Rotor with three articulated blades 280FX

A UNIQUE ENGINEERING

THREE BLADES ARTICULATED ROTOR SYSTEM

The main rotor on the 280FX is a three bladed high inertia system, fully articulated, which has accumulated four millions flying hours with excellent statistics and without any catastrophic failure. During autorotations, the great inertia of this rotor system generates much better performances than other light helicopters. That three bladed system has a much lower disc load which allows faster recovery in case of an eventual power loss. A three blades rotor system has also better performances in case of maneuvers under negative G or during operations with heavy loads, or at high altitude, in case of heavy gusts or at high speed.

Furthermore the three bladed rotor is not subject to any mast bumping which is common to all other two blades helicopters.
It allows also landings in unprepared terrain with up to 15° slope. This gives much more flexibility to flying instructors to choose their training site.

The rods system of the 280FX is fully mechanical. No hydraulic jacks are needed and only a powerful trim is used. All controls are soft thanks to bearings and strong rods.
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Flight Controls 280FX

A UNIQUE ENGINEERING

A FLIGHT CONTROLS SYSTEM UNIQUE IN THE INDUSTRY

Enstom is known for its flight controls system which is unique in the industry. Starting from a clean sheet of paper the designers wanted to create at the same time a strong helicopter and a control rod system well protected from the environment. And this is how this internal control rod system was born.

Thanks to that design the swash plate and the control rods are completely protected from any external elements such as debris.
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Landing Gear 280FX

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Landing gear

Right from the drawing table, both airframe and landing gear incorpores a shock absorbing system in case of eventual heavy landing.
The basic helicopter structure consists of a steel tubular pylon assembly to which the cabin, fuel cells, transmission, engine, landing gear and tail cone are attached. The pylon assembly is a jig fabricated 4130 welded steel tube structure which serves as the backbone of the aircraft.
The landing gear is bolted upon the pylon assembly which is made of chromoloy tubes. This absorbing landing gear offers even more Safety.
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Lycoming 4 Cylinders turbo 280FX

A UNIQUE ENGINEERING

Lycoming four cylinder, fuel injected, turbo charged piston engine

The Lycoming HIO-360-F1AD four cylinder, fuel injected, turbocharged piston engine provides an extremely lightweight and reliable 225 continuous horsepower. The maximum power is reached thanks to the turbo compressor made by Kelly Aerospace.
The engine exhaust exits out the left side of the helicopter. The turbocharger significantly reduces engine noise, and an optional muffler can be installed to further reduce engine noise.
The engine is fuel injected which eliminates carburator icing risk. The other two seats helicopters available on the market are potentially subject to icing risk.
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An Efficient Tail Rotor 280FX

A UNIQUE ENGINEERING

AN EFFICIANT TAIL ROTOR

The tail rotor assembly is located on a stinger behind the tailcone and stabilizers. This allows it to run in free air, giving it excellent authority. The 280FX has demonstrated the ability to fly in high winds from any direction without loss of control.
With its large, unblocked tail rotor the 280FX has no LTE issues and can perform hot, high, and heavy out of ground effect hovers, as well as take off, taxi, and fly in high winds from any direction.
The tail rotor is controlled via cables attached to adjustable pedals. This allows for cruise flight without the need to carry any pedal input, as well as a controlled descent and landing in the event of a tail rotor cable failure.
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