Frederic Hemmele Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 Hi Folks! I'm looking for some information (as much as you can give me!) concerning the AS350 powered with the LTS-101-SD2. I used to fly that A/C last year and just heard that European authorities granted them a certificate. My actual employer is interested but I flew that A/C at max. 5'000 feets and now never fly under 5'000 feets... in the swiss alps. Does anybody have flown it in the mountains, under hot & high conditions? How would you compare it (performances, costs, maintenance, fuel consumption, ...) with the B2? Thanks a lot for your help and many happy hours in the air, Fred Quote
ame206350 Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 Hi Folks! I'm looking for some information (as much as you can give me!) concerning the AS350 powered with the LTS-101-SD2. I used to fly that A/C last year and just heard that European authorities granted them a certificate. My actual employer is interested but I flew that A/C at max. 5'000 feets and now never fly under 5'000 feets... in the swiss alps. Does anybody have flown it in the mountains, under hot & high conditions? How would you compare it (performances, costs, maintenance, fuel consumption, ...) with the B2? Thanks a lot for your help and many happy hours in the air, Fred I only fix em but I know they will eat a B2 hot and high. That's the big benefit of the 700D2 (or even the 600-A3A). We've pulled some loads with our FX2 that a B2 couldn't have a hope of pulling off. All our work is in the mountains from 2200 - 9000 feet. It burns less fuel too. Maintenance costs might be cheaper too (all things being equal). This is the best single performance upgrade a guy could do to a 350. If you don't need the extra jam a straight B2 should be just fine for most work. Quote
TwistedSpar Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 can you dispell the rumours of the lack of parts, or the forthcoming lack of parts I should say, in regards to the LTS engines.... I'm hearing all these nasty rumours of supply issues coming down the pipe. Quote
ame206350 Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 can you dispell the rumours of the lack of parts, or the forthcoming lack of parts I should say, in regards to the LTS engines.... I'm hearing all these nasty rumours of supply issues coming down the pipe. Hard to say. Everything we've needed so far in term of parts and accessories has been good between Honeywell and Intermountain Turbine. I'm not sure that if the "perfect storm" of engine BS happens to occur how things will go. Given our lackluster experience with Turbomeca and Eurocopter I can't imagine how things could possibly be worse with Honeywell. Everything I hear points to more parts and spares entering the pool but all the OEM's try and sell that idea to show that they are progressive and responsive to customer needs. So far so good. Hard to say how the landscape may look when there are more of them in the air though. Best wishes. Quote
CIEH Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 Are there new LTS 101-700D2, or even -600's being currently manufactured new, or are all the engines on the market upgrades from older versions ? Just curious Quote
porter Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 http://www.helilynx.com/index/page/name/350_fx2 The Numbers... • 350FX2 & AS350B2 HIGE and HOGE Performance 15Feb08.pdf • 350FX2 Comparative Summary 15Feb08.pdf The Charts... • 350FX2 Hover IGE FMS Chart 15Feb08.pdf • 350FX2 Hover OGE FMS Chart 15Feb08.pdf Quote
skullcap Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 Hi Fred; We are talking about the SD2(the 350Fx2 is different animal which I have never been close to), so, I took one for a test flight and then climbed into our B2 immediately after. At 4000' the D2 produced more torque by about 4% but at 9,10, and 11000' they were identical for torque. Our 1D1 is not a bare spec engine though, puts out 1-2%more Ng than spec, and did not check how close the honeywell was to spec either, could have been a marginal engine.... I hear many stories how great the honeywell is for power but they only guarentee 732 hp same as arreil, so after a few years temping them out would be a better comparison. Need a small pratt I think would be better. My opinion is that if you have to pull max power for long periods of time such as bird towing in mountains like we do, the arriel will take it, the honewell at 920' hmmm. But if you are lifting loads with short high power settings the honeywell would do great. The right tool for the right job. Quote
Guest Aggroeitch Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 Hi, Thanks Frederic for starting such an interesting topic, please carry on commenting. It's all very much appreciated here on the East side of Atlantic. It's the first Soloy conversion that's been accepted here so all views are more than welcome. Aggroeitch Quote
ame206350 Posted March 19, 2008 Report Posted March 19, 2008 Hi Fred; We are talking about the SD2(the 350Fx2 is different animal which I have never been close to), so, I took one for a test flight and then climbed into our B2 immediately after. At 4000' the D2 produced more torque by about 4% but at 9,10, and 11000' they were identical for torque. Our 1D1 is not a bare spec engine though, puts out 1-2%more Ng than spec, and did not check how close the honeywell was to spec either, could have been a marginal engine.... I hear many stories how great the honeywell is for power but they only guarentee 732 hp same as arreil, so after a few years temping them out would be a better comparison. Need a small pratt I think would be better. My opinion is that if you have to pull max power for long periods of time such as bird towing in mountains like we do, the arriel will take it, the honewell at 920' hmmm. But if you are lifting loads with short high power settings the honeywell would do great. The right tool for the right job. The FX2 is still pretty much an SD2 performance wise aside from the tail rotor. Heli-Lynx has a few different numbers (T4) but the performance is still the same. We operate both the FX2 and the SD2. Quote
Yukonner Posted March 20, 2008 Report Posted March 20, 2008 www.heliproducts.com b2 and sd2 build ups and soloy conversions are their specialty :up: Quote
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