Eurocopter after sales

[richard08h]

eurocopter parts

I understand if you have an A star (Squirrel) Eurocopter has licensed 3 manufacturers to make parts. EC120 only one source. Not clear if their are no takers for EC120 since it has sold poorly or Eurocopter just don't give it any consideration-does anybody know on pprune?

[Grenville Fortescue]

If you really want a gearbox badly, I suggest you arrange one through the Spanish Air Force at Sabadell. You'll probably have to enter into some kind of special arrangement mind you (such as bribing).

[richard08h]

thanks for tip-any contacts?

[Grenville Fortescue]

Try Helidax in Cedex France (now more than 50,000 hrs on the Colibri) to begin with. It will help if you have some "political" contacts or go over there and speak with them in person.

[richard08h]

many thanks-address is badly written out (cedex=postcode)
but have your link

[richard08h]

Still waiting on Eurocopter deliveries

Was promised shipment from US 6 weeks ago of main gear box however Eurocopter still claiming to be waiting for export licence- anybody else have any experience of this?

[richard08h]

Export licence finally awarded Friday- a mere 6 weeks

[HeliHenri]

.
Hello Richard,

In Zwitzerland, there are at least 4 EC120 due to a 12 years overhaul this year.

How the operators did (or do) they manage the situation ?
.

[richard08h]

Will find out- mine went to uk so am talking uk experience

[Bell_Flyer]

Hello Richard,

I own a private AS350 Squirrel that does 50-120 hours a year. Prior to that I owned a few Bells. I researched EC very carefully before buying, speaking to many owners and joining many helicopter forum discussions. I think if you want first class customer service you'd be better off with a Bell. Hands down. End of discussion. Amen. They are that good.

The EC brand IMHO is a far superior product (no broom cupboards, more modern, fenestron, no TT straps, more powerful, better for a young family, etc) but you must ultimately, resign yourself to a poorer service.

EC's erratic support standards have been discussed many times in PPRUNE and other helicopter forums over the last 20 years or more. In other words you'd have to see it almost as though the key people responsible in EC are genetically incapable of improving logistics and there is nothing you can do about it. That's just life and it is the penalty for owning a more modern and powerful ship for private owners with little influence on EC's balance sheet.

Just my thoughts and I am another EC owner.

[Anthony Supplebottom]

The EC brand IMHO is a far superior product

BF - I have flown quite a number of EC products over the years and they are generally very good but, don't be too quick to discount the Bells.

The 407 for example is an excellent product. More responsive on the controls than a 350 and with a healthy cruising speed. Crucially, it has a cabin which in the event of catastrophe will - in my opinion - protect your loved ones better than a 350 ever will.

[richard08h]

I do agree with you.
Even with having kept me a further 6 weeks awaiting an export licence
for which they could have applied for 4 weeks earlier you would have thought they would have had the courtesy to ship immediately-but oh no 1 week to air freight from US!

[Bell_Flyer]

BF - I have flown quite a number of EC products over the years and they are generally very good but, don't be too quick to discount the Bells.

The 407 for example is an excellent product. More responsive on the controls than a 350 and with a healthy cruising speed. Crucially, it has a cabin which in the event of catastrophe will - in my opinion - protect your loved ones better than a 350 ever will.

AS - you are absolutely correct. However, in the rarefied world of private family helicopters they are impractical. You would not buy a car with a 'broom cupboard' as a family car would you? Also, family helicopters need to be quiet as you often land on smaller acreages at home or other people's home or at restaurants, hotels, etc. Believe me, the fenestrons in the 120, 130, 135, etc are ridiculously quiet. The set up is safer - hotel or visitors' home dogs barking and chasing a helo landing or taking off can get their heads chopped off in an open rotor but not in a fan tail. I realise we are in the tiniest of minority and Bell can't be expected to make its helos for private family owners only, however EC seems to be doing it quieter and with better layout, more power, crash worthy seats etc. As for catastrophic events, most of us fly less than 150 hours a year (this year I will do 80 hours or less), often only in CAVOK situations and often do not take risks when wives or little kids are on board. These are my personal experiences only.

