S-92 upgrade...

[PlasticCabDriver]

Originally Posted by Apate

Maybe the "talk" says so, but the reality doesn't seem to support that. CHC's sole UK registered AW189 has no work and there is talk it will be mothballed. 175 numbers are growing slowly in Aberdeen, but that is mainly to cover for dreadful availability. Super mediums have basically not had that great an impact in the Northern N Sea, especially in Norway.

Unless you can prove otherwise

Prove maybe not but we hear the 189 out and about to the Forties a lot. The background noise over the R/T is unmistakeable.

[Jimmy.]

Originally Posted by Apate

The S-61/Sea King idea ported across to the S-92, using an "emergency sump and pump", will likely not be limited to 30 mins. The new MGB doesn't just contain this new arrangement, it also contains gears made from different materials that are more heat tolerant and durable.

As I wrote before, the new nearbox is welcomed but, by the manufacturer words, doesn't solve all gearbox weaknessess. When the MGB bypass valve closed in a S-92A in Norway recently, with no oil loss, the transmission took 28 minutes to reach 152°C at landing. On the simulator, when a leak is contained and the bypass valve closes, the temperature rises even faster.

[Apate]

Originally Posted by PlasticCabDriver

Prove maybe not but we hear the 189 out and about to the Forties a lot. The background noise over the R/T is unmistakeable.

Yup, I'll give you that one. There is a single AW189 on contract in Aberdeen, which mainly plies it's trade to and from the Forties with Bristow. Six years since certification and only one machine in regular use in the Northern N Sea, it's hardly the revolution that was being "talked" about. By contrast there's about a 80 active O&G S92s between the UK and Norway.

[Autonomous Collectiv]

Originally Posted by Apate

Yup, I'll give you that one. There is a single AW189 on contract in Aberdeen, which mainly plies it's trade to and from the Forties with Bristow. Six years since certification and only one machine in regular use in the Northern N Sea, it's hardly the revolution that was being "talked" about. By contrast there's about a 80 active O&G S92s between the UK and Norway.

Isn't that as much a side effect of the contracting market and the full utilisation of the 92 fleet globally as opposed to new capital being spent on aircraft acquisitions? Just my observation and an ex-offhsore pilot watching in from the sideline

[Apate]

Originally Posted by Autonomous Collectiv

Isn't that as much a side effect of the contracting market and the full utilisation of the 92 fleet globally as opposed to new capital being spent on aircraft acquisitions? Just my observation and an ex-offhsore pilot watching in from the sideline

Maybe, but the current market seems dominated by leasing deals. An aircraft comes off contract, it is handed back. This process should enable new types to enter the market much easier than perhaps was historically the case.

It's possible the AW189 economics are not that compelling, especially when the distances offshore increase and fuel for more distant alternates have to be carried?

No doubt the emergence of the 175/189 will force Sikorsky to sharpen their pencil.