EVERETT, Dec. 8, 2016 – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the BLR Aerospace FastFin® Tail Rotor Enhancement and Stability System for installation on H125 helicopters, the company announced today. The system is now available to the aftermarket and as a factory-installed STC option on new Airbus H125 helicopters.
Mathilde Royer-Germain, Airbus Helicopters’ Vice President, Light Helicopters Program, congratulated BLR on the certification milestone, adding, “the additional performances brought by the BLR FastFin system will benefit our H125 operators performing very demanding missions, especially in hot and high conditions.”
“This is great news for H125 operators and an important addition to the BLR product portfolio,” said company President Mike Carpenter. Carpenter added that pre-certification sales have been brisk, and 10 H125 Systems have been sold to date.
FastFin uses advanced airflow management to increase the effectiveness of the H125 anti-torque system and the certified performance data show the dramatic improvements operators can expect, including up to 130 pounds increased useful load and a 10 percent improvement in pedal margins.
Additional benefits include a reduction in pilot workload, easier control in precision hover-hold operations and better management of the yaw axis when hovering in challenging crosswinds.
Though they are based on the same aerodynamic principles, the H125 FastFin differs from BLR’s flagship product for Bell Mediums. It does not modify the vertical fin, but is comprised of an Advanced Tailboom Aerodynamic Cowling (ATAC), a Tailboom Strake and Vortex Generators.
One-thousand of BLR’s performance-enhancing FastFin systems have been installed on various light and medium helicopters worldwide.
With this FAA certification in place, additional approvals from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Transport Canada and Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) are expected to follow.