Tue, Jan 31, 2012
Expanding Capabilities For Chinook Customers, Others
Columbia Helicopters says it has officially opened its new
turbine engine testing facility. The $4 million project will allow
the company to work on a wider variety of turbine helicopter
engines, and will result in the addition of several new
customers.
The new facility, commonly called an engine test cell, is
specifically designed to support the T55-714 turbine engine. This
engine is commonly used in military CH-47 Chinook helicopters
around the world, and the test cell is designed to accept other
engines coming on line in the future.
“The building of this test cell allows CHI to provide
complete nose-to-tail maintenance on military Chinook
helicopters,” said Scott Ellis, CHI’s Director of
Business Development and a 20-year Chinook service veteran.
“As a civilian operator of the Chinook, we can provide our
customers with our years of experience on those helicopters. Now,
that experience and maintenance capability includes the newest
engine model installed in the aircraft.”
This test cell provides Columbia Helicopters with the ability to
operate a turbine engine at full power following maintenance. This
ensures the engine meets all manufacturer specifications before it
is returned to the customer. Columbia has operated an existing test
cell for many years, and the new test cell will expand the
company’s capabilities.
Columbia employees expect the new test cell to be considerably
quieter than the older cell. “We don’t expect our
neighbors will even notice when the new facility is running,”
added Ellis.
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