Few questions regarding EC130 and AW119.
If anyone with some hands on experience with the EC130 B4 and/or Agusta 119 and could answer a few questions, your insight would be greatly appreciated.
We are in the process of looking at one of these machines to use mainly for private transport. We need power to operate anywhere from sea level, up to an IGE hover at 6,700 ft on the occasional 30c+ days in the summer. And some trips could be up to 350nm.
I had the opportunity to fly the EC130 recently, and a few questions that I didn't manage to ask, hopefully someone here could answer:
- What is a typical cruise speed from this machine? Our pilot said 110knts was a comfortable speed, and as we approached 120knt there was some noticeable vibration. I was hoping for at least a comfortable 120knts out of this, and perhaps even up to 130 with 4 pax and full fuel.
- Can the EC130 be tuned for higher cruise speeds so there is less vibration at 120+?
- Would range be dismal at 120knts +?
I have not had a chance to look at an Agusta 119, so some basic questions that come to mind are:
- Can this ship cruise comfortably at 140knts with 4 pax and full fuel? If not, what is a realistic speed?
- What is the fuel burn at 140knts? 130knts?
- What kind of range could you expect at the above cruise speeds?
- How does passenger comfort compare to the EC130?
Lastly, if anyone has information regarding D.O.C.s for either of these machines, that would be very helpful as well. I would imagine the Agusta is the more expensive of the two to operate, however if you're spending less time in the air in the Agusta then it may not be any more expensive to operate than the 130?
Thank you!