Maintenance et coûts économiques à l’heure de vol 480B

Unique Engineering Solutions

Maintenance and low operating cost

Because of its roots as an Army trainer, the Enstrom 480B was designed with maintenance in mind. There are only 9 life limited parts in the 480B, and gearbox overhauls are available on an exchange basis for minimal downtime. Like many airframe parts, main rotor blades of the 480B do not have a life limit. They are on-condition basis and this factor contributes to lower operating costs.

There is no life limit on the 480B airframe, and the helicopter has no obligation to return to the factory for a long and expensive overhaul. The 480B can be serviced by any PART-145 organization or by any qualified mechanic.
Enstrom is a very responsive manufacturer when it comes to supplying spare parts. In the past year Enstrom shipped 94% of orders received in AOG within 24 hours, as well as 88% of routine parts. Enstrom is even known to take parts from the production line in order to satisfy AOGs.
Eddy Pacalis and Doug Smith

In France the company Copter, located at Cournonsec (34), with 20 years of experience on Enstrom, is certified by ENSTROM HELICOPTER as Official Service Center.

The Managing Director Eddy Pacalis can be reached at +33(0)623-771-444 or copter@joulie.fr

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Caractéristiques de vols 480B

Unique Engineering Solutions

Flight specifications

The Enstrom 480B features a three-bladed, fully articulated main rotor system that has accumulated over 4,000,000 hours (and counting) without experiencing a catastrophic failure.

Besides providing excellent response, the Enstrom design eliminates Mast Bumping, increasing the safety margin for students. It also allows for slope landings of up to 15 deg. This gives instructors more options when choosing training sites.

The Enstrom’s tail rotor is two-bladed, and located on a stinger so that it is completely free and clear of the airframe. This provides excellent tail rotor authority, and eliminates LTE (Loss of Tailrotor Effectiveness) issues common on many other helicopters.

The 480B don’t require a wind azimuth chart since they don’t have any wind limitations like many other helicopters. This type of performance allows them to get into the air in conditions that would ground other ships, and yet provide a significant margin of safety for student pilots.

Flying Qualities

The Enstrom 480B has very benign flight characteristics. They are easy to fly, and very stable. Instead of hydraulically boosted controls, all Enstrom models use simple, direct mechanical linkages. This provides crisp, responsive handling and direct feedback to the pilot, which makes flying an Enstrom relatively intuitive, even for low time pilots.

It also has the added benefit of removing the requirement to learn hydraulic failure scenarios. This allows the pilot to concentrate on his flying – not possible issues with the specific aircraft design.

The fast and powerful electric trim system compensates for flight loads, and is familiar to transitioning fixed wing pilots.

Noise Signature

The 480B is noticeably quieter than most other helicopters both in-side and out. It is certified under FAR 26 Annex J.

In reality, at maximum gross weight and at a 96 Kt speed, the measured noise signature is less than 85 dB.
The main and tail rotors are relatively slow turning, which contributes to the Enstrom’s low noise signature. 
This makes the 480B an ideal aircraft for training in and around noise sensitive areas.
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Panneau des instruments 480B

Unique Engineering Solutions

Instruments Panel
The Enstrom 480B can be configured with a wide range of avionics for glass cockpit training. For military training and dedicated training applications, the 480B can be configured with a dual panel IFR, as well as other custom panel options to meet the customer’s specific needs.
The 480B is now available with the new panel Touch Screen
G500H TXi EFIS which interfaces with the GTN 750 and 650 TXi.

All electrical harnesses are manufactured in house on demand according to the avionics architecture. Flying a 480B, pilots will never fear to be disconnected from ATC or ground stations.
Finally, the 480 cockpit can be made night vision compatible, for safe and effective night OPS including the Astronics Max Viz EVS.
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Une cabin e totalement flexible

Unique Engineering Solutions

A Highly Flexible Cabin
The Enstrom 480B has a highly flexible cabin that can be reconfigured quickly for a number of different requirements. In the typical surveyance role the cabin will supply ample room for the pilot, the observer and the navigator. The 480B is equipped with dual controls and can be flown from either seat, with both pilots having an unrestricted view of the entire instrument panel. The large,comfortable cabin offers the entire crew exceptional visibility through the large main cabin, chin, and door windows.
The key to the 480B’s training prowess lies in it’s flexible cabin design. The 480B can be configured in a three person training configuration, with an observer sitting between the pilot and instructor. This unique seating arrangement allows a second student to observe all the training, instruments, and flight controls, speeding up the learning the process. In practice this has been shown to reduce training times and increase student learning as stu-dents can learn from the actions and instructions of others. The schools can maximize time in the air with 2 student pilots on board.
The Enstrom 480B offers an easily reconfigurable seating arrangement that is unique to the industry. The controls are removable simply by pulling pins, and the seats can either be removed or folded up. The cabin can be configured with seating for up to five people, or a flat cargo floor. All this can be accomplished in only minutes, without the use of tools. Both the pilot and co-pilot’s seats are fully adjustable, along with adjustable rudder pedals, making the 480B comfortable for pilots of any stature.
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Sécurité 480B

Unique Engineering Solutions

Safety
The Enstrom 480B traces it’s lineage back to the Enstrom TH-28, an advanced training helicopter designed for the U.S. Army. Hence, safety was of utmost importance in the design of the helicopter. The 480B’s airframe is rugged and built to handle repeated use. It starts with a heavy duty oleo-strut landing gear that will compress to absorb excessive landing loads. The landing gear also has extra bracing for sideways and run-on landings. The landing gear bolts to a welded steel “pylon” that houses the engine, fuel cells, and transmission.
A thick firewall separates these components from the composite cockpit. The cockpit floor is made up of a number of crushable keel beams. Along with the seats, these beams are designed to deform in the event of a serious accident, absorbing the load and cushioning the pilots. FAR 27 approved 4-point inertial reel restraints strike the perfect balance between comfort and Safety.

The Enstrom 480B has exceptional autorotational capabilities, with a conservative descent rate of 1400fpm on a standard day. In the event of an engine failure, the pilot has ample to time to lower the collective. This is due to the 480B’s high-inertia main rotor system which provides more than sufficient stored energy for safe uneventful autorotations. The 480B has one of the lowest accident rates in the world.
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