01 Jul Roundup: 139 and S-92 news that’s worth a read

Contracts won. Flight hours notched up. New aircraft deliveries. There is always something new happening across the 139 and S-92 fleets – these are the news stories that have caught our eye over the last couple of months.

CHC Helicopter Australia wins Shell contract extension

“CHC Helicopter Australia has won a new, five-year contract to serve Shell Australia’s offshore petroleum operations in Western Australia. The company, which gained its initial Shell contract in July 2014, will operate daily flights from Broome to Shell’s Prelude floating LNG platform in the Browse Basin. The platform was located about 475km north-east of Broome.” See more on Australian Aviation

Two New 139 for North Queensland Ambulance

“Helimods completed interior of two new 139 for medical air service ambulance in North Queensland. Will enter service in April and based at Townsville to replace two Bell 412.” See more on Helis

Era’s 139 fleet tops 200,000 hours

“Era’s 139s have achieved 200,000 flight hours, including 166,000 operating flight hours and 34,000 hours in support of leasing partnerships. Era operates 36 139 medium-twin helicopters, primarily for offshore oil-and-gas transport, emergency response services, firefighting, utility, and VIP transport.” See more on AIN Online

Sikorsky unveils new S-92 variants

“Sikorsky launched two new variants of its S-92 heavy twin on Tuesday morning at Heli-Expo 2019—the S-92A+, an upgrade package for in-service S-92s, and new-production S-92B. Both promise better operating costs and greater reliability and mission flexibility, the Lockheed Martin subsidiary said.” See more on AIN Online

Sikorsky will build the president’s new Marine One helicopter

“The U.S. Navy has awarded $542 million contract to Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, to build six new VH-92A helicopters. The helicopters will replace the current VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters used to ferry the President of the United States and his staff worldwide. Today’s contract is for six VH-92A twin-engine helicopters. Two helicopters are already in testing and the Marines will eventually order a final fifteen, for a total of 23 aircraft.” See more on Popular Mechanics

Milestone Boosts World’s S-92 Fleet to 79 Aircraft

Milestone Aviation Group Limited is expanding what is already the world’s largest fleet of Sikorsky S-92As to a total 79 of the helicopters. The company recently announced the acquisition of an incremental Sikorsky S-92A aircraft, MSN 920155, bringing their total S-92A fleet to 79 units. See more on Rotor & Wing

Babcock commences operations in Karratha

Babcock’s first 139 flight has taken off from Karratha and you can watch it on YouTube. (Shout out to our avionics instructor Pep who worked on this fleet to get the helicopters ready for operation.)

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