KOPTER — Designed out of frustration
A mechanical engineer and commercial helicopter pilot, Martin Stucki, was frustrated with what he saw as legacy designs and unsuitable cockpits in the light single-engine helicopter market which had not seen any all-new designs in decades. His market research showed a viable demand for a new rotorcraft in the 2.5-tonne class and in 2007 he formed Marenco Swisshelicopter.
Within two years sufficient finance had been raised for the SH09 to be formally launched in 2009. Initially a team of nine high quality engineers were involved with the project. A preproduction prototype was displayed at Heli-Expo 2011 in Orlando, Florida, marking its public introduction.
The flight test programme used three prototypes with P1 taking to the air for the first time on 2 October 2014 after a delay of almost six months due to the late delivery of its engine by Honeywell. It was used to complete the first phase of the flight test programme, proving the handling and attitude of the aircraft, and expanding the flight envelope, including autorotation tests and being flown to 97 per cent of its maximum internal load take-off weight. P2 and P3 were used for air-worthiness certification testing being more representative of production aircraft, their design incorporating several refinements.
Initially it was intended that deliveries would begin in 2015 with up to 15 helicopters being produced within the first year increasing to 30 rotorcraft the following year. However flight tests were halted after 100 flight hours to focus on producing the second prototype, which incorporated a modified bearingless rotor head and new rotor blades to reduce vibrations. The estimated development timeline was recognised as optimistic and certification expectation was pushed back towards the end of 2016 or early 2017. The second prototype took its first flight in February, 2016 and after an announcement that pace of the flight testing programme was being increased, the third prototype was due for completion in early 2017 with certification now during 2018. The reason given for the delay was that the company had to design and manufacture not only the helicopter itself, but also supporting tools such as test equipment.
In January 2018 Mareco Swisshelicopter was re-branded as Kopter and the helicopter is now known simply as the SH09. The company now hopes that the rotorcraft would enter service in 2019. During the 2018 Heli-Expo, Kopter announced 23 firm orders and 11 options worth $119 million from Norwegian Helitrans (12+6), Elling Halvorson for Rainier Heli Lift, Hawaiian Paradise Helicopters and South African Safomar Aviation.
New look design
The modularity of the cabin makes the most of the flat floor and the unique high ceiling concept, offering multiple seating arrangements with 5 to 8 individual crash-worthy seats and facilitated rear access loading through the clamshell doors for cargo and medical stretchers. Using the latest technology in high tech materials and composites, and benefiting from the extensive experience of the light to medium turbine helicopter market and the most up-to-date technology contributed to the development of an all new, state-of-the-art helicopter design.
The SH09 offers the highest standards of safety, comfort and performance coupled with low operating costs and can be equipped to operate in the most adverse environments, giving it great appeal to operators who wish to avail of hot and high altitude performance, introducing a remarkably versatile machine with additional power, greater payload capacity, an augmented sling load capability and faster cruise speed. With a fast cruise speed of 260 km/h it is not only one of the fastest helicopters in its category, but it also offers a long range - in excess of 800km with standard fuel tanks.
The SH09 helicopter adopted several modern features in its design such as an airframe entirely composed of carbon omposite materials that allows for a relatively low empty weight. It also employs a shrouded fenestron tail rotor and the main rotor features a five-bladed bearingless hub; the shrouded tail rotor has a wider diameter and a thinner chord in order to increase airflow, while design aspects such as a narrow tail boom, swept-back tips on the main rotor blades, and the shrouded tail rotor offer reduced noise.
Slotting neatly into the light-medium helicopter market, the SH09 is powered by a single Honeywell HTS900 turboshaft engine which is rated at 1 020-shafthorsepower, providing improved performance in hot and high conditions.
The monocoque fuselage is made from composite materials and is equipped with sliding side doors on either side along with a rear clamshell door; it incorporates a series of floor-mounted windows between the pilots' seats for additional vertical visibility. Some of the composite materials used have been produced using out of autoclave composite manufacturing from suppliers such as TenCate and Gurit. According to Marenco, inspiration for the fuselage's design was drawn from the automotive industry. It has been stated that the firm has sought to introduce the cabin volume of medium-sized twin-engine helicopters to the single-engine market.
The SH09 can offered a variety of different layout configurations. The standard option provides two pilot seats forward and four passenger seats aft, all adjustable fore/aft and up/down. An additional five seats can be stalled in the rear position along with two more passenger seats in line with the pilot's own, which loses the option of the floor window. The use of Kevlar-threaded crash-worthy fuel tanks, built into the wall and floor of the cargo hold, freed up space to allow for fully adjustable passenger seats in the cabin. The cargo hold is sized to accommodate 10 items of baggage, while the fuel tanks are sized to provide for an endurance of nearly five hours.
Maintenance
The rotorcraft has been designed with a condition-based maintenance policy, specifying that there should be no time between overhaul limits on its various components and systems, including the engine; instead, maintenance is performed based upon condition, which is continuously monitored at all times by an on-board health and usage monitoring system.
Cockpit
A Sagem-built ICDS-8A glass cockpit suite is standard for the machine’s avionics and instrumentation package. The SH09 also features the G3000H, an IFR-capable integrated flight deck specifically designed for Part 27 turbine helicopters. It offers WAAS/SBAS, ILS approach capability, VFR and IFR helicopter charts and Connext wireless integration, ADS-B In/Out, visual approach guidance and an HSI map.
The G3000H combines wide-screen, high-resolution displays with touchscreen controls that serve as the pilot interface to the integrated flight deck. The landscape-oriented displays offer immediate access to critical in-flight information in a consolidated, easy-to-read format. The G3000H also features pilot-selectable split-screen capability that allows for two or more separate pages to be displayed simultaneously, so pilots can easily access valuable decision-making information on a single screen.
