EC225: Destination China

End of 2013, Airbus Helicopters delivered a H225 (formerly EC225) to the Chinese company COHC. The following movies tell the adventure.

Temporarily designated F-WWOA, later B-7151, the french helicopter was conveyed to China by Jean-Charles (pilot), Gérard (pilot) and Marc (mechanic) via Greece, Oman and India.

Spoiler: the flight ends well. At 11:00 a.m. on November 20, an EC225 LP helicopter of China’s CITIC Offshore Helicopter Company (COHC), registration number B-7151, arrived at Shenzhen Nantou Helicopter Airport from Macau, which is the 3rd EC225 introduced by COHC this year.

All pictures are extract from the movies, copyright Airbus Helicopters

Part 1: From Marignane to Greece and Crete

They took off November 6th in the early morning, LFML (Marseille, France), good weather. Cruise ground speed: 166 kt, slightly more than 300 km/h.
In this part, you will enjoy views of the Mediterranean coast, how you prepare the mooring of the aircraft for the night, and what internal auxiliary fuel tanks look like.

When you buy a helicopter, you can generally have 3 possibilities to get it delivered:

• by plane, usually an Antonov 124, which is quick and the helicopter arrives almost ready to fly, but expensive
• by ship, much cheaper than by plane, but very long
• by conveying, where the helicopter flies from the manufacturing plant in Marignane to the location of the customer

 Part 2: From Crete to Oman

Via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, you will discover the maritime arabian oil fields, how to park in a tight spot, and the importance of the last inspection of the aircraft at the end of the day.

 Part 3: From Oman to India

When your aircraft spends the night alone without any surveillance, you want to make sure that nobody entered your aircraft.

With the weather radar in search mode, you will see not only the coast, but also ships and other obstacles.

After the flight, you need to refuel, organize the electric power generator for the night, check in at the customs, find your hotel!

Next in Burma!