Capt. Afruni – Chief Test Pilot of Leonardo Helicopters –  flew again the SH09 Prototype 3 in Mollis, Switzerland, to assess the benefits of the retrofit implemented on the aircraft at the end of last year.

As part of the close collaboration established between Leonardo and Kopter, Capt. Afruni, together with Andrea Castelli, Leonardo Chief Project Flight Test Engineers for Light Helicopters, recently met the Kopter flight test team at Mollis.  The purpose of this joint meeting was to discuss and witness the modifications made to the helicopter according to Kopter’s roadmap.  This visit is the second of a series planned for Leonardo to participate further in the SH09 programme.

Capt. Afruni took part in two flights on the SH09 together with Richard Grant, Kopter Chief Test Pilot and Michele Riccobono, Kopter CTO & Head of Flight Operations.  These flights allowed him to appreciate the new flight control configuration as well as the additional stability brought to the helicopter.

He commented: “I’m very happy that you are progressing so well and that everything you identified as a solution is always effective. (…) The helicopter was easy to fly in the low speed regime before, today it’s even more because the cyclic and the collective are much better to work with.”

The next flights with Capt. Afruni are scheduled to take place in the late Spring. Stay tuned to follow the next steps!