EC175 Revealed

Just before Christmas, and on schedule, Eurocopter unveiled the new EC175 and invited the world to see the first flight.

Announcing the first flight Lutz Bertling, CEO of Eurocopter said, “A new helicopter has a lot of parents... Customer input led to a lot of the design, we asked for opinions from the oil and gas market, SAR and corporate missions and this is what they gave us..”

The EC175 is made in co-coperation with China, and their Z-15 is a version of the same helicopter.

Lutz Bertling said, “Co-operation with China began in 1980, with production of the Dauphin, then with the EC120... Today we have the EC175 and Z-15, there are some differences but we kept our promises and fulfilled our mission.”

Bertling said that one of the main challenges for the EC175 was the gearbox. He also spoke of problems with Pratt and Witney, who made the engines, but was relieved that all these challenges were overcome and that they ‘raised their game’ and met all the markers on time....