NH90s have been ordered, including 86 existing options, and the 12 aircraft selected by Australia.

This NH90 is the fourth production aircraft to take to the skies, following the German, Finnish, and Italian production helicopters which successively performed their maiden flights in 2004.

Sweden has ordered a total of 18 NH90s, all of which are in the high cabin version: thirteen will perform troop tactical transport (TTT) and search and rescue (SAR) missions, and the other five anti-submarine warfare (ASW) duties.

The Swedish high cabin version of the NH90 increases the usable cabin height by 24 centimeters, from 1.58 meters in the standard version to 1.82 meters. The high cabin NH90 also offers an increase in volume of 2.5 cubic meters, providing a total volume of 17.5 cubic meters. The increased cabin height means that missions requiring on-board operations, such as SAR work, can be performed in a more comfortable environment.

The NH90 is currently the most modern helicopter in its category. It is the world's first production helicopter with a full fly-by-wire control system, a crash resistant all-composite airframe, completely integrated aircraft/avionics/mission systems; and a series of the most up-to-date systems available for performing the multi-purpose operations and multi-national cooperation tasks, which are fundamental to modern military scenarios.

The NH90 programme is managed by NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter Management Agency) representing France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Portugal, and by the industrial consortium NHIndustries consisting of Eurocopter (62.5%), Agusta (32%) and Stork Fokker (5.5%).

Eurocopter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of Euro 31.8 billion and employed a workforce

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Last updated 23 March 2005

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