Eurocopter

Eurocopter S.A.S.
Type Subsidiary
Industry Aerospace
Founded 1992
Headquarters Marignane, France
Key people Lutz Bertling, CEO
Products Helicopters
Revenue €4,570 million
Employees 15,600
Parent EADS
Website www.eurocopter.com

The Eurocopter Group is a global helicopter manufacturing and support company, No.1 in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Eurocopter's main facilities are at its headquarters in Marignane, France, at Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH in Donauwörth, Germany and at Eurocopter España in Albacete, Spain. The company also has a network of 24 subsidiaries, including production facilities in Australia, Brazil and the USA.[1]

Contents

History

The Eurocopter Group was formed in 1992 through the merger of the helicopter divisions of Aérospatiale and Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (DASA). The company's heritage traces back to Blériot and Lioré et Olivier in France and to Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf in Germany.[2]

Eurocopter and its predecessor companies have established a wide range of helicopter 'firsts,' including the first production turboshaft-powered helicopter (the Alouette II of 1955); the introduction of the Fenestron shrouded tail rotor (on the Gazelle of 1968); the first helicopter certified for full flight in icing conditions (the AS332 Super Puma, in 1984); the first production helicopter with a Fly-by-Wire control system (the NH90, first flown in full FBW mode in 2003); the first helicopter to use a Fly-by-Light primary control system (an EC135 testbed, first flown in 2003); and the first ever landing of a helicopter on Mt. Everest (achieved by an AS350 B3 in 2005).

As a consequence of the merger of the Eurocopter Group's former parents in 2000, the firm is now a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS. The creation of EADS in 2000 also incorporated CASA of Spain, which itself had a history of helicopter-related activities dating back to Talleres Loring, including local assembly of the Bo105.

Today, Eurocopter has seven plants in its home nations (Marignane and La Courneuve in France, Donauwörth, Ottobrunn and Kassel in Germany, and Albacete and Madrid in Spain), plus 24 subsidiaries and participates around the world, as follows:

As of 2010, more than 10,500 Eurocopter helicopters were in service with over 2,800 customers in 140 countries.[3]

Products

Helicopters currently in production

Helicopters no longer in production

Non-production helicopters

On Eurocopter helicopters designed in France, the main rotor turns clockwise when viewed from above, in common with rotorcraft deriving from Russia. Eurocopter products developed in Germany have a main rotor which turns counter-clockwise when viewed from above, in common with American rotorcraft.

Gallery

NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH)

EC135 T2+

EC145

EC120 Colibri

EC725 Cougar

AS565SA Panther

AS532 Super Puma

EC155 B1

AS350 BA Ecureuil

Tiger ARH

EC225 Super Puma

AS350 B3 acting as a rescue vehicle in the Mt. Hotham snow fields

References

  1. ↑ Eurocopter subsidiaries
  2. ↑ Eurocopter genealogy
  3. ↑ Eurocopter website

External links

Eurocopter Group
Civil helicopters

BK 117 · EC120 · EC130 · EC135 · EC145 · EC155 · EC175 · EC225 · AS332 · AS350 · AS355 · SA/AS365
Military helicopters

AS532 · AS550/AS555 · AS565 · EC635 · EC645 · EC665 · EC725 · NH90 · HH-65 · UH-72
Experimental helicopters

X3
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