Midwest Helicopter Academy has taken delivery of another Guimbal Helicopteres Cabri G2 bringing their Cabri fleet to 3 in the USA to support their demand within the 141 Flight School.

Helicopteres Guimbal’s United States distributor, Precision Helicopters of Newberg Oregon, joined Midwest Helicopters this week for the assembly of their new delivery along with one of their own Cabri’s near St. Louis, Missouri.  Midwest Helicopters has now been flying the Cabri G2 since January 2016 and ever since has conducted a steady migration making the Cabri it’s flagship training helicopter.

This delivery to Midwest Helicopters brings the fleet of Cabris in the United States to 12 with plans for 6 additional Cabris before the end of the year.  By January 2017 the United States will be the 3rd largest importer, a close tie with China, of the Cabri G2 in the world behind the United Kingdom and New Zealand with plans by the end of 2017 to be the largest operator base of the Cabri of any country.

In an earlier 2016 release, General Aviation Manufacturers Association stated that Guimbal Helicopteres produced more of their G2 Cabri’s in 2015 than Robinson produced R22s representing an impressive effort by the French manufacturer.  Guimbal is now assembling it’s 175th Cabri in Aix, France where just 18 months ago Guimbal they were delivering their 100th aircraft to a German operator.  Perhaps a more impressive figure is that there has been zero injuries to a Cabri pilot or passenger in more than 90,000 flight hours.

The first USA helicopter was handed over to Precision Aviation Training at the 2014 HAI Expo as Guimbal and Precision awaited the much anticipated FAA Standard Airworthiness Certification in early 2015, releasing the aircraft to Precision’s flight school.

Precision has continued to move away from the Schweizer 300 model as their training helicopter as Midwest Helicopters has transitioned away from their Schweizers and R22’s.  Both companies had been flying either the Schweizer 300 or the R22 for over 20 years.

Midwest Helicopters Chief Pilot / Owner, Chris Bailey states, “At one time the H-269 was the only helicopter that had ever been built from the ground-up for the purpose of training  pilots. The crashworthiness and stable platform made it the best trainer for years hands down, until we met the G2. For a pilot, flight instructor and a business owner the Cabri checked all of the boxes the S300 did for years.  However now the G2 trumpts all other piston helicopters with its added safety features such as incredible rotor inertia, a true fuel bladder and Fenestron tail rotor system, not to mention the excellent customer support that’s so hard to find these days from manufacturers. Simply put, for Midwest Helicopter Academy the G2 equals safety, efficient training, and reliability. We know what to expect with the Guimbal, it stays in the air everyday without drama.”