SAAF Oryx - Will it ever go Civilian?

[Chopper Jog]

Hi SA&SAAF Chopper boys,

Does anyone know if any efforts have been made to get the Oryx certified as a civilian helicopter? I remember my days in the SAAF flying them and it will be a pleasure to operate them in an offshore environment.

Regards,

CJ

[pointer41]

Is the Oryx not just a local version of the Super Puma, with custom avionics? I ask in ignorance.:confused:

[Chopper Jog]

Hi there,

The Oryx was manufactured in South Africa by Atlas Denel under licence from Eurocopter. I believe a clause was put in place that these machines would never be allowed to enter into civilian operations.

The Oryx was based on a 330 Puma airframe (not sure the model number) with the transmission and running gear of a 332L Super Puma. The Oryx had a limited MTOW of 8000kgs due to the undercarriage of the 330 Puma, whilst on the ground, but could lift 8600kgs in the hover under the right environmental conditions.

The Super Puma is also slightly longer than the Oryx. An additional 0.5m was added behind the cockpit of the AS332 and larger wondows was fitted at the back of the cabin. I have flown both machines and they are essentially the same with regards to handling and technical characteristics.

Hope that has provided you with a better overview.

Regards,

CJ

[Gunship]

CJ (van As perhaps) ;)

Good post.

Other than that I think due to the high labour rate and costs and strong rand that the eventual cost of such an idea would have been VERY high.

Am I far off but I seem to remember R50 mil per Oryx ?

I might be completely wrong ... :hmm:

[Balloothebear]

And then allong came the CAA...........
Due to the fact that the Oryx is a hybrid of sorts (as per CJ posting) it will require a "type certificate" from the country of manufacture, before being put into civillian use.The time, effort and finance that will have to be ploughed into that little exersize will keep the project from being prohibative.
That being said, the Oryx is still a brillaint machine.
:ok:

[Deanw]

The short answer? No.

There was an individual who investigated operating the Oryx in the off-shore sector last year, but after submitting a detailed tender based on the Oryx, it was substituted for one of the more well-known commercial types.

AFAIK, Denel has no plans to commercialise the Oryx.