Rotorcraft

Carson Helicopters Services and Sagem Avionics are teaming to install and certify a suite of digital avionics in the Sikorsky S-61, including a five-tube array of 10.4-inch flat-panel color displays. Further, the Carson S-61 upgrade will put new composite main rotor blades, a dual-channel AFCS and a solid-state air-data, attitude and heading system–both from Sagem–onto the venerable bird.

In the midst of the overwhelming technology that drives much of the business at HAI’s Heli-Expo, it’s sometimes refreshing to find equipment that performs best because of its simplicity.

Take Erickson’s S-64 Air-Crane. It’s sophisticated where it needs to be, yet simple where technology is not required, with 9,000 or more shaft horsepower, payloads of up to 25,000 pounds and a decades-old reputation.

Heli-Expo 2006 set a record with 14,051 first-day registered attendees. In all, 521 exibiting companies sprawled across more than 221,000 sq ft of floor space here at the Dallas Convention Center, with 48 helicopters under roof. Next year’s show will be held in Orlando, Fla., from March 1 to 3.

Since Lynn Tilton bought MD Helicopters last summer and installed herself as CEO, she has spoken about being on a mission. She says she wants her company to grow to become number one in terms of customer service, in addition to building the safest helicopters in the world. It is only over the past few months, she admits, that she has started to understand the enormity of the task.