Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Medium lift utility helicopter

Power Plant:

(S-92A)

Two 1,864 kw (2,500 shp) General Electric CT7-8 turboshafts

Specifications:

History:

The S-92 was built to fulfill a number of roles, including off-shore oil transport, executive transport, search and rescue, and short-range airliner.  It is a medium-lift twin-engine helicopter manufactured by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp and is an evolution of the S-70 Blackhawk series, the prototype flying for the first in December 1998 at the Sikorsky Development Flight Centre at West Palm Beach, Florida.  FAA FAR 29 certification was obtained in December 2002 and European certification was received also at that time.

Launch customer was Petroleum Helicopters Inc, first deliveries beginning in September 2004, with six machines for off-shore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.  Power is provided by the General Electric CT7-8 turboshaft, this being a development of the T700/CT7 series and is flat rated at 1,864 kw (2,500 shp) from sea level to 6,096 m (20,000 ft), having full digital electronic control (FADEC).  Variants include the H-92 Superhawk, aimed at the military market, for which roles include utility, Head-of-State transport, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, and VIP transport. The S-92A Model is a civil transport and carries 19 passengers, whereas the military variant in mission-specific configuration carries 22 troops.

A number have been supplied for government transport duties, including the Governments of Turkmenistan, Turkey, and the Republic of Korea.  Four were supplied to CHC Scotia for the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency.  The civil transport variant has an airline type interior with seats for 19 in a 6.1 (20 ft) long, 1.83 m (6 ft) high and 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) wide cabin, the cabin area being 20.75³ (733 cub ft), but it can also be configured to take three LD-3 cargo containers.  Additional space of 1.13 m³ (40 cub ft) is available in the rear ramp compartment.

Five prototypes were built for the certification process, the cabin of the fifth machine being lengthened by 41 cm (16 in), the height of the tailplane reduced, and the horizontal stabilizer relocated.  Some 40% of the aircraft is of composite construction.  The cabin features a rear loading freight-ramp and the cockpit has a Sanders EFIS system with four liquid crystal colour displays.  Risk sharing partners were Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Gamesa of Spain and Jingdezhen Helicorp Group in China, while AIDC in Taiwan and Embraer in Brazil are fixed price suppliers / partners.

A military variant was demonstrated to the USAF, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard, this model having more powerful GE CT-7-8C engines rated at 2,300 kw (3,070 shp).  In July 2004 the Canadian Government ordered 28 for the maritime search and rescue role, these having room for seats, litters, auxiliary fuel and SAR emergency equipment.

First of the type seen in this region was imported by Lloyd Offshore Helicopters Pty Ltd of Wayville, SA.  This machine arrived on board a Volga-Dnepr Antonov An-124 (RA-82074) and, after assembly, became VH-LOH (c/n 92-0036) on 9 November 2006, being flown to Broome, WA to support a contract with a Japanese oil research company. It was followed in early 2011 by VH-LYJ (c/n 920057) for the same operator.

Since then further examples have been imported, Bristow Helicopters taking delivery of S-92As VH-ZUF (c/n 920219) and VH-ZUW (c/n 920221) in June 2014, and Bond Helicopters of Winnellie, NT taking delivery of S-92As VH-NYW (c/n 920232) and VH-NYZ (c/n 920233) in November 2014.  Further examples arrived in mid-2015 for Bond Helicopters, these machines being owned by Trans Rotor Ltd, being VH-NWD (c/n 92026 – ex N265R) and VH-NWV (c/n 920267 – ex N267Z).

Lloyds Helicopters in early 2017 imported further examples, these being S-92As which became VH-LWJ (c/n 920255), VH-LWQ (c/n 920278) and VH-LWU (c/n 920289).  HNZ Australia Pty Ltd of Perth, WA imported two S-92As which became VH-IPZ (c/n 920073) on 18 February 2018 and VH-PPH (c/n 920016) on 29 January 2019.