Rotorhub 
PARIS 2009: Dauphin: 900 and not out
Danish helicopter operator, DanCopter today became the proud owner of the 900th Dauphin and 100th EC155 to be built by Eurocopter.
In a short informal ceremony out at the heliport at Le Bourget, both companies marked a milestone in the history of a helicopter that still looks as modern today as it did when it first came off the production line back in the 1970s.
The EC155 is of course a more modern wide-body variant of the AS365 Dauphin which first appeared back in the 1970s. The 900 built include the 100 or so produced as HH-65s for the United States Coast Guard and the military variant, the Panther that is in service with the French Navy and Brazilian Armed Forces. Early 'C' models had fixed undercarriage and blunt Gazelle/Alouette-style noses, while the introduction of the 'N' bought in retractable tricycle landing gear and a nose cone.
Programme manager, Antoine Rivet told Rotorhub.com that the looks of the Dauphin still contributed to sales of the aircraft. He said: "The look of the helicopter is still an incentive to the market.
"It is like a trademark, like the Golf is to Volkswagen and the FIAT 500, and like those companies, we have modernised and upgraded the product for the market," he added.
Indeed the AS365 lives on with the N3 version with current orders providing at least two years worth of production.
Eurocopter is using the Paris Air Show to market a new upgraded version of the AS365N3, called the N3+, which will use the N3's type certificate but deliver avionic improvements such a four axis autopilot, FMS, new communications equipment and new range of optional fittings for the VIP mission.
The 900th Dauphin, register OY-HJB carries a special livery on the tailboom recognising its historic significance and is the sixth EC155 to join DanCopter. Delivery of a 7th EC155 to the company is scheduled for this summer. DanCopter was the first to introduce the EC155 in the North Sea, performs offshore oil and gas operations for oil companies such as Shell, Dong and Hess.
(Footnote: In a Eurocopter briefing on the company's Asia/Pacific market on Thursday, the company revealed that at least 200 Z-9s have been built by China under licence which means that in principle at least 1,100 Dauphins in some form have been produced.)
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