Since its creation in 1938, Turbomeca has become an irreplaceable actor on the world helicopter scene. This year, the company celebrates 65 million flight hours of its helicopter engines.
Turbomeca has marked the history of the helicopter world on numerous occasions. The first was the maiden flight of the “Arriel III” SO 1120 helicopter made by SNCAO (later to become Sud-Aviation, then Aérospatiale, and now Eurocopter) in 1951, fitted with an Arrius II turbofan comprising an Artouste I turbo-shaft engine.

Era Helicopters LLC (“Era”) signed its first Support By the Hour (SBH®) contract.

This contract covers 14 Arriel 1S1 engines and six Arriel 2S2 engines, powering S76A++ and S76C++ Sikorsky helicopters.
"Turbomeca’s SBH agreement with Era will allow us to better predict what our engine operating costs will be by providing us with fixed hourly costs of operation based on our business model", said Ed Washecka, Chief Executive Officer of Era.

Helicap company: the contract concerns 12 Arrius 2B1 engines powering six EC 135T1 and two Arrius 2B2 powering one EC 135T2, for EMS missions.

Phoenix Heli-Flight: the contract covers one Arriel 2B1 (EC 130) and one Arrius 2F (EC 120). These engines will be used for oil & gas missions.

Panterra Heli Support Ltd. the SBH® contract covers two Arriel 2B1 (EC 130) for tourism missions.

- its new generation air particle separator certified by FAA and Transports Canada.

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- MOU signed with Global Air Strategy Inc. for the Brazilian market.

Turbomeca awards the corporate mandate for tooling support to Turbomeca Canada.

This decision was made based on a need to centralize and optimize the procurement, administration and distribution of all tooling to Turbomeca customers worldwide.

Turbomeca worldwide support has adopted a global organisation focused on customer proximity.

As part of this initiative, Turbomeca Germany has expanded its area and is now the new centre of responsibility for the 3 Baltic countries, Iceland, Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland and Russia. Naturally, Turbomeca Germany is still responsible for the other countries, Denmark & Greenland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, it has covered before.

For Turbomeca Germany the new territories represent today 34 additional customers and 125 engines to support. Our support team has been reorganised in order to ease and optimize communication with operators. Part of this reorganisation is the structuring of the front office around teams of one Field Representative and one Customer Service Representative dedicated to each customer.
We are also in the process of increasing our workforce, taking into account the local and cultural characteristics but also the future fleet growth.

Indeed, as a result of the eastward enlargement of the European Union and the opening of the Russian market, some great opportunities arise. TM is prepared for this new challenge.

“We know of course that the whole industry is trying to deal with unprecedented demand for its products, and keeping pace with that demand is a question of balance. You all know that Turbomeca has benefited from that over the past 2-3 years. I know that sometimes the balance has tipped more towards new customers than supporting existing ones, and I know Turbomeca is trying to redress that balance. In fact Turbomeca is doing a Great Job of keeping us Flying”.

MAVERICK HELICOPTER, Gregg Rochna, President (EC130 / Arriel 2B1)

“We are very pleased with the performance of our Arrius engines and serviceability is up at 99 percent. With a better compressor design and a tendency to leak oil from one of its bearings fixed, the 2B2 is even more reliable than the older model”.

ÖAMTC (Austrian Motor Touring Club), Wolfgang Burger is Technical Director (EC 135 T2)

“Turbomeca visited the hospital to get a good idea of what we needed and tailored an SBH to our needs. When we have faced problems they have sent a technician, even on a Sunday, and sorted it out to keep us flying”.

Arkansas Children’s Hospital, BJ Raysor, Director of Aviation Operations (S76C+ / Arriel 2S1)

Since September 2006, a new Field Rep took charge of our operators in the Middle East. Stéphane PAYELLE joined the company in May 2006 after an extensive career in the French Naval Forces.

Stéphane is based in Abu Dhabi and provides around-the-clock support to operators in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Pakistan.

Stéphane started his aeronautical career as a Maintenance Technician for the radar aeroplanes on the prestigious French aircraft carriers, Foch and Clemenceau. He then was dedicated to the Lynx Westland maintenance before moving to Florida where he participated in the 2nd generation Hawkeye E2C radar aeroplane project. In 2000, he returned to France to join the In-flight Test Center for the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier released into service in 2001.

It is during a mission with a civil operator that he finally met a Turbomeca employee who conveyed his enthusiasm for Turbomeca. Later, while ensuring the maintenance of helicopters motorised by Turbomeca such as Super Frelon, Alouette and Dolphin, Stéphane’s motivation to join the company was confirmed.

As Stéphane says, he has always wanted to link his passion for aircraft with his profession and today his mission at Turbomeca enables him to fulfill his dream: « In addition to the technical side of my role, I really enjoy the face-to-face contact with the operators. Especially in an area such as the Middle East where the culture and the traditions are varied and based on the belief of warm human contact ».

The South American Customer Council (SACC) was created in October 2006, when the first working meeting took place right after the South American Operators Symposium in Rio de Janeiro. Following the successful North American and European Customer Councils, the SACC was created to establish an important two-way communication channel with the operators of the region.

Eighteen customers from Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil participated in the second working meeting held in Brasilia. Turbomeca presented the action plans for each one of the ten subjects raised by the council members in the first meeting. The councilors expressed the operators concerns and suggestions towards Turbomeca´s support and some new action items have been identified.

After a full day of presentations and discussions, we were kindly invited by the Aerial Operations Commander of the Fire Fighters of the Federal District, TCel Paulo Fernandes, to visit their installations and to assist a demonstration flight of their new EC135T2.

The second working meeting report will be published on the TOOLS website shortly so every customer can follow the progress of the SACC actions.The next working meeting will take place in the last quarter of this year in a location yet to be determined.