However, I agree with you, the Bells are very good too - just not as private family helicopters, of which there are only a handful of customers who use them this way. Lastly, ingrained culture cannot change. You can't expect say, Americans to surrender all their firearms any more than you can expect EC to be good in after sales support (for private owners). This is what I have found.

PS - however one day if EC or Turbomecca pushes me to the limits of my patience then I'll probably sell my EC in resignation and go back to Bells. That time will probably be when my kids grow up and leave home.

[toptobottom]

Well after 5 months and some large bills to remedy MRGB corrosion issues (that we feel strongly we shouldn't be paying), it looks as though Richard08h and I will soon be back in the air.

We're aware of at least six local EC120s that have suffered from this problem and there seems to be substantial evidence that indicates that the issue is down to a fault in the manufacturing process, rather than due to post production environmental conditions/maintenance, etc. as EC would have us believe.

We're contemplating a class action, comprised of owners who have been affected by MRGB corrosion problems. If you'd like more information and/or would like to be included, please PM me.

TTB

[richard08h]

still not back in the air-although Eurocopter finally did their bit on the
12th August. They shipped a MGB that was for EC120 that had air conditioning-needless to say mine had none-so a mod was required-would take any engineer 2hours work-but you guessed it could only be done by A EC Canadian engineer that could not come for 2 weeks awaiting for a "technical assistance" agreement from the state department.
I would love to say I am inventing this story but this is no nightmare-just another horror story of a small boy trying to deal with a multi -national that is super dis organised!

[unicopter]

Just a general question - do people find the same issues with AS350b3/be range? ie poor service and parts sparing? Or the fact many other sources available for parts, you can bypass EC?

[Bender Rodrigez]

Hi all,

I have to say the EC network can be pretty thin sometimes. I reckon that some logistics issues happened to me in the past, but it mainly depends on your location. I had some really good relationship with EC, and some disastrous experiences with Bell!
Working in Africa at the moment, I can tell you the support is not as good as we'd like, but I never remained helpless even in the most demanding times.

I know how frustrating it can be, I've spent some time working in Geneva and was blacklisted by Europavia. At this time we made a deal with Eurocopter Italia and they performed pretty well. Maybe Mont Blanc helicopters could help you too, let me know if you need contacts or if there's anything I can do to assist, I'd be glad.

Cheers

[Rabina]

Eurocopter support

Make the time to attend trade shows like Helitech and HAI to network with the host of aftermarket companies that value your business rather than blindly issuing orders to those whose answer is "List price, nothing in stock, we might have some ready next year".

Procurement is an aviation industry skill, not something that is gifted to you just because you own an airframe.

[Pytlak]

EC120B MGB problem

Hi All, especially Toptobottom and Richard08. I see that you are discussing EC120B MGBs, which is exactly the topic I need to discuss rather urgently. You suggest send PMs, which is an option I was not able to locate within PPRunE so I am trying to contactz you via ordinary post. Maybe that I can attract more replies in this way. We are now trying to solve a problem with our recently purchased second hand EC120B, which, at 1200hours since new in 2007, started making metal.

It means that our nice heli is AOG. Airbus (via local maintenance org) instructed us to do some procedures, which we did and provided results. Based on the observations we were instructed to send the main unit of the MGB for overhaul (the bottom part, not the epicyclic module). We are very afraid that the overhaul will be very expensive and what is more, will take a lot of time.

I understand that there is not much chance to make the repair cheaper but I still hope that it could happen in a reasonable timeframe. If there is anyone with experience in dealing with Airbus who is willing to share this experience, I would be extremely happy. Our local maintenance says that so far they had one similar occurrence like this and that it took half a year to sort it out. If there is anyone with tips and experience, please share.

[Loki696]

Hello Pytlak,

You can contact us, we might be able to help you out.

[email protected]

Helikoptervlucht | Helikopteropleiding | Luchtvervoer - Heli Holland

Cheers