HI Uplift: Welcome to the ‘long goodbye’ for helicopters

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Helicopter operator Bristow

Bristow has partnered with unmanned aerial vehicle developer Elroy Air.

It was a simple question (I thought). To what extent will AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) solutions replace helicopter missions? On the receiving end was Dave Stepanek, executive vice president and chief transformation officer, Bristow Group.

“I think it’s going to be a long goodbye for helicopters,” he told us at Helitech Expo in London this week. Stepanek is well placed to judge. He has just produced a research paper ‘AAM: A Philosophical Guide for Early Operations’ exploring how the early stages of advanced air mobility should unfold.

To be clear, he is not predicting the immanent demise of conventional rotorcraft. “We have not set out to replace our helicopters with any of this [AAM] equipment,” he told Helicopter Investor. “We see it as taking our technology and our intellectual property and applying it to new technology that will access markets that we can’t operate in because of cost and complexity or noise or just the general perception that helicopters are bad.”

Commercialisation of eVTOLs

By AAM aircraft, he is referring to novel aircraft using electric or hybrid-electric distributed propulsion systems, advanced digital control systems and with a vehicle configuration that differs from standard aircraft and helicopters. He believes the commercialisation of eVTOLs will replicate the development of fixed-wing aviation 120 years ago.

After “the Wright brothers sorted out lateral control”, aviation developed by focusing on the transportation of cargo over relatively short distances, he said. He expected this pattern to repeat itself with eVTOLs as the aircraft built a compelling business case in undertaking logistics mission over short ranges of up to just 60km (37m). Only after pioneering such missions and business models should AAM expand to carrying passengers.

Neither should it be assumed eVTOLs and other AAM craft will prove universally (and instantly) popular with the public. Proof was supplied this summer in the mixed reaction that greeted eVTOL services at the Paris Olympic Games, said Stepanek. Plans never went ahead in full. Volocopter was permitted to conduct a limited number of demo flights in the Paris area by the French regulator.

Also, no eVTOL manufacturer has previously produced a proven eVTOL aircraft, he added. Similarly, no prospective carrier had ever operated commercial eVTOL flights and many firms had no previous aviation experience.

Key challenges

Key challenges involved ensuring new AAM aircraft were safe, efficient and reliable and operating in an ecosystem designed to accommodate their special needs. (Bristow’s AAM guide, published in June, is subtitled “Revolutions in aerospace must intersect with the evolution of air operations”).

Stepanek said: “As this nascent industry develops, it is vital we leverage the lessons learned from successful air carriers and consider a culture of safety, not just as technology, before we embark on commercial operations.” As a global helicopter operator – specialising in supporting offshore oil and gas and search and rescue (SAR) missions – Bristow believes it is uniquely placed to apply its knowledge and safely culture to vertical lift in the emerging AAM industry.

“This is going to be a massive market, we want to make sure we have done our part and shared what we can on this,” says Stepanek. Bristow, which operates a global fleet of 220 helicopters, has already signed purchase agreements with eVTOL manufacturers including Beta Technologies, Lilium and Volocopter plus unmanned aerial vehicle (UAM) developer Elroy Air, pictured above.

Cargo transport

Asked to identify where AAM aircraft might replace conventional rotary and fixed wing aircraft, initially he sees roles in cargo transport in remote regions replacing missions currently undertaken by older (and more expensive) turbo prop aircraft or ground transport.

Another area where eVTOLs could replace helicopters is the operation of sight-seeing flights in areas such as the Grand Canyon and around New York City.

To some extent, Bristow is already operating helicopters and AAM craft co-operatively.

“What it originally looked like was uncrewed aircraft could do better searches and then the helicopter would be dispatched out – instead of doing all the high-cost search,” Stepanek said. “What it has evolved to now is AAM [camcopters] surveilling the channel. We see that as the beginning of innovative technology applying to government services.”

All the energy companies are interested in uncrewed aircraft undertaking offshore cargo movements of payloads up to 250kg, he added. Their motivations include lower costs of operation and potentially safety but these factors “have yet to be proven out”

‘Complex and costly’

Looking further ahead to 2030, Stepanek sees a role for AAM in delivering crew transfer between offshore rigs. “You’ll see the movements between two rigs done by helicopters or boats today – which are very complex and costly compared with this [eVTOLs] – completed by AAM. So, crew transfer from platform to platform but not necessarily from onshore to platform.”

The other role he foresees for AAM craft is crew transportation around the hub and spoke system that describes offshore oil installations from bases such as Aberdeen in Scotland, Houma in Louisiana and Lagos in Nigeria. “All the people have got to get to the hub and they do so today by personal transportation or buses,” he says. “We think there’s an opportunity to move people that way [using AAM from hub to spoke and spoke to hub].”

But however successful AAM proves to be, some roles are likely to remain the exclusive preserve of helicopters. Essential roles for helicopters include crew transfers from shore to offshore installations, SAR missions and heavy lift requirements, he says.

Meanwhile, how long is a long goodbye? Stepanek answers like this: “We [Bristow] have just invested $500m in helicopters, so I am going to hope for 25 years. We don’t see it replacing our helicopters any time in the near term until we get new energy sources.” If you enjoy our newsletters please encourage colleagues to sign up here. Thanks.

 

HI Uplift Dashboard: Helicopters for sale

Multi engine

  • Total for sale/lease: 310 – the same as last week
  • Percentage for sale/lease: 4.19
  • Absorption rate: 5.3
  • Total fleet: 7,394 – two fewer than last week.

 

Single engine

  • Total for sale/lease: 415 – one more than last week
  • Percentage for sale/lease: 3.62
  • Absorption rate: 3.8
  • Total fleet: 11,473 – three more than last week.

Source: Amstat, September 26th, 2024.

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