Fri, Nov 04, 2011
Enstrom Has A Contract For A Total Of 30 Helos For The Japanese
Ground Self Defense Force
The second of a planned 30 TH-480B helicopters for the Japanese
Ground Self Defense Force was recently shipped overseas by Enstrom
Helicopter Corporation . The turbine powered training helicopter
was shipped to Enstrom’s representative in Japan ... Aero
Facility Co. Ltd. The aircraft will be used by the JGSDF to train
flight instructors for the future TH-480B fleet. Aero Facility will
deliver the helicopter to the JGSDF in early 2012 and then continue
delivering the remainder of the fleet through 2014.
Image Courtesy Enstrom
The first TH-480B has been in service for less than a year but
has already undergone a rigorous 200-hour evaluation by the JGSDF.
“The pilots really like the 480B,“ said Enstrom’s
director of product support, Bayard duPont. “They said that,
as a trainer, it can’t be beat, and that it is rugged beyond
belief. They are really pleased that it ran 200 hours pretty much
trouble free,”
DuPont was recently in Japan supplying advanced maintenance
training and spent some time with the JGSDF evaluation team. The
TH-480B will eventually replace the OH-6 as the JGSDF’s
primary training helicopter. “The 480 series was originally
developed as a military training helicopter, so hearing the
comments of the JGSDF pilots just validates what we started out
with," said Enstrom’s director of sales and marketing, Tracy
Biegler. "As we go forward on the remaining 28 aircraft, we do so
with confidence knowing the JGSDF has the right aircraft for their
mission.”
The TH-480B is the JGSDF designation for the Enstrom 480B light
turbine helicopter. Enstrom was chosen in a competitive bidding
process over two formidable manufacturers in February of 2010 to
replace the JGSDF fleet of training helicopters. The first TH-480B
was delivered to the JGSDF in February of 2011.
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