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H120 / EC-120B Colibri (Hummingbird) |
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Photo: Robert Deering 10/20/2009 Orange County Convention Center Orlando, Florida |
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The
Eurocopter EC120
(Airbus Helicopters H120)
Colibri is
a 5-seat, single-engine, single main rotor,
light helicopter. Jointly designed and
developed by Eurocopter, China National
Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation
(CATIC), Harbin Aviation Industries (Group)
Ltd (HAI) and Singapore Technologies
Aerospace Ltd (STAero) at Eurocopter
France's Marignane facility, the EC120B is
assembled by Eurocopter in France and
Australia.
In China, the aircraft is produced by Harbin
as the
HC120. The first EC120 B was delivered in 1998 and by 2008, Eurocopter had already delivered more than 550 Colibris to various customers. In 2004, the United States Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) selected the EC120 B to meet its Light Sign Cutter requirement, a program potentially involving 55 aircraft with a total value of US$ 75 million in then-year dollars. In 2006, the CBP ordered 15 EC120 B helicopters, with a further 5 aircraft since ordered. In January 2008, the French Defense Ministry selected the EC120 as the French Army's new lead-in rotary-wing trainer, replacing the Aérospatiale Gazelle. 36 EC120 Bs equipped with Sagem avionics will be operated through a 22-year public-private partnership (PPP), with the first aircraft due to arrive in 2010. Since 2011 the EC 120 B has been used by the traffic police in Kurdistan, Iraq. In a first step the required pilots are trained on gyroplanes and then further training is done on helicopters. |
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