Ec130b4
Had a chance to fly the EC130-B4 over the Grand Canyon in October. See the upcoming article in January 'Blades' ... followed shortly by an air test report courtesy David Lewis and Eurocopter at Oxford.
Skids. Yup the front design minimises external interference nicely, while the rear profile contributes to lift. The revised skid gear design has virtually eliminated the one skid low hover too. The Chief Pilot of Maverick Helicopters, (they operate forty-five 130s) tells me the new layout has no adverse effects on an EOL run-on landing and their Grand Canyon business operates at 5,000 ft.
The Fenestron shrouded asymmetric T/R blades significantly reduce ambient noise, which added to the dual channel FADEC engine and controlled variable speed rotor has given the type an 84 EPNdB flyover noise footprint ... being some 7 dB lower than ICAO's Chapter 8 figure and USA's National Parks noise limit for Grand Canyon sight-seeing ops.
She's far from a stretched 120. A 10" wider cabin and an eight seat capability plus a 2,315 lbs payload and luggage capacity up 25%. And I'm not even on the sales team!
Sorry to get all sales excited but I just think she's a fine ship.
Dennis K