Airbus Helicopters facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Airbus Helicopters SAS

Type	Operating Division
Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1992; 33 years ago (1992)
Headquarters	Marseille Provence Airport Marignane, France
Key people	Bruno Even (CEO)
Products	Helicopters
Revenue	€6.5 billion (2021)
Operating income	€535 million (2021)
Number of employees	20,126 (2021)
Parent	Airbus
Subsidiaries	Subsidiaries

Airbus Helicopters SAS, once known as Eurocopter Group, is a big company that builds helicopters. It's part of a larger company called Airbus. They make more helicopters and earn more money from them than any other company in the world!

Their main office is in Marignane, France, near a city called Marseille. They also have big factories in Donauwörth, Germany, and other countries like Canada, Brazil, Australia, Spain, and the United States. The company changed its name from Eurocopter to Airbus Helicopters in 2014.

The Story of Airbus Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters started in 1992. It was formed when two big companies, Aérospatiale from France and DASA from Germany, combined their helicopter parts. So, the company's roots go way back to famous aircraft makers like Blériot in France and Messerschmitt in Germany.

Over the years, Airbus Helicopters and the companies before it have achieved many amazing "firsts" in helicopter history:

• In 1955, they made the first helicopter powered by a special engine called a turboshaft (the Aérospatiale Alouette II).
• In 1968, they introduced the "Fenestron" – a special covered tail rotor (on the Gazelle helicopter).
• In 1984, they had the first helicopter approved to fly safely in icy conditions (the AS332 Super Puma).
• In 2003, they flew the first production helicopter with a Fly-by-wire control system (the NHIndustries NH90).
• Also in 2003, they flew the first helicopter using a Fly-by-light primary control system (an EC135 test helicopter).
• In 2005, an AS350 B3 helicopter made the first ever landing on Mount Everest!

Since 2000, Airbus Helicopters has been a fully owned part of the larger Airbus company. Another Spanish company, CASA, which also had a history with helicopters, joined the group around that time.

Today, Airbus Helicopters has four main factories in Europe. These are in Marignane and La Courneuve in France, and Donauwörth and Kassel in Germany. They also have 32 smaller offices and partners around the world. These include places like Fort Erie in Canada, Brisbane in Australia, Albacete in Spain, and Grand Prairie in the USA.

As of 2014, more than 12,000 Airbus Helicopters were being used by over 3,000 customers in about 150 countries. In 2013, Eurocopter sold 422 helicopters and delivered 497. In 2014, they built a special concrete cylinder to test helicopters before their first flight.

In December 2022, Airbus Helicopters bought a company called ZF Luftfahrttechnik. This company makes gearboxes and other parts for aircraft. It will now be called Airbus Helicopters Technik.

Company Logos Over Time

Here are the different logos the company has used throughout its history:

• 

  1992–2000

• 

  2000–2010

• 

  2010–2014

• 

  2014–2017

• 

  2017–present

Helicopter Products

In 2015, many of the helicopters were renamed to be more like Airbus airplane names. When the company changed its name from Eurocopter Group to Airbus Helicopters in 2014, the names of their products also changed. This new naming system started on January 1, 2016. They stopped using suffixes and different names for single or twin engines. Military versions now have the letter "M" in their name. Only a few helicopters, like the AS365, AS565, Tiger, and NH90, kept their original names.

Name	Type	Thumbnail	Introduced	Max Takeoff Weight t (lb)
H125	Light single-engine		1975	2.25 (5,000)
H130	Light single-engine		2001	2.5 (5,500)
H135	Light twin-engine		1996	2.98 (6,600)
H145	Light twin-engine		2002	3.7 (8,200)
H155	Medium twin-engine		1999	4.92 (10,800)
H160	Medium twin-engine		2019	6.05 (13,300)
H175	Super medium twin-engine		2014	7.8 (17,000)
H215	Heavy twin-engine		1980	9.15 (20,200)
H225	Heavy twin-engine		2004	11.2 (25,000)
NH90	Military utility twin-engine		2006	10.6 (23,000)
Tiger	Military attack twin-engine		2003	6.6 (15,000)

Future Helicopter Projects

Airbus Helicopters is always working on new ideas, including:

• X³ rotorcraft – This is a special hybrid helicopter with two forward propellers. It flew at a record speed of 255 knots (about 472 km/h) in 2011!
• Airbus Helicopters X6 – They are studying if they should build a new, very large helicopter (11.5 tons) to replace the H225.
• Airbus RACER – This is an experimental, super-fast helicopter that builds on the X³ design. It aims to fly for the first time around 2020.
• Airbus CityAirbus – This is a test model for an electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically (VTOL). It's designed to be an "air taxi" for cities.

See also

In Spanish: Airbus Helicopters para niños

Other major companies that make helicopters:

• Leonardo
• Bell Helicopter
• Boeing Rotorcraft Systems
• MD Helicopters
• Russian Helicopters
• Sikorsky Aircraft