Just before Christmas at the service center of Heli Invest in Warsaw Eurocopter delivered the Polish Medical Air Rescue, or Lotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe (LPR), the last two EC 135P2i helicopters out of total of 23 ordered under a contract with the Ministry of Health. Heli Invest – as a sole authorized distributor of Eurocopter helicopters in Poland and Eurocopter maintenance center provides comprehensive warranty support for the whole fleet of EC 135P2i helicopters operated by LPR.

“The unique and meticulous requirements of the Polish Medical Air Rescue caused that the fulfillment of this Contract was an enormous, but at the same time very interesting challenge for Eurocopter. Of course, the on-schedule delivery of all 23 helicopters does not mean that this project is now finished. Providing warranty services for all aircrafts is an equally vital project which thanks to the readiness and great responsiveness of our Polish partner, Heli Invest, is being accomplished in a timely manner. This is a perfect example of Eurocopter’s complete dedication to fulfill all customer requirements regarding helicopters purchased under government contracts in Poland” – said Barbara Texier responsible for LPR project implementation at Eurocopter as well as sale of civil helicopters on the Polish and other markets.

Every Eurocopter of the Polish Medical Air Rescue is covered by the two year warranty. The last EC 135P2i owned by LPR runs out of warranty in December 2012. Till then Heli Invest in cooperation with Eurocopter will be in charge of performing in-warranty repairs pursuant to the contract.

The maintenance project for LPR constitutes a chance for Heli Invest to tap into its substantial experience in servicing helicopters manufactured by the French and German consortium and to take advantage of its extensive maintenance facilities. Since 2002 Heli Invest has been selling and servicing Eurocopter helicopters exclusively, therefore, extending maintenance services to the fleet of 23 helicopters used by LPR has been a natural further step in fulfilling the agreement between Heli Invest and Eurocopter on the maintenance of Eurocopter helicopters during warranty periods.

Commenting on the official conclusion of the deliveries of helicopters for LPR, President of Heli Invest, Jerzy Wilczyński said that: „As the main partner of Eurocopter in the implementation of this project in Poland I am happy that all 23 helicopters have been delivered on time during such a prestigious and demanding contract with the Ministry of Health. Our company has been providing full warranty maintenance since the first delivery in September 2009. According to the studies conducted in our company the technical readiness rate of LPR helicopters achieved by Heli Invest from August through November 2010 exceeded 95%. Therefore, I am very pleased that Heli Invest has been a trailblazer in setting new quality standards in this demanding industry. Our experience and potential will allow for full technical maintenance of Eurocopter helicopters in similar future projects.”

The warranty support for LPR is provided by Heli Invest in close cooperation with Eurocopter. Heli Invest has been simultaneously utilizing three assets to accomplish this goal, i.e. hotline, spare parts warehouse and mobile repair teams.

* Hotline – this is a command center open 24/7. The managers work shifts coordinating the whole process of providing warranty repairs, which commences when a claim sent by the LPR Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) is received and ends when a helicopter is operational again and the Certificate of Release to Service, i.e. a document attesting to the airworthiness of a given aircraft, may be issued. The scope of responsibility of Hotline includes for example day-to-day liaison with LPR, Eurocopter and the engine manufacturer – Pratt & Whitney Canada.

* Spare parts warehouse – the so-called consignment stock of all necessary spare parts and consumable materials worth in excess of 2 million Euro. It is constantly restocked by Eurocopter and its vendors. The warehouse is logistically linked with Eurocopter-operated warehouses and resupplied on on-going basis. The size and contents of the warehouse are tailored to the current and expected LPR needs.

* Mobile repair teams are prepared to provide round-the-clock maintenance of LPR helicopters simultaneously in several locations in Poland. The teams consist of highly qualified and experienced helicopter technicians trained by Eurocopter. The technicians  respond to the requests for assistance from LPR and travel the length and breadth of Poland in service vans equipped with all of the tools required to repair EC 135 helicopters. The LPR pilots, technicians, helicopters and bases are a natural working environment for Heli Invest technicians as Heli Invest provided full line maintenance of the delivered helicopters during the initial 180 days of the project.

The efficient cooperation of these three components has been actively supported by Eurocopter. Referring to the technical maintenance of the helicopters operated by LPR Wojciech Kowalewski, LPR Project Director at Heli Invest, said that: „Aviation and helicopters have been my passion, education and career. The project consisting in providing warranty support for the fleet of 23 helicopters is an enormous challenge. We are working in a complicated environment where demanding contractual obligations, extremely short repair deadlines, looming penalties for delays, professional and demanding Client and tight deadlines for acceptance of new helicopters play an important role. Both us and the Client constantly develop our effectiveness in these conditions and the helicopters have splendid technical readiness rates. One might ask whether it is just a difficult job or just constant stress? Regardless of what the answer might be, without any doubt, this is a unique opportunity to participate in the biggest civil helicopter project currently under completion in Europe and a chance to be a small part of this huge aviation operation. I feel great satisfaction every time I hear the unique sound of the Fenestron tail rotor somewhere in Poland and the yellow EC-135 owned by LPR speeds cross the sky.”

Along with the delivery of the last helicopter for LPR, Eurocopter has reaffirmed its position in Poland as a leader in selling civil turboshaft-powered helicopters. Next year there will be at least 55 Eurocopter helicopters of various types registered in Poland. All of the advantages of the French and German helicopters which are appreciated globally have also been recognized on the Polish market.

Heli Invest

The company was established in September 2002. From its inception Heli Invest’s exclusive business has been Eurocopter helicopters. In mid-2005 Heli Invest was granted the Part 145 maintenance organization certificate for Eurocopter EC 120, EC 130, EC 135 and EC 145 helicopters. 2005 also marked another major development in the history of Heli Invest as the company received the privilege of enjoying the sole distributor status for Eurocopter helicopters in Poland and became the Eurocopter-certified maintenance center. The Flight Training Organization of Heli Invest is certified to train future helicopter pilots up to the PPL(H) level. The technical maintenance department of the company provides maintenance for Eurocopter helicopters with all types of engines (Pratt & Whitney Canada and Turbomeca turboshaft engines), avionics and other equipment.